After being cut from the UFC after one fight, a close split decision loss to Jacob Volkmann at UFC 125, lightweight fighter Antonio “Mandingo” McKee (25-4-2) will reportedly make his return to the Maximum Fighting Championship promotion at next months MFC 28: Supremacy event. There he’ll face recently signed veteran Drew Fickett (40-13) for the MFC lightweight title, a belt McKee abdicated in order to get a shot with the UFC.
The news was confirmed by Sherdog.com who spoke to a source close to the fight, an official announcement is expected soon from MFC officials.
The 40-year old McKee had a fourteen fight, seven-and-a-half year, undefeated streak stopped by Volkmann at the Jan.1 st UFC 125 event. Although Volkmann was awarded the split decision win, several fans and critics questioned the judges call in awarding the win. McKee was cut shortly afterword from the promotion.
McKee, who had a long list of decision wins, was criticized as a boring fighter and was likely one of the reasons the UFC had overlooked him for so long. McKee took it upon himself to show everyone that he was capable of finishing fights and did just that by earning first round wins in his previous two fights. He stopped Luciano Azevedo by TKO in September, defending his MFC lightweight title after cutting his opponents head with an elbow, and earned a submission victory in March against Rodrigo Ruiz at a Collision in the Cage. “Mandingo” is 3-0 in the MFC.
Fickett, a former UFC veteran, will finally make his debut with the MFC after he, and MFC President Mark Pavelich, patched things up over a feud stemming from 2008, when Fickett had originally been scheduled to fight for the promotion but never materialized.
“Mark and I had a quarrel but everything has been forgiven and I appreciate that he is giving me a shot. He called me with this opportunity even after we had such a big dispute. To me, that’s just beautiful … it’s just awesome. I think Mark and I are now able to sit back and have a beer and laugh about all that past stuff.”
Fickett has won four straight, all of which took place in 2010, bouncing back from a two year stretch that saw him go 2-8 with various promotions. Three of those recent victories came on the same night when he won the Shine: Lightweight Grand Prix tournament in September. He submitted all three opponents to win, stopping Chalres Bennett, Dennis Bermudez, and Carlo Prater. Fickett holds notable victories over fights such names as Josh Koscheck, Kenny Florian, Josh Neer, and Kurt Pellegrino.
The Maximum Fighting Championship is a Canadian promotion based in Edmonton, Alberta. MFC 28: Supremacy will be held on Feb. 25 at the River Cree Resort and Casino just outside of the city and will be headlined by an MFC light heavyweight title bout between Ryan Jimmo vs. Dwayne Lewis for the vacant belt.