Tag: Canadian Content

MFC 37: True Grit – Rama vs. Barnett For Heavyweight Title Official For May 10th

Press Release – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – On May 10th at MFC 37: True Grit, two of the most dynamic and promising heavyweight fighters in mixed martial arts will meet in the ring for the main event. The prize will be the undisputed World Heavyweight Championship title. Smealinho Rama (6-0) and Chris Barnett (7-1) have […]

MFC 37 banner

Press Release – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – On May 10th at MFC 37: True Grit, two of the most dynamic and promising heavyweight fighters in mixed martial arts will meet in the ring for the main event. The prize will be the undisputed World Heavyweight Championship title. Smealinho Rama (6-0) and Chris Barnett (7-1) have each earned their place at the MFC’s “big boy” table and on May 10th it will be time to see who gets to eat.

Smealinho “The Prince” Rama is currently the #1 ranked heavyweight fighter in Canada. Coming off a first round TKO finish of previously top ranked Mike Hackert at MFC 36 in February, he now gets the call to compete for the title after only having competed in professional mixed martial arts for 13 months. At just 21 years of age, Rama is a significant force in the heavyweight division – an undeniable talent brimming with confidence.

In his 6 fights (which have lasted a total of only 14:06 combined), Smealinho has won half by TKO and half by submission, with all wins coming in the very first round. Not one to opt for the slow and steady route, Rama fought and won 5 times in 2012, building momentum, sharpening his skills and looking markedly better in each outing. This led Rama to his fight with Mike Hackert, who then held the rank of #1 heavyweight in the country. Rama finished Hackert with punches at 2:28 of the first round. His style of fighting and his achievements are very impressive, yet what is equally impressive is how Rama does it all with the calmness of a veteran fighter.

Chris “Beast Boy” Barnett is an athletic virtuoso: a tae kwon do black belt with boxing experience who played Division 1 football for the University of South Florida. At 5’9″ and 265 pounds, Chris possesses a level of athleticism normally reserved for men far smaller than himself. He overflows with charisma and consistently pleases fans with his fighting style. He has competed in MMA for 4 years, finishing 5 of the 8 opponents he has faced by KO or TKO. Looking to the immediate future, Chris has said that Smealinho Rama is precisely the kind fighter he wants for his next fight: a legitimate contender. Well aware of the level of skill possessed by his opponent, but eager to build his legacy, Chris Barnett predicts a win over Rama via TKO in the 2nd round.

These are two fighters who are not at all hesitant to put everything on the line and engage in the kinds of fights MMA fans have come to love and appreciate. Rama has stated that he doesn’t want to be a “decision fighter.” “I want to finish every fight and make it exciting… and I want the fans to love it.” Barnett has similarly stated that he is all about putting on a show and that he believes it to be his job to “humble fighters with massive egos.” Here we have all the makings of a heavyweight slugfest where nothing is held back, where the level of talent is extremely high, and from which a new MMA star will emerge.

Tickets for MFC 37: True Grit are on sale now and available at www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024.

Yves Jabouin vs. Dustin Pague Announced As Twelfth Match For UFC 161

The upcoming Canadian UFC 161 pay-per-view event has a new addition to the card as Yves ‘Tiger’ Jabouin (18-8) and Dustin ‘The Disciple’ Pague (11-7) are set to square off in a bantamweight bout for the upcoming June show. Canadian officials with the UFC Tweeted (@UFC_CA) the news Wednesday afternoon. – Winnipeg gets one more […]

Yves Jabouin

Yves Jabouin

The upcoming Canadian UFC 161 pay-per-view event has a new addition to the card as Yves ‘Tiger’ Jabouin (18-8) and Dustin ‘The Disciple’ Pague (11-7) are set to square off in a bantamweight bout for the upcoming June show.

Canadian officials with the UFC Tweeted (@UFC_CA) the news Wednesday afternoon.

– Winnipeg gets one more as bantamweights @TigerJabouin & @DustinPague will go head-to-head on June 15th #UFC161

UFC 161: Barao vs. Wineland is expected to take place on June 15, 2013 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The main event will see interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao defend his title versus former WEC champ Eddie Wineland.

With elven bouts already on the card, and five slotted for the main card, the Jabouin vs. Pague bout will take place on the prelims likely on Facebook.

Jabouin saw a three fight win streak end last September at UFC on FUEL TV 5 after suffering a devastating first round knockout loss to Brad Pickett. Prior to that ‘Tiger’ won a unanimous decision versus Jeff Hougland at UFC on FUEL TV 3, as well as split decisions versus Walel Watson at UFC 140 and Ian Loveland at UFC 134.

The former TUF 14 competitor Pague is fighting for his job with a 1-3 record in the Octagon, having dropped his last two bouts. ‘The Disciple’ lost a decision to Chico Camus last August at UFC 150 and a split decision to Ken Stone at UFC on FX 4 replacing an injured Francisco Rivera. Pague’s last win went down a few weeks before the FX 4 show at UFC on FX 3 with a first round sub of Jared Papazian.

Five Rounds With Former UFC Lightweight Mark Hominick

Fight Network’s John Ramdeen and Robin Black break down this past weekend’s mixed martial arts action with special guest former UFC featherweight contender Mark “The Machine” Hominick featuring World Series of Fighting 2, a look at Jose Aldo vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 163, Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 and Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fuel 9 on this edition of 5 Rounds.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Fight Network’s John Ramdeen and Robin Black break down this past weekend’s mixed martial arts action with special guest former UFC featherweight contender Mark “The Machine” Hominick featuring World Series of Fighting 2, a look at Jose Aldo vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 163, Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 and Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fuel 9 on this edition of 5 Rounds.

Georges St-Pierre Will Reportedly Play A Villain In The Next Captain America Movie

UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre will apparently hit the big-screen by playing a villain in the next Captain America movie which is expected to hit theaters on April 4, 2014. Latino Review (via MMAManaia.com) posted the exclusive news on Monday, noting that GSP will play “Batroc the Leaper,” one of the villains in the upcoming […]

GSPUFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre will apparently hit the big-screen by playing a villain in the next Captain America movie which is expected to hit theaters on April 4, 2014.

Latino Review (via MMAManaia.com) posted the exclusive news on Monday, noting that GSP will play “Batroc the Leaper,” one of the villains in the upcoming “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” movie.

Just got off the phone with my Marvel source who gave me an Exclusive scoop…

I’ve been told that mixed martial artist and current UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre aka GSP has been cast in Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”.

GSP will play one of the villains, Batroc the Leaper!!!

Here is a bit of info on the character.

Batroc has no superhuman abilities, but is in peak physical condition in every respect. He is an Olympic-level weightlifter and has extraordinary agility and reflexes. His leg muscles are particularly well-developed which enables him to leap great distances with the strength of an Olympic athlete. He is an expert hand-to-hand combatant and specializes in savate (French-style kickboxing). He is also a skilled military tactician, having formerly been in the French Foreign Legion.

Batroc is an experienced thief and smuggler, who also speaks French and English. Although, as a mercenary, he does not hesitate to perform any number of criminal acts for his clients, Batroc has, by his own rights, a strong sense of honor, and he will turn against any client whom he feels has unfairly deceived him into committing crimes to which he might not otherwise have agreed.

St-Pierre has already appeared in three low-budget movies such as “Death Warrior,” “Hell’s Chain” and “Never Surrender.”

Filming may put a wrench in No. 1 contender Johny Hendricks plans to square off with ‘Rush’ later this summer or early fall.

UFC 158 Decimal Point Weigh-in Controversy “Has Always Been A Rule In Quebec”

Some controversy has surfaced this week surrounding UFC welterweight Georges St-Pierre and his recent title defense versus Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in his hometown of Montreal. Besides the champ coming out to apologize for having a ‘Rising Sun’ logo on his Hayabusa walk-out Gi at UFC 158 (which I haven’t had time to write […]

scale1Some controversy has surfaced this week surrounding UFC welterweight Georges St-Pierre and his recent title defense versus Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in his hometown of Montreal.

Besides the champ coming out to apologize for having a ‘Rising Sun’ logo on his Hayabusa walk-out Gi at UFC 158 (which I haven’t had time to write about), there is a bit of controversy over the Quebec Commission’s handling of the official weigh-ins.

The story is that before the official weigh-ins, UFC Senior VP of Business and Legal Affairs, Michael Mersh, went to the Diaz camp to tell them that the Quebec Commission doesn’t count the “decimal” point. Meaning that if you were 0.5-lbs overweight for a welterweight match it would be counted as 170-lbs.

This is certainly an interesting piece of news as every other commission requires fighters to weigh-in on the mark or under, meaning that both GSP and Diaz would have to weigh in at, or under, 170-lbs for their title match in any other city.

Reporter Ariel Helwani Tweeted (@arielhelwani) this message on the situation last night after contacting the Quebec Commission.

Re: the decimal “controversy” at the GSP-Diaz weigh-ins last week. I just spoke to Michel Hamelin, the director of the Regie des Alcools des Courses et des Jeux (the Quebec boxing commission), and he said they will be sending out a statement this week to explain the situation in greater detail.

He also said that this has always been a rule in Quebec and that no funny business, so to speak, was in play to favor anyone on the card.

“I’ll tell you this,” he said. “The one thing we always do is respect our rules.”

Unfortunately, that’s all he wanted to say at this time. I’ll pass along their statement when it’s released later this week.

There had been a video of Mersch speaking to the Diaz camp at the Bell Centre just before the official weigh-ins for UFC 158 but has since been pulled “due to a copyright claim by UFC.”

Here is a transcription of that video as posted on MixedMartialArts.com.

“Here, they’re going to allow you and Georges to have an extra hour,” Mersch says. “Just in case somebody doesn’t make it.”

“But the good news is, they don’t count the decimal. If you’re 170.2 it’s 170. If it’s 170.9. it’s 170.”

A member of the Diaz camp responds, asking “why didn’t we know that before?”

Mersch continues.

“Should be fine, hopefully, other than that. Just so you guys are in the loop, if there’s …”

Again, a member of the Diaz camps responds, asking “why didn’t you tell us that yesterday?”

Mersch continues.

“Well, no,” he says. “It’s just something to keep in mind. That’s kind of an off the record type of thing. But keep that in mind. As long as he’s under 171, we should be good.

“But, there is a time period afterwards, for you and Georges only. All the other fighters have to make it the first time. Just letting you guys be in the loop, okay?”

“Good luck.”

A member of the Diaz camp quips, “that’s a loophole… A Canadian loophole.”

I am certainly against this sort of policy as it degrades the efforts of every other commission in North America who are trying to conduct themselves to a standard. If this has “always been a rule” why is this the first time it’s ever come up, and it begs to ask ‘what other rules have they changed?’

Maximum Fighting Championship To Debut Facebook Fights On May 10th At MFC 37: True Grit

Press Release – For the first time in organizational history, the Maximum Fighting Championship will bring all the heated action of an event undercard to a live audience around the world via Facebook. At MFC 37: True Grit, fans will be able to see a five-fight preliminary bout lineup streaming live on the Maximum Fighting […]

MFC 37 Facebook

Press Release – For the first time in organizational history, the Maximum Fighting Championship will bring all the heated action of an event undercard to a live audience around the world via Facebook.

At MFC 37: True Grit, fans will be able to see a five-fight preliminary bout lineup streaming live on the Maximum Fighting Championship’s Facebook page. Simply go to www.facebook.com/MaximumFighting and click ‘LIKE’ to watch the fistic fireworks.

The MFC has set three of the five fights slated for the True Grit undercard which will get under way at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT on Friday, May 10 from the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

The main card of MFC 37: True Grit, headlined by the showdown for the MFC world heavyweight title between Chris “Beast Boy” Barnett and Smealinho “The Prince” Rama, will be airing live on AXS TV Fights beginning at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (check local listings for channel designation).

Two middleweight fights will spark the undercard action at MFC 37. In what should be a rugged tussle, “The Loudmouth Assassin” Marcus Hicks will put a three-fight winning streak on the line against Jared “The Yeti” McComb. At MFC 36, Hicks notched a second-round submission victory over Paul Grandbois, while McComb will look to get back to winning ways after having his four-fight winning streak stopped at MFC 33.

In the other middleweight matchup, former Knockout of the Night winner Paul “The Punisher” Grandbois, who was the runner-up in voting for the MFC’s Fight of the Year in 2012, will take on hard-throwing striker Allen Hope. Back in April 2011, the two previously clashed with Hope earning the sixth knockout victory of his career in a first-round stoppage.

And as previously announced, the MFC 37: True Grit undercard will feature the much-anticipated “Brother vs. Brother” fight as Mike Treadwell squares off against his younger sibling Thomas Treadwell in a heavyweight clash.

Two more fights will be added shortly to the live Facebook undercard for MFC 37.

Tickets for MFC 37: True Grit are on sale now and available at www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024.