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03-18-2009, 11:22 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Banned
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,014
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Public Celebration of Charles "Mask" Lewis' Life (Mods can you sticky?)
April 14th @ 11am
Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove
Many MMA Fighters and Exectuives are attending..
TapouT tries to go on after the death of founder Charles 'Mask' Lewis - Los Angeles Times
Quote:
TapouT tries to go on after the death of founder Charles 'Mask' Lewis
The company, a major force in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, copes with the loss of Lewis, killed last week in a car accident. A public ceremony to celebrate his life will be held April 14.
By Lance Pugmire
March 19, 2009
In a dozen years Charles "Mask" Lewis built TapouT from an outfit that sold T-shirts from car trunks to a $50-million company that became the official apparel choice of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and his relentlessly positive outlook defined the Inland Empire company's rise, say his former partners.
Lewis, 45, was killed last Thursday when his Ferrari collided with a Porsche on Jamboree Boulevard in Newport Beach. The Porsche driver, Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and driving under the influence.
TapouT President Marc Kreiner and fellow executives Dan Caldwell and Timothy Katz announced today that a public ceremony to celebrate Lewis' life will be conducted April 14 at Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove beginning at 11 a.m. A large crowd is expected, with numerous mixed martial arts fighters and UFC executives.
"It's been a tough time over here," Kreiner said from the 150-employee TapouT headquarters in Grand Terrace. "This company has always been about Charles' dream, and making it come true. A lot remains that he had planned out -- it was part of his dream -- and we're going to make it happen."
Lewis was a former San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy who left that job to pursue a career capitalizing on the rising interest in mixed martial arts, a sport that has since reached mainstream status by packing arenas and drawing tens of millions of pay-per-view customers annually.
TapouT expanded from the early sponsorship of fighters such as former light-heavyweight champion Chuck "Iceman" Liddell to becoming the exclusive apparel of the UFC's popular "The Ultimate Fighter" reality competition. And TapouT launched its own reality series on the cable network Versus. Years earlier, both Lewis and Caldwell were working in law enforcement in San Bernardino County but were intrigued by the pursuit of the MMA business. Lewis quit being a deputy first, telling Caldwell "he couldn't do both things at the same time." Caldwell then joined him.
"We were friends way before it got this big," Caldwell said. "For 20 years, we spent every day together. I'm going to really miss the passion he had for this company." Katz said Lewis lived the sayings he'd post in the TapouT offices: "Simply believe" and "Quit does not exist."
The horrific crash that ended Lewis' life has brought more than 50,000 e-mails to TapouT offices, Kreiner said, but it also caused some to speculate Lewis was racing or driving drunk.
Caldwell and Kreiner insist Lewis didn't drink alcohol or use drugs. Lewis' girlfriend, Lacy Lynn White, was released from the hospital Tuesday, Caldwell said. "She's saddened, she loved Charles very much," he said.
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Last edited by MudSpider; 03-19-2009 at 09:59 AM.
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03-18-2009, 11:25 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Come At Me Bro
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: In a tree waiting to kill shit
Posts: 12,318
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Sad stuff man, rip mask, you wont be forgotten.
__________________
Xbox360 Gamertag: i shoot base
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03-18-2009, 11:31 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Banned
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,014
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03-19-2009, 12:10 AM
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#4 (permalink)
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Banned
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,014
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Bump..
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03-19-2009, 12:24 AM
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#5 (permalink)
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 Green Belt
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,041
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Its still seems unreal
__________________
"So he broke Tim Sylvia's arm...WHO CARES!!!" -Brock Lesnar
Charles "MASK" Lewis, Jr.
1963-2009
DIAZ BROS !!
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03-19-2009, 12:29 AM
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#6 (permalink)
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Banned
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Miami
Posts: 1,867
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i'm not a fan of tapout clothes, but damn what a sad way to go. it's both good and bad he didn't have kids. good because he won't be leaving them behind, growing up fatherless, but bad because there's no one to carry on his legacy.
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03-19-2009, 01:10 AM
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#7 (permalink)
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 Purple Belt
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Davis, CA
Posts: 2,493
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Is this a ceremony kind of thing or the actual funeral? How are they going to keep the body til then?
__________________
"What's the difference between chess and boxing? In chess, nobody is an expert, but everybody plays. In boxing everybody is an expert, but nobody fights."
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03-19-2009, 01:13 AM
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#8 (permalink)
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Banned
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RuDOWN4It
Is this a ceremony kind of thing or the actual funeral? How are they going to keep the body til then?
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It is a public celebration of his life...
No his body wont be there..
But if they wanted to they could...They have chemicals and freezers for that..
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03-19-2009, 01:13 AM
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#9 (permalink)
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Purple Belt
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,130
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I hope they acknowledge him at the next UFC. Still sad about this one.
__________________
" A man is measured by the things that anger him ".
Favorite fighter of all time: Wanderlei Silva.
Avatar bets 5-0.
Sig bets 3-1.
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03-19-2009, 01:31 AM
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#10 (permalink)
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 Brown Belt
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 4,092
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really sad. Best wishes to his family and friends.
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Fedor номер один
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