Tag: Maximum Fighting Championship

MFC standout Lewis retires
Former title challenger left lasting impression with ‘Army’ of fans

Press Release – July 9, 2012 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – The longest-serving fighter, and unquestionably one of the biggest fan favorites, in the Maximum Fighting Championship has decided to hang up his gloves for good.

Former light-heavyweight title challenger and 15-time MFC competitor Dwayne “D-Bomb” Lewis recently announced his retirement on his Facebook page. The announcement comes not as a major surprise as injuries have taken their toll on the family man over the past couple of years. Lewis had hoped to fight on the MFC 33 card back in May but hand issues forced that fight to the backburner. Although he had considered taking a run at the MFC 35 event coming up in October, Lewis opted to say goodbye instead.

“Finally making it official … I’m done fighting,” Lewis wrote. “I’ve had a blast. For five years I tried my best to put in as much time as I could to be able to compete. It’s just been too busy of a schedule for me to keep up with and compete with guys who train and fight full-time.

“I’ve met some great people and made some great friends. I’ve won fights that I shouldn’t have won and I’ve definitely lost fights I shouldn’t have lost but they have all been memories I will cherish. Walking away with a 14-8 record, 9 KOs, a 7-fight win streak and a ton of memories! Thanks to everyone who had supported me.”

The ‘Lewis Army’ may have lost its General but the leader won’t soon be forgotten.

“Dwayne was an all-time fan favorite, and a guy who gave his heart and soul in every fight,” said MFC Owner/President Mark Pavelich.

“No one in MFC history was a better professional than Dwayne, and no one was more respected. He was a blue-collar, working man’s hero.”

Lewis’s MFC run didn’t start off with much of a spark. In fact, a 17-second knockout loss to Aron Lofton nearly finished his career for good, but in true ‘Cinderella Man’ style, Lewis rebounded in astounding fashion. Lewis tore through his next five opponents beginning with a 31-second, one-punch knockout of Jason Kuchera at the inaugural Heat XC show.

The impressive streak featured arguably the biggest win of Lewis’s career when he put a resounding stamp on a first-round knockout of Marvin Eastman at MFC 23. Following a setback against former MFC champ Emanuel Newton, Lewis regained his footing once again with back-to-back wins over Mike Nickels (first-round knockout) and Razak Al-Hassan (unanimous decision).

Those victories catapulted Lewis into the crowning achievement of his career – a shot at the MFC light-heavyweight title. But Lewis came up just short in his bid at MFC 28, dropping a third-round TKO via doctor’s stoppage against rival Ryan Jimmo.

Plagued by injuries including serious back problems, Lewis was sidelined for a year before returning at MFC 32 but he couldn’t come through in another comeback bid as he was stopped in the first round by a resurgent Wilson Gouveia.

“To my fans, friends, and family who stuck with me through my five-year roller coaster ride … thank you so much. It has been incredible,” added Lewis.

“Having the ‘Army’ of supporters follow me to my fights, cheering me on, and chanting my name will forever be etched in my mind and heart. Big thanks to the MFC for giving me the opportunity to compete on such an incredible stage. Also a big thanks to my coach, trainer, and brother Sandy Bowman for getting me involved in the sport.

“I’m putting down my MMA gloves and picking up my wife and kids and moving on.”

The entire MFC management, staff, sponsors, and fans bid Dwayne heartfelt congratulations on his career and best wishes in all his future endeavors.

Canadian sensation to help kick off 145-pound division at MFC 35

Press Release – July 6, 2012 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – The Maximum Fighting Championship, Canada’s undisputed leader in mixed martial arts and one of the top shows in the world today, is excited to announce the official launch of its featherweight division, and the signing of its first fighter to the 145-pound ranks.

The Maximum Fighting Championship will debut the featherweight division at MFC 35 on Friday, October 26 live on AXS TV (formerly HDNet) throughout the United States and on tape-delay throughout Canada on TSN2.

And as a grand entrance, the MFC has signed one of the top featherweight prospects, Canadian sensation Graham Spencer (@GSpence145) , to a multi-fight deal.

Spencer (8-1, 1 NC) will lead the foray into the MFC’s featherweight division, and ride a three-fight winning streak into his organizational debut. The Nanaimo, B.C., product, who is a training partner of recently signed MFC welterweight hopeful Nick Hinchliffe, has earned four victories via submission, including two finishes inside the opening round.

“I am very excited about bringing Graham Spencer into the MFC as part of our leap into the featherweight division,” noted MFC Owner/President Mark Pavelich. “The MFC re-launched its heavyweight division, and now by adding the 145ers, our talent pool is getting even deeper.

“But I tell all the fighters the same thing I said to Graham’s management. It’s not going to be easy, there are no free rides, no hand-picking your opponents in the MFC. No one is going to get handed anything.

“The best part is that I have faith in all the fighters we sign. We showcase guys who want to fight anybody that’s put in front of them. That way our champions and our top contenders really deserve their opportunity in the spotlight.”

Prior to the debut of the featherweights, the Maximum Fighting Championship’s re-launch of the heavyweight division takes place at MFC 34: Total Recall in a rematch between Canada’s top-two big men as Mike “The Honey Badger” Hackert goes for a second straight victory over Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague.

MFC 34: Total Recall, headlined by the MFC lightweight title fight between Adam Lynn and Mukai Maromo, takes place on Friday, August 10 at the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, 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).

For more information and interview requests, please contact:

Scott Zerr, Director of Media and Fighter Relations

Maximum Fighting Championship

(780) 914-5813

[email protected]

www.maximumfighting.com

Follow the MFC on Twitter @maximumfighting

Follow me on Twitter @scottmaxfight

Press Release – June 28, 2012 – The Maximum Fighting Championship has enlisted a pair of top middleweight prospects to clash at MFC 34: Total Recall.

Jacen Flynn (10-2) will ride a four-fight winning streak into his organizational debut against newly signed Elvis “The King” Mutapcic (10-2), who has been victorious in seven of his last eight outings.

“We have been working hard to bolster our middleweight ranks, and the lineup for MFC 34 has proven our efforts to be very successful,” said Mark Pavelich, Owner/President of the Maximum Fighting Championship.

“Jacen Flynn against Elvis Mutapcic will be an exciting battle, and with Joseph Henle meeting Luke Harris on the same night, I think we’re going to see the two best contenders step forward to challenge for the MFC middleweight title.”

The Flynn-Mutapcic matchup rounds out the televised card that will live air on AXS TV (the soon-to-be rebranded HDNet) on Friday, August 10. Headlined by the MFC world lightweight title fight between Adam Lynn and Mukai Maromo, the event will emanate from the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (check local listings for channel designation).

Mutapcic (Twitter @ElvisMutapcic), who was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and now fights out of Des Moines, Iowa, boasts three wins by way of knockout and six via submission. Mutapcic’s notable career wins have been a victory over former MFC light-heavyweight title challenger Zak Cummings, a 25-second knockout of Cezar Ferreira, and a first-round tapout of submission specialist Josh Rosaaen.

Entering this year, Mutapcic was ranked No. 7 on Bloody Elbow list of the World MMA Top Middleweight Prospects (http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/1/11/2699127/elvis-mutapcic-mma-world-mma-middleweight-scouting-report).

Flynn (Twitter @JacenFlynnMMA), who fights out of Twin Falls, Idaho, boasts nine submission wins on his resume including first-round stoppages of Denis Kang and Edwin Dewees. The 33-year-old also holds a career victory over jiu-jitsu ace Dean Lister.

The 13-year veteran is regarded as the innovator of the strep choke, a submission similar to the rear-naked choke utilizing the aggressor’s back and shoulder muscles along with a triangle body lock.

MFC 34: Total Recall Main Card

Adam Lynn vs. Mukai Maromo, MFC lightweight title
Joseph Henle vs. Luke Harris, middleweight
Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jacen Flynn, middleweight
Mike Hackert vs. Tim Hague, heavyweight
Nick Hinchliffe vs. Dhiego Lima, welterweight
Diego Bautista vs. Sabah Fadai, lightweight

Tickets for MFC 34: Total Recall are going fast and are on sale now exclusively through the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024.

For more information and interview requests, please contact:

Scott Zerr, Director of Media and Fighter Relations
Maximum Fighting Championship
(780) 914-5813
[email protected]
www.maximumfighting.com

Follow the MFC on Twitter @maximumfighting
Follow me on Twitter @scottmaxfight

Press Release – The Maximum Fighting Championship has enlisted a pair of top middleweight prospects to clash at MFC 34: Total Recall.

Jacen Flynn (10-2) will ride a four-fight winning streak into his organizational debut against newly signed Elvis “The King” Mutapcic (10-2), who has been victorious in seven of his last eight outings.

“We have been working hard to bolster our middleweight ranks, and the lineup for MFC 34 has proven our efforts to be very successful,” said Mark Pavelich, Owner/President of the Maximum Fighting Championship.

“Jacen Flynn against Elvis Mutapcic will be an exciting battle, and with Joseph Henle meeting Luke Harris on the same night, I think we’re going to see the two best contenders step forward to challenge for the MFC middleweight title.”

The Flynn-Mutapcic matchup rounds out the televised card that will live air on AXS TV (the soon-to-be rebranded HDNet) on Friday, August 10. Headlined by the MFC world lightweight title fight between Adam Lynn and Mukai Maromo, the event will emanate from the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (check local listings for channel designation).

Mutapcic (Twitter @ElvisMutapcic), who was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and now fights out of Des Moines, Iowa, boasts three wins by way of knockout and six via submission. Mutapcic’s notable career wins have been a victory over former MFC light-heavyweight title challenger Zak Cummings, a 25-second knockout of Cezar Ferreira, and a first-round tapout of submission specialist Josh Rosaaen.

Entering this year, Mutapcic was ranked No. 7 on Bloody Elbow list of the World MMA Top Middleweight Prospects (http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/1/11/2699127/elvis-mutapcic-mma-world-mma-middleweight-scouting-report).

Flynn (Twitter @JacenFlynnMMA), who fights out of Twin Falls, Idaho, boasts nine submission wins on his resume including first-round stoppages of Denis Kang and Edwin Dewees. The 33-year-old also holds a career victory over jiu-jitsu ace Dean Lister.

The 13-year veteran is regarded as the innovator of the strep choke, a submission similar to the rear-naked choke utilizing the aggressor’s back and shoulder muscles along with a triangle body lock.

MFC 34: Total Recall Main Card
Adam Lynn vs. Mukai Maromo, MFC lightweight title
Joseph Henle vs. Luke Harris, middleweight
Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jacen Flynn, middleweight
Mike Hackert vs. Tim Hague, heavyweight
Nick Hinchliffe vs. Dhiego Lima, welterweight
Diego Bautista vs. Sabah Fadai, lightweight

Tickets for MFC 34: Total Recall are going fast and are on sale now exclusively through the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024.

Press Release – A head-on clash between two exciting welterweights has been added to the main card of MFC 34: Total Recall.

Top prospect Dhiego “Maluco” Lima (6-2) will battle newly signed Nick “The Juggernaut” Hinchliffe (19-8) in a matchup that could potentially set up the next leading contender to challenge reigning MFC welterweight champ Nathan “Soul Force” Coy.

The Lima-Hinchliffe tilt will be featured on the AXS TV (the soon-to-be re-branded HDNet) airing live from the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, on Friday, August 10. Headlined by the MFC lightweight showdown between Adam Lynn and Mukai Maromo, MFC 34: Total Recall will launch at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (check local listings for channel designation). The event will also air on TSN2 on a tape-delay basis.

A native of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Hinchliffe, who signed a multi-fight deal with the Maximum Fighting Championship, has won four of his last six bouts including victories over Bastien Huveneers, Ryan Machan, and Mike Hackert. Amongst his most notable career wins are verdicts over Anderson Goncalves, Travis Galbraith, and Craig Brown.

Hinchliffe began his career in 2006 with a nine-fight winning streak, and has chalked up seven wins via knockout and seven by submission. Of his 19 wins, 11 have come inside the opening round.

Lima, who fights out of Atlanta, Georgia, opened his MFC run with three convincing victories including a pair of knockouts coming over Bill Fraser (MFC 27) and Jamie Toney (MFC 30). The Brazilian-born Lima also registered a third-round submission win over Josh Taveirne at MFC 29.

The 22-year-old, who recently opened ATT Gwinnett just outside Atlanta, is coming off a decision loss to Coy at MFC 32.

MFC 34: Total Recall confirmed bouts:
Adam Lynn vs. Mukai Maromo, MFC lightweight title
Joseph Henle vs. Luke Harris, middleweight
Mike Hackert vs. Tim Hague, heavyweight
Nick Hinchliffe vs. Dhiego Lima, welterweight
Diego Bautista vs. Sabah Fadai, lightweight
Derek Parker vs. Jared McComb, middleweight

Tickets for MFC 34: Total Recall are on sale now, and available exclusively through the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024.

Press Release – June 13, 2012 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – Until very recently, judo never seemed to get its rightful place alongside other martial arts and tactics such as wrestling, striking, Muay Thai, and of course jiu-jitsu.

But many stars in mixed martial arts are demonstrating how valuable a weapon judo can be. One of them proponents is Luke Harris, who will certainly see his skill set put to the test at MFC 34: Total Recall when he faces Joseph “Leonidas” Henle in a featured middleweight matchup.

“Wrestling is certainly a cornerstone of MMA, but judo is kind of meld between wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” explained Harris, a black belt in judo who also boasts a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

“Judo is a style that can work very well against wrestlers. And now we’re seeing more judokas competing in MMA at a higher level – people like the Nick and Nate Diaz and Ronda Rousey. But you still have to work on every aspect. No one skill is going to be enough.

“Right now, judo is a little bit of an unknown and it can be very effective so you’re going to see more and more of it.”

Harris (9-1) and Henle (7-0) will lock horns at MFC 34 taking place on Friday, August 10 at the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. The HDNet (soon to be rebranded AXS TV) Fights card will air live beginning at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (check local listings for channel designation).

Modification is a key word in Harris’s fight vocabulary. It not only describes what must be done with his judo talents when it comes to mixed martial arts combat, it’s always the perfect way to describe his overall approach to game planning for each new opponent. There’s no one specific area that the Edmonton, Alberta, fighter is focused on when it comes to strategy for battling Henle. It’s more a matter of refining and adapting.

“I’m always modifying certain things,” explained Harris. “I dedicate a percentage of training on each area like striking, strength and conditioning, jiu-jitsu, and then just modify that percentage to whomever I’m fighting.

“For Henle, I’ll probably take the percentage of wrestling up a bit but I’m not going to discount the ground work either. He’s got a submission win over Constantinos Philippou so I can’t negate the jiu-jitsu, and I have to still keep working on wrestling and stand up.”

Harris utilized his judo to near-perfection in last bout, making short work of veteran Edwin Dewees at MFC 33. After taking a Dewees right hand to the face, Harris locked up his opponent and then ferociously put him on his back with a throw akin to an old-school wrestling hip-toss. From there, Harris put his submission skills to work and quickly forced a tapout via a guillotine choke.

“You definitely learn about yourself with each win … you just believer in yourself more and it adds more confidence,” noted Harris. “That fight went as planned, not that I wanted it to go that fast but just the way it went. I had hoped to take him into deeper waters and drown him, but the opportunity was there and I took it.”

That win was Harris’s ninth straight – all coming via first-round submission. In those victories, Harris has averaged an in-ring time of 2:01.

While making quick work of his foes has become a routine thing for Harris, he isn’t expecting such an easy task ahead of him in Henle. And while the victory over Dewees did win over some of his critics, Harris hasn’t paid much mind to the negative comments. A win against Henle, however, would go a long way to muzzling the naysayers even more.

“Honestly, I’m never too concerned about what people say. I take it the same way Mark Pavelich takes it when people talk about him. If you’re in a successful spot, you’re going to earn a lot of critics.

“I kind of look at it like watching ‘TMZ.’ If you’re going to be a celebrity or the face of an organization or a front-runner, people are going to talk about you and some it is going to be negative.

“I do this because I love it. I love to train every day. I don’t care what those people say. I care only about the people around me and that’s it.”

Tickets for MFC 34: Total Recall are on sale now and are available exclusively through the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024.