Two World champion wrestlers, 2006 Greco-Roman World Champion Joe Warren and 1997 Freestyle World Champion Les Gutches, will provide a youth wrestling clinic on Wednesday, July 31 in Albuquerque, N.M.

The clinic and presentation will be held at Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., as part of a community co-promotion between USA Wrestling, Bellator and Spike TV.  The address for the clinic is 5505 Acoma Rd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108.

The clinic is just a few hours before Bellator 98, which will be held at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M., starting at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. 

Joe Warren won a World title in Greco-Roman in 2006, a 2005 World Team member and a two-time U.S. Open champion. He was third in the 2000 NCAA Championships for Michigan. Warren is currently a top MMA fighter in Bellator with an 8-3 career record, and is a former Bellator Featherweight World champion.

Les Gutches won a World freestyle title in 1997 and was third in the 1999 World Championships. He was a member of the 1996 Olympic freestyle team and the 1998 U.S. World Team and won five straight U.S. Open titles. He also won gold medals at the World Cup, the Goodwill Games and the Pan American Games. He was a two-time NCAA champion and three-time All-American for Oregon State. Gutches currently serves as USA Wrestling’s Associate Executive Director for Programs and Strategy.

#FightMaster cast members Joe Warren, Frank Shamrock and Greg Jackson will be there, along with USA Wrestling President Jim Ravannack and other wrestling dignitaries including New Mexico USA Wrestling state chairman Loren Vigil. Jackson and Shamrock are among the most accomplished MMA coaches in the world and are strong supporters of Olympic wrestling.

Included will be a short address about the importance of wrestling to Mixed Martial Arts, as well as the mission of USA Wrestling.  Warren and Gutches will provide a 30 minute technique clinic for those in attendance.

The Bellator 98 fight card will feature numerous past wrestlers who have been very successful in wrestling before starting their MMA career.  Among them are

• Ben Askren - 2008 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestler, Two-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri and current Bellator Welterweight World champion.

• Mohammed “King Mo” Lawal – 2005 U.S. Freestyle World Team member, NCAA All-American for Oklahoma State University and NCAA Div. II champion for Central Oklahoma

• Michael Chandler – All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri and current Bellator Lightweight World champion.

• Shawn Bunch – U.S. Freestyle World Team member, NCAA runner-up and two-time All-American wrestler at Edinboro University

• Bubba Jenkins – 2007 Junior World Freestyle Champion, NCAA champion wrestler at Arizona State University and NCAA runner-up for Penn State University.

• Michael Barreras – Four-time NCAA Div. II All-American wrestler for both Adams State and Central Oklahoma Universities