Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Loomis, Granite Bay - Placer County, California - Real Estate Blog - Souza Realty

UFC 131 - Knockout of the Night - Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards

UFC 127 (Bisping defeats Rivera - WOOHOO!) at Hooters of Sacramento near Arden Fair Mall (Sacramento, CA)

Last Saturday, Bob and I watched UFC 127 at Hooters of Sacramento near the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento, CA. The main event was BJ Penn vs. Jon Fitch (which resulted in a silly "majority draw" decision - huh? I thought Fitch won) but the one I was particularly interested in was the co-main event, Michael "The Count" Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera...since Bisping is one of my favorite UFC fighters! :)

Hooters of Sacramento does not offer oysters (like other locations do) and since I don't eat chicken wings, my "usual" menu item is their mushroom swiss burger...and it is YUMMYLICIOUS! Of all the mushroom swiss burgers I've ever had, the one that Hooters makes is my favorite. Must be the way they load it with lots of melted swiss cheese and plenty of mushrooms! :)

When you order a burger at Hooters of Sacramento, it doesn't come with french fries (but you get a side of baked beans, macaroni salad or potato salad - honestly, none are really that great). Instead of ordering a basket of fries, I recommend getting their "Lots-A-Tots" appetizer to share, especially if you're both ordering burgers. :)

After all the pre-fight trash talk by Jorge Rivera and his crew against Michael "The Count" Bisping, I hooted and hollered in joy when Bisping was declared the winner by TKO in Round 2...WOOHOO!!! :D

Hooters of Sacramento / Arden - 1785 Challenge Way, Sacramento, CA 95815 - (916) 927-9464

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Oregon Realtor & UFC Fighter Chael Sonnen Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Related To Mortgage Fraud

Chael Sonnen (a Realtor from West Linn, Oregon) plead guilty to one count of money laundering in Federal court on January 3, 2011 for his real estate transaction that involved an undisclosed cash incentive to the buyer of $65,000 which was disbursed through a plumbing company for "repairs" that Sonnen knew were never going to be made.

Sonnen will be sentenced on March 28, 2011 and is expected cooperate with investigators and will probably receive 2 years probation, a $10,000 fine and loss of his Oregon real estate license.

This case may have been the reason why Sonnen dropped out of running for the Oregon House of Representatives last year. In fact, the website VoteSonnen.com that he was advertising during his campaign is currently suspended.

Speaking of suspensions, Dana White (President of UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship) just announced that Sonnen's contract has been temporarily "frozen" after his guilty plea.

Regardless, Sonnen was already serving a 6-month suspension from fighting since he was discovered to have an elevated level of testosterone during a drug test taken after his devastating loss against UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on August 7, 2010.

With the potential loss of his real estate license, an unlikely future in his political career, an untimely defeat by triangle choke in his first shot at the UFC Middleweight Title and his suspension from fighting in the UFC...what could be in store next for Chael Sonnen?

Photo courtesy Bad intentionz

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U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Oregon

PRESS RELEASE

Chael Sonnen Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Related to Mortgage Fraud

January 03, 2011

PORTLAND, Ore. - Chael Sonnen, 33, of West Linn, Oregon, plead guilty today to one count of money laundering in federal court before the Honorable Michael Mosman. Sentencing is scheduled on March 28, 2011 at 11:30 a.m.

Sonnen, a licensed realtor in the State of Oregon, admitted that a financial transaction he conducted was designed to conceal or disguise the ownership and control of the proceeds of wire fraud. The scheme involved Joel Rosabal and Chadwick Amsden, employees of Crown Point Enterprises, dba Lighthouse Financial Group (Lighthouse), a mortgage brokerage service based principally in Vancouver, Washington, with operations in Oregon and elsewhere. Rosabal and Amsden submitted a materially false loan application on the buyer's behalf to Decision One Mortgage, a subprime lending institution that is now defunct, for the purchase of residential property located at 11249 SE Rolling Hills Lane, Portland, Oregon. Sonnen acted as the realtor for the transaction. Sonnen submitted a false letter and Sales Agreement Addendum instructing the title company to pay loan proceeds to a plumbing company for repairs to the home. In fact, Sonnen knew and had negotiated with Rosabal that no repairs would be performed on the home and the funds designated to the plumbing company would instead be paid to the buyer as a cash incentive to purchase the home. This agreement was not disclosed to Decision One Mortgage. Once the loan was funded, the title company paid over $69,000 to the plumbing company and the plumbing company, in turn and at Sonnen's direction, paid $65,000 to the buyer of the home.

"This office will continue to aggressively prosecute real estate professionals who committed the mortgage fraud that contributed to this country's economic downturn and wreaked havoc on our community's housing market. We entrusted these professionals to honestly broker real estate transactions and instead, they defrauded lending institutions throughout the country and left financial ruin in their wake, said Dwight Holton, U. S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Marcus Williams, the Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigations for the Pacific Northwest said, "West Linn residents, and other residents throughout the Portland/Vancouver area, can rest assured knowing that federal law enforcement agencies take mortgage fraud very seriously because it played a major role in almost crippling this nation's banking system just a few years ago."

Money Laundering carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

There are currently two other cases related to Lighthouse pending in the United States District Court of Oregon, United States v. Joel Rosabal et al., USDC Case No. 10-CR-00195 and United States v. Chadwick Amsden, et al., USDC Case No. 10-CR-00196. In addition, three other defendants have pled guilty and have been sentenced to charges related to Lighthouse as well: United States v. Kamau Herndon, USDC Case No. 09-CR-00068, United States v. Marty Folwick, USDC Case No. 08-CR-00280, United States v. Kristen Buse, Case No. 08-CR-00283.

This investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case against Chael Sonnen is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Michelle Holman Kerin. The pending cases involving Lighthouse are being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Michelle Holman Kerin and Allan Garten.

New 2011 UFC Weight Divisions and Current List of UFC Champions

On January 1, 2011, WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) merged with UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), both of which were owned by parent company Zuffa LLC. With this merger, UFC now has a total of 7 different weight divisions, with the additions of WEC's Featherweight and Bantamweight classes.

Here is a list of the UFC weight divisions, their maximum weight and the number of contracted fighters, along with the current champion and their MMA record, age, height, weight, hometown and location.

HEAVYWEIGHT < 265 lbs. (27 fighters in this weight class)

• Cain Velasquez ..... photo courtesy The Doppelganger
  • 9 - 0 - 0
  • Age: 28
  • Height: 6' 1" (185 cm)
    
  • Weight: 240 lbs. (109 kg)
  • Hometown: Yuma, AZ, USA
  • Location: San Jose, CA, USA
    

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT < 205 lbs. (36 fighters in this weight class)

• Mauricio "Shogun" Rua ..... photo courtesy kozyndan
  • 19 - 4 - 0
  • Age: 29
  • Height: 6' 1" (185 cm)
    
  • Weight: 205 lbs. (93 kg)
  • Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
  • Location: Curitiba, Brazil
    

MIDDLEWEIGHT < 185 lbs. (42 fighters in this weight class)

• Anderson "The Spider" Silva ..... photo courtesy ninjasp
  • 26 - 4 - 0
  • Age: 35
  • Height: 6' 2" (187 cm)
    
  • Weight: 185 lbs. (84 kg)
  • Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
  • Location: Curitiba, Brazil
    

WELTERWEIGHT < 170 lbs. (52 fighters in this weight class)

• Georges "Rush" St-Pierre ..... photo courtesy Bad intentionz
  • 21 - 2 - 0
  • Age: 29
    
  • Height: 5' 11" (180 cm)
    
  • Weight: 170 lbs. (77 kg)
  • Hometown: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • Location: Saint-Isidore, Quebec, Canada
    

LIGHTWEIGHT < 155 lbs. (57 fighters in this weight class)

• Frankie "The Answer" Edgar ..... photo courtesy Mark Henry
  • 13 - 1 - 1
  • Age: 29
    
  • Height: 5' 6" (167 cm)
    
  • Weight: 155 lbs. (70 kg)
  • Hometown: Summit, NJ, USA
  • Location: Toms River, NJ, USA
    

FEATHERWEIGHT < 145 lbs. (15 fighters in this weight class)

• José (pronounced Joe-zay) "Junior" Aldo ..... photo courtesy sbnation
  • 18 - 1 - 0
  • Age: 24
  • Height: 5' 7" (170 cm)
    
  • Weight: 145 lbs. (65 kg)
  • Hometown: Manaus, Brazil
  • Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    

BANTAMWEIGHT < 135 lbs. (8 fighters in this weight class)

• Dominick Cruz ..... photo courtesy 5th Round
  • 17 - 1 - 0
    
  • Age: 25
  • Height: 5' 8" (172 cm)
  • Weight: 135 lbs. (61 kg)
  • Hometown: San Diego, CA, USA
    
  • Location: San Diego, CA, USA

*Information above was obtained from UFC.com.

UFC 121 - New Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez Defeats Brock Lesnar by TKO at 4:12 in Round 1

Left to right: Brock Lesnar, Bruce Buffer (announcer), Herb Dean (referee), Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez pounds Brock Lesnar as he lays in the fetal position.

The now former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar after his defeat.

The new heavyweight champion of the world (from San Jose, CA) - Cain Velasquez!

Congratulations on winning the belt, Cain Velasquez! Will your next contender be Junior Dos Santos?

(Note: these photos were taken with my iPhone while watching UFC 121 at Roseville 14 Theaters.)

Are You A UFC Fan? Here's An Invitation to the Private MMA Store!

I joined the Private MMA Store about a month ago that offers deeply discounted MMA gear and apparel at up to 60% off. Every 3 days, they rotate brand names like Tapout, Death Clutch, Everlast, Jaco, Hayabusa, etc. Today, they started offering UFC apparel and I just placed my first order of patriotic UFC t-shirts:

Disclaimer: By clicking on the Private MMA Invitation link, my account will be credited $20 when your first order ships.

UFC 108 - Evans vs. Silva (Light Heavyweight)

The Evans vs. Silva UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 108 fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, CA on Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 10pm EST / 7pm PST and will be broadcast simultaneously on Pay-Per-View.

Main Card

* Light heavyweight bout: Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
* Heavyweight bout: Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel
* Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Duane Ludwig
* Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout
* Catchweight bout: Dustin Hazelett vs. Paul Daley

Non-free media use rationale for UFC 108
Description: UFC promotional poster
Source: MMAmania.com
Article: UFC 108
Portion used: Whole
Low resolution? Yes
Purpose of use: To illustrate the event in question
Fair use in UFC 108:
Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:

1. The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic.
2. It is a low resolution image, and thus not suitable for production of counterfeit goods.
3. The poster is not used in such a way that a reader would be confused into believing that the article is written or authorized by the promoter of the event.
4. It is no replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.

My First Fight

It's official...my first fight will be on January 10, 2010. I know this may sound a bit odd to those of you who might be wondering, "Why is she planning her first fight???" but the reality is that I wanted to use a catchy title for this blog post to see if the percentage of click-throughs significantly increases, compared to my past blog posts about MMA fighting!

Don't be disappointed, though...I really am going to my first MMA fight (WEC 46) on January 10, 2010! Urijah Faber, the "California Kid" will be fighting Rafael Assuncao at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.

Click on the logo below to see the WEC 46 Fight Card:

Urijah Faber, former WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) Featherweight Champion

• Record: 22-3 MMA, 7-2 WEC

Rafael Assuncao

• Record: 14-1 MMA, 2-0 WEC

P.S. I think these tickets will make a wonderful Christmas present for Bob...or me??? :)

UFC 107 Results - BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez

Here are the results of UFC 107, which took place on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee:

MAIN CARD:
- B.J. Penn def. Diego Sanchez via TKO (cut) - Round 5, 2:37
- Frank Mir def. Cheick Kongo via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:12
- Jon Fitch def. Mike Pierce via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Kenny Florian def. Clay Guida via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 2:19
- Stefan Struve def. Paul Buentello via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD:
- Alan Belcher def. Wilson Gouveia via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:03
- Matt Wiman def. Shane Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Johny Hendricks def. Ricardo Funch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
- Rousimar Palhares def. Lucio Linhares via submission (heel hook) - Round 2, 3:21
- DaMarques Johnson def. Edgar Garcia via submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 4:03
- T.J. Grant def. Kevin Burns via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:57

Warning: if opinionated comments or informal street language offend you, please DO NOT continue reading!

UFC 107 was freakin' AWESOME!!!

I was so glad to see BJ Penn's win by TKO finally wiped that stupid snarl off Diego Sanchez's face...and yes, he did literally kick his brains out! I couldn't figure out why Sanchez kept humpin' BJ's leg during the entire fight...there's no way he was gonna bring him down and even if he did, he's totally out of his league on the ground against BJ!

Frank Mir is an amazing legend...ain't no other heavyweight like him who can make a guy go to sleep in 1:12...nighty-night, Kongo...guess you "Cheick-ed" out sooner than you expected! That was THE rockin' ultimate submission of the night!!!

John Fitch was matched up pretty good against newcomer Mike Pierce and the win by unanimous decision was a good call.

Kenny Florian...wow, what an impressive fighter...looks can be very deceiving! Just goes to show that technical skills trump the energizer bunny...at least when it's Florian against Clay Guida!

Paul Buentello, as out-of-shape as he looks, got ROBBED in his loss by majority decision against Stefan Struve. Round 2...Struve's forehead running into Buentello's fist midair, then Struve drops like a sack of potatoes! That's one replay I would favorite on YouTube if it shows up!

UFC 107 - Penn vs. Sanchez (Lightweight Championship)

The Penn vs. Sanchez UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 107 fight will take place at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 10pm EST / 7pm PST and will be broadcast simultaneously on Pay-Per-View.

Bob and I will be watching this MMA fight, as we are both BJ Penn fans...we won't be at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee to watch it live, but we'll be watching it on Pay-Per-View. :)

Main Card

* Lightweight Championship bout: BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez
* Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo
* Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce
* Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
* Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello vs. Stefan Struve

Non-free media use rationale for UFC 107
Description: UFC promotional poster
Source: MMAmania.com
Article: UFC 107
Portion used: Whole
Low resolution? Yes
Purpose of use: To illustrate the event in question
Fair use in UFC 107:
Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:

1. The image is used as the primary means of visual identification of the article topic.
2. It is a low resolution image, and thus not suitable for production of counterfeit goods.
3. The poster is not used in such a way that a reader would be confused into believing that the article is written or authorized by the promoter of the event.
4. It is no replaceable with an uncopyrighted or freely copyrighted image of comparable educational value.