For these service men and women who have suffered debilitating injuries while in defense of freedom, the holiday can be a particularly trying time of year.  That is why Xtreme Couture GI Foundation has created an online application that any service person who has suffered a grievous injury while in defense of our country can access and apply for financial aid to assist in their recovery and help make the holidays and the new year as wonderful as they deserve.

In the past, we have worked with the historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other worthwhile organizations like the Armed Forces Foundation to help us find individuals in need.  This year, however, we wanted to have a more personal approach to the distribution of funds and allow veterans to share their story directly with us.

The application is designed to help us find those truly in need financially and we encourage family and friends to nominate the wounded warrior who is special in their life and in need of our help.  The application deadline will be November 15, 2011 and recipients will be notified by December 15^th, 2011.

>> Visit  the foundation home page to download the application (http://ww.w.XCGIF.org)

We would like to take a moment to thank all of our supporters who have so generously donated their time and money to our cause over the past year.  We hope that those of you who attended our poker tournament last October, our motorcycle rally last May and those who plan to run in the Coyote Springs Trial Run in Las Vegas sponsored by Elemental Running and Pardee Homes on October 30^th will attend our events in the future and continue to help XCGIF help others.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to the many celebrities who have given of themselves to us over the past year including Jay Glazer, Fox NFL Analyst; Marcedes Lewis of the Jacksonville Jaguars; Michael Strahan, NFL legend, actor Kevin James; illusionist Criss Angel and many others including our MMA friends Big John McCarthy,  Frank Mirr, Gray Maynard and so many more.  And last but not least, our staff, trainers, and fighters of Xtreme Couture MMA!
Thanks to all for a great year!

RANDY COUTURE’S G.I. FOUNDATION BIKE POKER RUN

Randy Couture’s G.I. Foundation Bike Poker Run will be raising funds for injured Veterans on Saturday, May 7, 2011.  Join Randy Couture and other top Hollywood Celebrities and Athletes like Devon Sawa, Big John McCarthy, Tom Atencio, Michael, Strahan, Jay Glazer, Clay Matthews, Marcedes Lewis,  Michael Irvin, TJ Lavin, Criss Angel, Gray Maynard, Martin Kampmann Mike Pyle, Tyson Griffin, Ray Sefo, Frank Trigg and many more.

This motorcycle charity event entails 6 stops in a 100 mile planned route where participants will receive a poker card at each location with the sixth location to be used as a wild card.  The stops are as follows: Pioneer Saloon, Rusty
Spur, King Tut’s, Hooters and Hammer Bar.

The Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation, a 501 © 3 non-profit corporation was started by Randy Couture to honor America’s Injured Veterans.  Since 2001, the number of injured troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached more than 40,000, while more than 60,000  have been evacuated for medical care, according to The Department of Defense.  The Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation was founded with the goal to help those brave men and women.

Registration will be from 9:00-10:30am at O School Choppers (route starts at O School Choppers), located at 5725 S. Valley View Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89118.  The cost will be $25 per rider and $10 per passenger.

Motorcycle rentals and special discounts will be available through Street Eagle. A $2,000 valued prize basket will be awarded to the rider with the best poker hand.  A money prize 50/50 raffle will also be occurring at the last stop.

Email annie@xtremecouture.tvfor more information.

Website: http://www.xcgif.org/

Event Registration Starts at 9am – 10:30am - Randy’s group leaves at 10am sharp. 

O School Choppers
5725 South Valley View
Las Vegas, NV 89118 

If you ride then come out to support our men and women that protect this country everyday and some brave solders that get injured need additional help above what the government can provide and that’s where the Xtreme Couture Gi Foundation comes in to play.

Ride with:

Randy Couture – 6x UFC Champ
Cast of  “The Expendables”
Jay Glazer  – NFL (Fox)
Chris Angel – Illusionist
“BIG” John McCarthy  – MMA Referee
Tom Atencio – Affliction
David Zayas – Actor
Sean Flanery – Actor
Mike Austin – Musician
+Plus Many, Many More!

The Xtreme Couture GI Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation, was founded by Randy Couture to honor the veterans of America’s armed forces. The foundation was especially formed to raise money and awareness for those wounded in action and their families. To date, more than 24,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war against terrorism, which doesn’t include the many more suffering the mental effects.

Many of the injuries are traumatic amputations, gunshot wounds, burns and blast injuries that will retire these brave men and woman from the armed forces. Even though some of these men and woman are severely injured, they have the courage, strength and determination to win this battle.

The Xtreme Couture GI Foundation goal is to help these brave men and women fulfill any of their unmet needs as they return back to civilian life.

Photos from our last event/

OPERATION: ALL – IN

GRAND PRIZE: 10,000 CASH

BUY-IN: $225.00 / $100 Rebuy

WHEN: OCTOBER 30, 2010

WHERE: GOLDEN NUGGET
LAS VEGAS, NV

CONTACT: JOHN COLVILLE

INFO: 702.407.0898

PRE-REG: GOLDEN NUGGET

More INFO: >>> Click Here

Fighters and Celebrities include: Randy Couture , David Zayas, Tyson Griffin, Ryan Couture, Martin Kampmann, Gray Maynard, Jason Ron, Ray Sefo, Mike Pyle, John Alessio, Carrot Top, Sean Flanery and many more!
]]> http://xcmmagifoundation.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/join-randy-couture-saturday-october-30th-2010/feed/ 0 xtremecouture http://xcmmagifoundation.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/hats-off-for-the-xtreme-combat-weekend/ http://xcmmagifoundation.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/hats-off-for-the-xtreme-combat-weekend/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:36:15 +0000 Xtreme Couture MMA http://xcmmagifoundation.wordpress.com/?p=9 ]]> By Marty Israel 10-26-2009
Mesquite Local News

In the near two years that I have been writing for Mesquite Local News it has been my great pleasure to cover the many charity events that dot the annual calendar.
And if there is one thing I have learned it is this; when it comes to charity it seems the generosity of the citizens of this area knows no bounds.
With the holiday season fast approaching I find myself looking forward to the myriad events that will be taking place.

Last year, I was simply blown away by the outpouring of support for the Golf Fore Kids toy drive. I had never seen so many toys in my life outside of a Toy’s-R-Us store, and I am quite certain this year’s event will equal or surpass the last. There is the Angel Tree project which is unlike any charity event I had been exposed to before.

And now our fair town has another event that with any luck will grace the calendar for many years to come, and it is one that I think ranks right up there with the best of them.

I am talking about last week’s “Xtreme Combat Weekend” put on by Randy Couture and his Couture GI Foundation. It was a weekend of paintball games and Mixed Martial Arts fighting, it was successful beyond any of the promoter’s wildest dreams, and it came off with out a hitch.

You would have thought that the folks that put this event on had been doing it for years, everything ran as smooth as could be, but in reality this was the first year for this event. All those involved in the planning and execution of this event are to be commended for their exemplary work; they all really went above and beyond.

This was not an event that was immediately embraced when it was first pitched.

There was some fear that an event culminating with a mixed martial arts fighting program might bring the wrong type of crowd to Mesquite.
I have to admit that as I walked into the venue on that Saturday night, having never taken in an MMA affair previously, I had some misgivings about what type of crowd would gather.
Would this be a collection of about a thousand thugs all looking to brawl at the first opportunity?

I had no idea, but I am sorry to say that the thought did cross my mind.

Just goes to show you how wrong our preconceptions can be at times.  The crowd was great.
They were enthusiastic to be sure, but they were not overly rowdy, just very appreciative of the action that was taking place in the ring.

And afterwards, they were even better.

I spoke at great length a couple of times during the past week to Tim Andrus, one of the organizers of the charity weekend and he explained to me that they had taken a look at some of the UFC events held in Vegas, and they saw that one of the things they were doing with great success was inviting the crowd to a nightclub after the fight to hang out with some of the fighters.

They implemented this plan with an after party in the showroom of the CasaBlanca, and don’t you know the casino has to be happy they did.

Fight fans flocked to the showroom for the party and throngs of them spilled into the casino. And there was not a hint of trouble. It was a boon to the CasaBlanca I am sure.

It is another feather in the cap of a city that seems to love to host charity events.

And the Couture GI Foundation reaped some pretty significant rewards. Andrus told me that nearly a week later, they are still getting donations.

He told me that he and some of his paintball buddies (Andrus is the owner of A Pirates Paradise paintball park) to do a promo in Las Vegas to introduce the new “Call Of Duty” video game that will be released Nov. 10. Everybody wins here as another $1,000 was donated to the GI Foundation as a result of Andrus and company agreeing to the promo.

This is all really fine work and my hat is off to all of you.

Andrus also said that the e-mails are flooding in the aftermath of the Extreme Weekend, and from the looks of it, next year’s event could be ever so much bigger.

For those of you who might have missed the activities I feel for you because you missed a great show. And if, like me, you were a little worried about the “element”.
I understand, but you have nothing to worry about, it was great family fun.

Next year WHEN they do this again, we need to really turn out in force.

I know we are all hurting a little bit and we are being asked to give in more directions than ever. But this is a cause that you should pay attention to as 100% of the proceeds go to help veterans and their families.

Give a little to those who risked it all.
And you will have a great time while you’re at it.

On Sat., Oct. 17, FIGHT! photographer Paul Thatcher traveled to Mesquite, Nev. for the Xtreme Combat Weekend. The Weekend, a joint venture between Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation and Las Vegas-based amateur MMA promotion Tuff-N-Uff, included paintball games and a fight card at Casablanca Casino to raise money for veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Thatcher sent us the following report from the front:

Mesquite, Nev. is about an hour to an hour and a half outside of Vegas. It’s hot and dry and that’s where the paintball event took place. Everyone head to toe in army fatigues, with a varied array of custom paintball guns. These guys take this shit seriously…

The first thing I see is a midget in a Ghillie suit. Oh no, it’s Natasha Wicks, in the heat, head to toe in this season’s fall fashion. She’s gearing up for a showdown with Dave Farra from Raw Vegas. It all starts well with some trash talking as they prepare for battle. Natasha taking cover in a bush, Dave bravely out in the open. Pop pop pop….paintballs are now whizzing through the air…….Dave is not a good shot….Natasha rushes forward behind a wall.

Dave pops his head up one too many times and that’s all “One Shot” Wicks needs. Pow! Dave takes one to the side of the head. Natasha is now peeing herself laughing knowing she scored a direct hit. Dave emerges from behind the wall, blood streaming down his face.

Luckily for Dave there’s a medic on hand and the massive blood flow is stopped. He lives to fight on another day…

The fights are being held in a massive tent. Tuff-N-Nuff is an all-amateur show. Junie Browning is here looking in good health. Randy Couture is sitting ringside with special guest Dana White. Frank Mir is here cornering a couple of fighters.

I’m beat, it was a long day out in the sun, with an evening of good fights. It was a good day!