Ticket sales have been steady. And the fans are expected to get what they pay for on Friday at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore. LThere will be plenty of action when the Palace Fighting Championship's "The Return" finally gets under way.

It's been one of the more highly anticipated mixed martial arts cards in the Central Valley, as Visalia's Doug "Rhino" Marshall makes his return to his old stomping grounds in Lemoore.

Marshall got his start at the Palace when it hosted World Extreme Cagefighting events. Marshall later became the WEC World Light Heavyweight Champion, defeating the popular Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Lodune Sincaid by knockout.

That fight was the last time Marshall would fight at the Palace and now he's making his return after two very long years.

Marshall will headline the show in a bout against Merced's Phil Collins, which should make for an interesting fight as the pair meet at a catch weight of 195 pounds.

Marshall says he plans on moving down in weight classes. First to middleweight (185 pounds) and possibly soon after to welterweight (170 pounds).

Collins is a scrappy and game opponent with a 6-3 record.

Another fight I'm excited to see Friday is a featherweight bout between Fresno's Casey Olson and Sacramento's Tito Jones -- this bout could possibly be the fight of the night.

Also, I'm looking forward to seeing some new middleweights like North Highland's Jaime Jara and Brazil's Leopoldo Serao.

Jara takes on Orange County's Marcus Gaines and Serao will battle Roseville's Dan Molina.

Local fighters Paul Gonzales of Lemoore, Javier Cervantes of Hanford and Corcoran's Alex Ortiz will also be in action.

One of my good friends, Ulysses Gomez of Las Vegas, will be back in action at 125 pounds. If you missed his first fight at the Palace, you're not going to want to miss this one. Just my opinion, but he's probably one of the best flyweights in the country and easily one of the most exciting to watch.

And then there's my bout with Bakersfield's Juan Lopez.

I'm excited about that one, too, as I'm looking to test myself and see how much I've improved since October.

Tickets can be purchased at The Sentinel office at 300 W. Sixth St.

Well over half of the tickets are sold for this event, and there's still opportunity to attend Friday night's program.

If not only just to see "The Project" in action, but Marshall's bout with Collins will not be televised.

(July 15, 2008)