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ENOCH, ALBERTA (Feb. 21) -- The Maximum Fighting
Championship saved a little bit of everything for their first foray into the
world of live TV, courtesy of Mark Cubans HDNET, and may have kick started a
potential star turn for Ryan Ford in the process.
The Real Deal Ryan Ford made due on his promise
to send his opponent home with an L, and the undefeated upstart improved to 5-0
at the expense of the far more experienced Pete Spratt. Ford has been training MMA
for a grand total of 9 months, and proved that experience isnt everything,
finishing 9 year veteran Spratt with what has proved to be his kryptonite,
the rear naked choke. The fight however, did not play out without its fair
share of controversy.
Coming into the bout there was no secret to
either fighters game-plan, Ford the ground and pounder, and Spratt the stand up
technician clashed and in the early goings Spratt looked every bit the veteran.
Dipping in and out of range and forcing Ford to drive in without the
appropriate setup, Spratt was able to set the early pace. Ford, as expected,
used his wrestling to tie up the single and double leg takedowns when he could
and bully the fight to the mat, but Ford had some trouble keeping the fight
grounded long enough to deliver any meaningful punishment in the early goings.
When it went to the mat Ford was warned for
holding on to the shorts and referee Herb Dean deducted a point from Ford for
the infraction. The Real Deal actually tore Spratts shorts right up the
right leg seam with one such hold, an infraction that forced referee Herb Dean
to step in and deduct a point from the young fighter.
Spratt had the edge in the first round on the
strength of the point deduction and a well timed head kick that staggered Ford
to the mat. He followed up with some punches on the ground and it appeared that the young Procamp fighter was in trouble. Ford
looked slightly off balance but was able to work his way out of danger and take
the fight to the ground until the bell sounded to end the first round, and that
is when controversy intervened. Referee Dean didnt appear to hear the bell and
did not separate the fighters, Ford landed another 2 solid elbows right to
the face of Spratt after the bell sparking a melee of confusion. The fighters
were promptly separated but Spratt laid on the mat for some time apparently
hurt from the strike. Dean eventually gave Spratt time to recover from the
elbow and did not deduct a point for the infraction.
In the second round Spratt looked to be a
little weary and Ford would seize his opportunity. He took the fight to the mat
worked his way to Spratts back and although The Secret Weapon fought to fend
off the submission that has been the bane of his MMA career, Ford eventually
secured the same standing rear naked choke that Georges St. Pierre used on
Spratt, that had him tapping out before he fell onto his back at 4:01 of the
second stanza.
In what was one of the biggest come from behind
victories in MFC history, Jesse Forbes first foray onto Canadian soil proved
to be a memorable one as he came away from the fight with the hard fought victory
over little known Chris Camozzi.
Camozzi proved to be better than advertized however,
and any notion of an easy Forbes victory were dispelled quickly with Camozzi
winning over 10 of the almost 12 minutes of the fight.
In the first round
Camozzi was able to open up a cut on the face of Forbes that bled into his eye,
the doctor looked at the cut and gave Forbes the go ahead to continue but it
also gave Camozzi a target and he went after it with aplomb.
Forbes was the better wrestler and secured the
take down throughout the fight, a product of what appeared to be instinctual
reaction, reverting to his wrestling every time they tied up. Despite the loud
protest from his corner, who pleaded for him to stay standing to keep from having
his cut opened up by Camozzi, Forbes continued to work from the ground even as
the bell sounded to signal the end of the second round.
Forbes now had 2 significant cuts, one on the
bridge of his nose and the other on his forehead just to the left of his left
eye and the Ultimate Fighter 3 TV show veteran appeared well on his way to a
losing effort. Someone forgot to tell him because seemingly out of nowhere, he
trapped Camozzis arm and tied up the elbow crackling submission to force the
grimacing Camozzi to protect his arm with the tapout at 1:45 of rd 3.
In a gritty 3 round battle Mike Maestas was
able to control the stand up exchanges and keep Ryan Heck from working from the
top position to take the victory and the potential future 155 lbs title shot in
the process. Hecks usual ground and pound assault never got off the ground as
Maestas was able to put the wrestler on his back and control the stand-up to
take the fight from the gritty Heck and secure the unanimous decision victory.
Representing Halifax Ryan Jimmo has quickly
re-established himself after a loss to Adam Braidwood in his first fight and
defeated Craig Zellner in impressive fashion to continue his ascent. Jimmo who
was making the drop from heavyweight, missed the LHW weight limit by 2 pounds
weighing in at 208 but the weight cut didnt appear to affect him as he took
the fight to the ground and dominated position firing off elbows, hammerfists,
and punches to bloody Craig Zellner en route to a dominant stoppage victory at
3:20 of the first round.
Ryan McGillivrays last two fights have been
difficult to swallow for the promising young Procamp upstart who who has now reasserted
himself in the welterweight division with a dominating victory over the tough
Machado blue belt Jason Zorthian. The fight did not start off well for
McGillivray however, Zorthian came out his usual aggressive self darting in and
out with wild kicks and punches but The Kid, with The Athlete Jason
MacDonald in his corner, followed the UFC veterans advice securing the takedown
and working his way to the mount from where there was no escape, punishing
Zorthian with hard punches and elbows that had the fans grimacing.
Zorthian
showed great resolve working hard to escape, despite the quickly accumulating
damage, but the end came when McGillivray secured the arm and finished with the
submission in the first round to get back on the winning track at 4:10.
Jason Kuchera finally moved past the :30 second
mark of the first stanza in a fight and still won, but it wasnt quite as easy
as his previous efforts. Kuchera had to show heart to defeat Allan Hope in a
back and forth slugfest that saw the pendulum sway from fighter to fighter and
back again several times in an unpredictable fight.. Right off the bell, Hope
took Kuchera down quickly to quell the inevitable haymakers that have plagued
previous Kuchera opponents, and early on it worked well.
Kuchera looked less comfortable on his back
than on his feet but Hope could not keep it there enough to finish the fight
when he had the opportunity and it would cost him. In the second round with
Kuchera visibly tired, Hope took him down and planted Kuchera into the corner,
stood up and fired off a volley of strikes that had the referee taking a close
look. Kuch scrambled his way to his feet at the expense of facial damage and reverted
to throwing haymakers and eventually landed a left hook that vanquished Hope
and secured the KO at 1:11 or the second
Victoria fighter Gavin Neil was able to
overcome some adversity in his second MMA bout to defeat Josh Groves in the
second stanza of their scheduled 3 round fight. Neil absorbed some stiff
punches in the early goings, but was able to take the mount punish his opponent and eventually lock in the rear naked choke after Groves gave up his back to secure the come from behind victory over a
stunned Groves at 1:05 of the second rd..
Dave Nippart defeated Carlos Espinoza tying the
record for fastest TKO in MFC history with an 8 second knockout dropping him to
the canvas with a punch and following up with a few more punches to the head of the now defenseless opponent until the referee was
forced to step in and halt the contest at of the first round.
Canuckles MMA trainer Max Marin told MMARR
before the bout that Keto Allen would be someone to look out for in the future
and his words proved to be prophetic as Allen made short work of Doug Page
quickly overpowering his opponent and earning the rear naked choke victory at 41 seconds of the first round.
In other preliminary action Mike Tubbs defeated
Mike Tubbs by unanimous decision in a hard fought contest that went the full 3
x 5 minute rounds.
The next MFC is set for May 9th,
again at the River Cree Resort and Casino and will feature former UFC fighter
Gary Goodridge and Ryan Ford in the main events of their second HDNET live
event.
Rryan Ford over Pete Spratt Standing Rear Naked Choke 4:01 rd 2
Jesse Forbes over Chris Camozzi armbar 1:45 rd 3
Mike Maestas over Ryan Heck Unanimous Decision rd 3
Ryan Jimmo over Craig Zellner Rear Naked Choke 3:20 rd 1
Ryan McGillivray over Jason Zorthain Tapout Armbar 4:!0 rd 1
Jason Kuchera over Jason Hope Ref stoppage1:11 rd 2
Gavin Neil over Josh Groves Rear Naked Choke 1:05 rd 2
Dave Nippart over Carlos Espinoza 0.08 rd 1
Keto Allen over Doug Page RNC 0.41 rd 1
Mike Tubbs defeated Alec Pelentsov Decision rd 3
MFC 15 Ryan Ford - The funniest bloopers are right here
MFC 15 Jesse Forbes - The most amazing bloopers are here
MFC 15 Pete Spratt - Watch the top videos of the week here
MFC 15 Gavin Kneil - Funny home videos are a click away
MFC 15 Mark Pavelich - More bloopers are a click away
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