Press Release
Kathy Long vs. Avery Vilche
By. Mike Chu
My name is Mike Chu and I am Avery Vilche's trainer and manager. The reason that I am writing to you you all today is to clarify some things about certain comments or rumors that may have been circulated. Avery has not or never will back down from a fight against any opponent that she has had to face. She is a fighter and it is her job as a professional athlete to fight whomever is put in front of her. Avery was scheduled to fight Kathy Long on August 15, 2009 for "Call To Arms", in Southern, California. Prior to this fight deal being signed, she was contracted to fight Jennifer Tate, who is by no means a slouch in any way, shape or form. A week or two prior to that fight, which was scheduled for June 27, 2008, Jennifer had to go under emergency surgery due to a ruptured appendix. This left Avery without an opponent, but was soon rematched up with Michelle Ould, whom she had beaten a few months prior for a title in Casper, Wyoming. Avery did not train the week prior to her fight due to obligations she had with a Native American Program that she is very active in. During this week long outing, she had contracted a stomach virus of some sort, which left her vomiting, a bad case of diarrhea and massive dehydration. Avery did not back down, though feeling very ill, went through with the fight, which resulted in 2 bad things. Number one, she suffered total kidney failure and spent the following 4-5 days after that fight in the hospital and number two, she lost her fight.
During the week or so that Avery was in the hospital, she was was pumped full of liquids, both intravenously and orally. This is the time that she, her husband John and I decided that we would notify Mike Rush, the matchmaker for "Call To Arms", Joe Hanlin, Kathy's trainer and Kathy herself what was going on and that we were unsure about how long Avery's recovery would take. We all wanted to give enough time for Mike to find another suitable opponent to face Kathy. Over the next 3 weeks, Avery slowly recovered and had several tests done to determine the cause of her kidney failure. They finally came up with the conclusion that it was due to massive dehydration and stated that if had happened to someone else, they most likely would not have survived, but Avery is a true warrior and a fighter.
Avery spoke with me less than a week ago and said that the doctor gave her a clean bill of health and stated that if an alternate was needed to fight Kathy, she would step up to the plate.
I , along with my partner Sam Wilson combed over the continental U.S. to find someone to replace Avery, but no one stepped up the plate when they found out who their opponent would be. Luckily, Mike Rush found someone, but to my understanding, she has backed out and it was down to the alternate and now Avery has risen to the forefront as Kathy's opponent.
I hope that this clarifies any kind of doubts about Avery's integrity as a professional fighter. I invite you all to come and see this war that will take place between Kathy Long and Avery Vilche.
Much respect and thanks to Mike Rush, the "Call To Arms" promotion, Joe Hanlin and Miss Kathy Long for their help, consideration and graciousness.
Kathy Long vs. Avery Vilche
(5 Time World Kickboxing Champion makes MMA pro debut)
By. S. Arredondo
Kathy “The Punisher” Long 5 Time World Kickboxing Champion will be making her pro MMA debut against the brutal Avery “Eskimo Warrior” Vilche on the Call to Arms II fight card. Saturday August 15th 2009 at 6:00 PM at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA.
These two seasoned champions will meet toe to toe to bring forward this long expected battle. Long time fight veteran Kathy “The Punisher” Long has continuously impressed both judges and spectators with her round-ending punch combination and lightning fast speed. Her opponent, World Eskimo Indian Olympic Champion Avery Vilche holds a professional record of 2-1-1-0 (Win-Loss-Draw-NC) and is a true force to be reckoned with. Avery Vilche is a 39 year old Yupik (Eskimo), Norwegian who competed in the
WEIO (World Eskimo Indian Olympics) in 2000 and earned 2 silver medals (in Eskimo Stick Pull and 4 man carry). She returned in 2008 to win a gold medal in the Ear Weight competition.
JAGS sports managements signed a 3 fight contract for Kathy Long with Call to Arms Promotion Company on Satuday June 6th, 2009. Call to Arms, whom promote full contact mixed martial arts in a hexagon cage will have their second event titled Call to Arms 2 at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, a 10,000 plus seat event.
In addition to being a brutal cage fighter, Vilche has been a Kathy Long fan since she first started fighting in kickboxing in the early 90's. She views it an honor to be able to fight such a fighting legend. According to Jags Sports Management, a hard-hitting fighter finally stepped up to the plate after a long time nationwide search of a worthy opponent for Kathy Long.
The thunderous Avery Vilche recently lost her chance to fight on Stikeforce after her scheduled opponent failed to come in at the right weight. “So no Showtime this time” said Vilche. “It was frustrating, but I'm confident that I'll get another opportunity to be on Strikeforce”. She is working on a documentary about the female athletes that compete in this unusual contest- to raise the country's awareness about the Alaskan native cultures and games. Avery Vilche is the leading light in a documentary about her extraordinary experience as a 2008 World Eskimo Indian Olympic in Fairbanks, Alaska. Vilche wrestled for Chico State, wherein most of her 11 matches were against men. She then retired due to some injuries, but has since made a come-back to the cage after years of healing.
As for Kathy Long, she is considered to be the best women’s kickboxing champion of all times and has been preparing for this fight for quite some time now. Kathy Long will showcase her new skills after utilizing some of the best trainers in boxing, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling.
Kathy's trainer's include Mike Chu, Betiss Mansouri, Romie Aram submission wrestler Javier Vazquez, Machado Brothers in Pasadena, Maria Moralez Lisa Twight, Goker Chivichyan, Gene LeBell’s Hayastan Academy and Tony Salazar of Salazar's Advanced Boxing Technique.
"I'd like the opportunity to fight Gina Carono and Kim Couture" said Long in a recent interview on ConvictedArtist.com. Kathy Long’s talent isn’t just limited to fighting. She’s involved in the movie industry playing in a variety of films, including Natural Born Killers, Walker, Texas Ranger, Today Show, Entertainment Tonight and even played Michelle Pfeiffer's stunt double in Batman Returns. Kathy was also the first commentator for the first UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships 1).
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