(MacGrath could raise his stock immensely with a win over a veteran like Aurelio.)
Cory MacDonald was hoping that his fight at MMA Live 1 against Marcus Aurelio would be his coming out party of sorts that would propel the highly-touted Kingston, Ontario native up the Canadian welterweight rankings. Unfortunately for MacDonald, he will have to wait for his opportunity to open the eyes of fans, pundits and possibly the powers that be at the UFC, as he has been forced to pull out of the May 19 London, Ontario show for undisclosed medical reasons.
Stepping in for McDonald on just over one week’s notice to face Aurelio (20-9) will be always game Halifax, Nova Scotia native Matt MacGrath (10-5). Although he is just 2-3 in his last five outings, each of his losses in that span came against UFC veterans in Kalib Starnes, Jonathan Goulet and Claude Patrick. MacGrath defeated TUF 9 quarter finalist Dean Amasinger at MMA: The Reckoning in Orillia, Ontario April 2.
Aurelio, who fought the majority of his career at 155 will be moving up to 170 for first time in his career for the fight. A veteran of PRIDE, the UFC and DREAM, the Fortaleza, Brazil-born fighter holds wins over Daisuke Nakamura, Takanori Gomi, Masakazu Imanari and Rich Clementi. In his last fight at DREAM 16 in September, he dropped a hard-fought decision to DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki in a non-title affair.
MMA Live 1 will feature a main event welterweight bout between Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford.
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MMA Live 1
Saturday, May 19, 2011
John Labatt Centre
London, Ontario, Canada
Ryan Ford (14-3) vs. Karo Parisyan (19-6)
Matt MacGrath (10-5) vs. Marcus Aurelio (20-9)
Nick Denis (9-2) vs. Kyle Dietz (5-2)
Louis-Philippe Carle (8-2) vs. Frank Lester (6-5)
Julia Budd (1-1) vs. Anna Barone (1-2)
Brent Franczuz (3-1) vs. Bo Harris (4-2-1)
Daniel Langbeen (3-2) vs. Lyndon Whitlock (2-1)
James Haourt (2-5) vs. Chucky Mady (4-3)*
*Contingent on commission approval.