Mark Pavelich is promising a world-class card for the Maximum Fighting Championship’s first stop in Brandon.
Tickets go on sale today for MFC 26: Retribution, slated for Friday, Sept. 10 at Westman Place, with the mixed martial arts card broadcast live on HDNet in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
“It’s going to be the biggest mixed martial arts card to come to Manitoba … and outside the UFC, probably the biggest in Canada, ever,” said Pavelich, the owner/president of MFC, Canada’s top MMA association.
“I couldn’t be any more excited to come to your city. … I like the Keystone Centre, I watched the Memorial Cup on television and I liked the atmosphere in the arena when I was watching it and I thought, that’s where I’m going to put a show on.”
The card will feature the likes of former UFC veteran Wilson Gouveia, The Ultimate Fighter 6 alumnus Richie (The Dirty Samurai) Hightower, as well as Brandon’s top two local fighters making their MFC debut in Curtis Demarce and Steve Fader, with the main event to be announced next week.
“We will have major league fighters on this card,” Pavelich said. “I’m coming to Brandon and I’m not bringing some subpar fight card. I am bringing the biggest one that my company has put on in 10 years. I have a few scenarios and I want to put on a great main event so that people go ‘Wow, this is unbelievable’ …
“We might put in Ryan (The Big Deal) Jimmo (13-1), who is an MFC product who has won 14 fights in a row and just smashed Wilson Gouveia in his last fight in the Maximum Fighting Championship. So he might fight in the main event.”
Confirmed fighters include Canadian welterweight Ryan (The Real Deal) Ford (12-2), MFC lightweight champion Antonio (Mandingo) McKee (24-3-2) of Los Angeles in a title fight against Brazilian Luciano Azevedo (16-8), as well as Brazilian light heavyweight Glover Teixeira (9-2) and British middleweight Tom (Kong) Watson (12-3).
A top light heavyweight bout will feature crowd favourite Dwayne Lewis (11-5) of Fort McMurray, Alta., battling Gouveia (12-8), an MMA veteran with American Top Team from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The Brandon boys, Demarce (9-7) and Fader (2-1), will get the night started as Demarce puts his five fight winning streak up against Hightower (8-4), of Phoenix, Ariz., in a lightweight clash.
“What I’ve seen from Curtis Demarce, I think he has a very good possibility of winning that fight,” Pavelich said.
“Curtis Demarce belongs in the Maximum Fighting Championship. … He has earned that spot to do so, he has won a lot of fights in a row, he looks really good and I’m really excited.”
Meanwhile, Fader faces rival Nick Hrynchyshyn (2-1) of Sylvan Lake, Alta., while Nathan Gunn (7-2) of Thunder Bay, Ont., will battle Dami Egbeyemi (3-0) of Regina.
Tickets are available via Ticketmaster (726-3555) or at www.ticketmaster.ca, with the event slated to begin at 7:15 p.m. (broadcast at 9 p.m.).
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