Press Release

The Maximum Fighting Championship’s own developmental organization, Heat XC, is set to unleash another explosive show featuring two internationally known middleweights alongside a lineup of top prospects.

Heat XC 5: Punishment will take place Friday, July 16 at the Mayfield Trade Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, with a card headlined by a clash between crowd favorites David Heath and “King” Solomon Hutcherson. The two were initially slated to be part of the MFC 25: Vindication lineup until an injury sidelined Hutcherson, but it will now be the main event on the upcoming Heat show.

“Heat XC is growing into a much more prominent position and having a great main event to go with a strong lineup of up-and-coming talent is exactly how Heat XC will continue its rise to even greater heights,” said Mark Pavelich, Owner of the Maximum Fighting Championship as well as Heat XC under its banner of Pavelich Sports.

Heat XC has taken off with four consecutive sellouts and it shared the spotlight with its parent company at MFC 24: Heat XC. Not only has Heat XC started developing fighters for the Maximum Fighting Championship, it is truly standing on its own as a frontrunner on the Canadian mixed martial arts scene.

Heath (14-6) will make his debut at middleweight following a notable run in the light heavyweight ranks that included a first-round submission victory over the MFC’s former 205-pound champion, Roger Hollett. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, product shared the recognition for the MFC’s 2009 Fight of the Year for his toe-to-toe encounter with Mike Nickels at MFC 22. Hutcherson (11-6) captured his organization debut with a thorough three-round decision over Dave Mewborn at MFC 20 and then, after recovering from shoulder surgery, the Racine, Wisconsin, native dropped a controversial decision to Jason MacDonald at MFC 23.

“I said when I first booked the fight between Hutcherson and Heath that it would be an all-out war and it still will be – probably now an even a bigger battle since the animosity has had a chance to brew longer,” said Pavelich.

“Plus the fight now has the opportunity to really stand out on its own as the main event. I know that these two fighters will put on an effort worthy of main-event status.”

Heath personally called out this matchup back in February and both fighters have stated their definite willingness to get down to business.

“I don’t think it’s going to be about what game plan I have for him, it’ s more about what I think his game plan will be for me,” noted Heath.

“This fight is right up my alley,” responded Hutcherson. “The fans know we both like to bang. Heath’s a banger too so I think the fans are really going to get their money’s worth.”

A number of Heat XC’s top fighters will be on the card including Nick Hrynchyshyn, Jason Gorny, Dami Egbeyemi and Jason Kuchera. The card will also feature a rematch from the MFC 25 undercard between Garret Nybakken and Jevon Marshall plus a heavyweight clash that will pit longtime rivals against each other. Former minor pro hockey enforcer Marty Melnychuk, who registered over 300 penalty minutes in a season three times during his career, will settle the issue once and for all against massive Ryan Getschel in what will undoubtedly be a wild affair.

Tickets for Heat XC 5: Punishment are on sale now by calling the Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024 and via Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.ca and charge-by-phone (780) 451-8000.

Though the proverbial spotlight may be firmly planted on Montreal for UFC 113, Maximum Fighting Championship made sure Canadian MMA fans outside of Quebec also had a chance to get their live-show fix this weekend courtesy of last night’s ”MFC 25 – Vindication”. The Edmonton event featured a slew of fighters hailing from America’s northerly neighbor as well as a handful of names once associated with the infamous Octagon.

Chase Gormley, who started his career out with six wins before dropping a pair of fights in the UFC, got back on the winning track by outpointing Ryan Fortin on all three judges’ scorecards. The victory was his second by unanimous decision in the promotion.

Not so lucky in result was TUF 6 alumnus Richie Hightower who emerged a loser after falling victim to a first-round submission at the limbs of Gavin Neil. The Rear-Naked Choke brought Neil’s record to 8-1 and was his fourth win in a row.

However, not all was lost for fighters with Ultimate Fighter experience, as Season Four’s Pete Spratt avoided the judges’ scorecards by finishing fellow Octagon veteran Luigi Fioravanti with less than a minute remaining in their bout. The accomplishment marked Spratt’s eleventh career TKO, while American Top Team’s Fioravanti is now 3-2 since parting ways with the UFC slightly more than a year ago.

To the surprise of some, especially those not flying a flag with a maple leaf on it, Ryan Jimmo lived up to his nickname and proved he is indeed a “Big Deal” by welcoming Brazilian Wilson Gouveia to MFC with a unanimous decision defeat. Gouveia, who showed up three pounds heavy to the weigh-in, has fallen in his last three fights and is now 12-8 as a professional. Comparably, the win improved Jimmo’s record to 13-1 and continued an impressive streak dating back to the Canadian’s only loss – his debut in February 2007!

The evening’s main event involved perhaps the largest contrast in personalities if not styles, as soft-spoken, technical jiujitsu practitioner Thales Leites tested his skills against colorful, physical wrestler Jesse “J.T. Money” Taylor and needed less than two-and-a-half minutes to pass the exam with a Triangle Armbar. It was the third loss for Taylor in his last four fights and his fifth by submission out of six total career defeats. On the other end of the spectrum, the hold brought about the one-time UFC Middleweight Championship contender’s third victory in a row since being released by the organization after a split-decision snoozer to Alessio Sakara at UFC 101.

Here is a complete rundown of results:

Jevon Marshall def. Garret Nybakken via Submission Round 3
Keto Allen def. Aaron Berke via TKO Round 1
Chad Freeman def. Mike Froese via Submission Round 1
Chase Gormley def. Ryan Fortin via Unanimous Decision
Gavin Neil def. Richie Hightower via Submission Round 1
Pete Spratt def. Luigi Fioravanti via TKO Round 3
Emanuel Newton def. Dwayne Lewis via Unanimous Decision
Ryan Jimmo def. Wilson Gouveia via Unanimous Decision
Thales Leites def. Jesse Taylor via Submission Round 1

Press Release

Thales Leites made quick work of Jesse Taylor, and Ryan Jimmo made a huge statement with a convincing victory at the Maximum Fighting Championship’s MFC 25: Vindication.

In front of more than 4,000 fans at the Northlands Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, and live on HDNet, Leites (17-3) submitted Taylor with an impressive triangle choke at the 2:27 mark of the first round. Taylor (14-6) initially forced Leites to the mat with a double-leg takedown, but the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, product scored big a strike from the bottom that opened a deep gash on Taylor’s eyebrow. That was the beginning of the end as Leites smoothly transitioned into the submission manoeuvre and forced the tapout.

It was a second straight win in the Maximum Fighting Championship for Leites and moved him to the top of the contender list for the MFC middleweight title.

In the night’s co-main event, Jimmo (13-1) surely shocked a number of mixed martial arts pundits as he dominated Wilson Gouveia (12-8) en route to a clear-cut unanimous decision. Jimmo showed his patented counter-striking in Round 1 and then thoroughly applied the heat on Gouveia in Round 2. Jimmo surprisingly took Gouveia down but instead of being caught up in the Brazilian’s jiu-jitsu skills, Jimmo unleashed a ferocious ground-and-pound assault. At one point, Jimmo had Gouveia stacked up in a neutral corner and rained down countless strikes that nearly forced referee John Braak to step in and stop bout. At the end of the round, a battered and bruised Gouveia needed help returning to his corner.

Jimmo continued to showcase a much more confident attack in Round 3, and despite getting caught with a punch from Gouveia in the early moments, he cruised to the win. A pair of judges gave Jimmo a 10-8 score in Round 2 and he finished with counts of 30-27, 30-26, 30-26 in his favor. Jimmo, who now fights out of Edmonton, Alberta, was given a huge ovation by the home-town crowd for the best performance of his career – a result which has tabbed him as the front-runner for a shot at the MFC light heavyweight title.

Meanwhile, former MFC light heavyweight champ Emanuel Newton showed that cleaning up his act outside the ring had a profound effect on his in-ring performance. Newton (13-6), who hails from Norwalk, California, utilized outstanding takedowns and control to take a unanimous decision from crowd favorite Dwayne Lewis (11-5). Newton, whose corner was anchored by MFC lightweight champ Antonio McKee, put a stop to his own three-fight losing skid while snapping Lewis’s own seven-fight win streak. The result was a bitter pill to swallow for Lewis who had more than 400 fans in the audience from his home town of Fort McMurray, Alberta.

In an entertaining welterweight encounter, veteran Pete Spratt (21-17) picked up the Knockout of the Night by stopping Luigi Fioravanti (17-7) at 4:02 of Round 3. Spratt took control in Round 2 doing most of his damage with brutal kicks to the body. In the third, Spratt dropped Fioravanti with a stiff jab and then pounced with a barrage that brought upon the stoppage. It was the second straight win in the Maximum Fighting Championship for the native of San Antonio, Texas, who captured the MFC’s 2009 Knockout of the Year in his last appearance at MFC 22 back in October.

Gavin Neil (8-1) picked up the Submission of the Night by coaxing a tapout from Richie Hightower (8-4) at 2:52 of Round 1. Hightower was done in by a wicked left hook from Neil and the Victoria, British Columbia, native moved quickly into a fight-ending rear-naked choke.
　
Other results:

Chase Gormley (7-2) def. Ryan Fortin (4-3) – Unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Chad Freeman (4-3) def. Mike Froese (3-3) – 3:48 Round 1, tapout via armbar

Keto Allen (4-0) def. Aaron Berke (4-2) – 2:58 Round 1, TKO

Jevon Marshall (1-0) def. Garret Nybakken (1-1) – 2:00 Round 3, tapout via rear-naked choke

Join us tonight as The MMA News brings you the live, Quick Updates for Maximum Fighting Championships latest event “MFC 25: Vindication” from the Northlands Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

MFC 25: Vindication will take place on Friday, May 7 at the Northlands Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, and will air live on HDNet Fights throughout North America.

The preliminary action will begin at approx. 8:15 p.m. EST (5:15 p.m. PST) with the main broadcast card beginning at 10 p.m. EST.

Former UFC middleweight challenger Thales Leites will be facing former “TUF” fighter Jesse Taylor in the main event which will determine the top contender for the MFC middleweight title. Jimmo and Lewis, who are from Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta, respectively, are two of the MFC’s most-popular fighters and both are in separate bouts which will go a long way to setting the stage for the next MFC light heavyweight title bout.

The MMA News will be keeping the spoilers off-of the main page. To see the live quick results for MFC 25: Vindication click

The full card for MFC 25 is as follows:

Main Card:

- Thales Leites def. Jesse Taylor via submission (triangle choke) – R1,2:27
- Ryan Jimmo def. Wilson Gouveia via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
- Emanuel Newton def. Dwayne Lewis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Pete Spratt def. Luigi Fioravanti via TKO (strikes) – R3, 4:02
- Gavin Neil def. Richie Hightower via submission (rnc) – R1, 2:52
- Chase Gormley def. Ryan Fortin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary card:

- Chad Freeman def. Mike Froese via submission (arm bar) – R1, 3:48
- Keto Allen def. Aaron Berke via TKO (punches) – R1, 2:15
- Jevon Marshall def. Garret Nybakken via submission (rear naked choke) – R3, 2:00

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3) didn’t have to wait long for a new opponent after his original opponent, Forrest Griffin, pulled out of their UFC 114 fight due to an injury.

“Little Nog” will take on Jason Brilz (18-2-1) on May 29th at UFC 114: Jackson vs. Evans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

Brilz takes the fight with less than four-weeks notice and is coming into the fight with a unanimous decision victory over Eric Schafer at UFC on Versus 1 in March. So far in the UFC he’s 3-1 with victories over Tim Boetsch and Brad Morris. The loss was to Eliot Marshall at UFC 103 which ended a 13 bout undefeated streak for the light-heavyweight fighter.

Nogueira puts a six fight win streak on the line having defeated Luiz Arthur Cane in his UFC debut at UFC 106. The fight earned the Brazilian the “Knockout of the Night” award for his first round KO of Cane. Nogueira holds victories over Dan Henderson, Vladimir Matyushenko, and two wins over Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem.

UFC 114 now appears as follows:

Main Card

- Rashad Evans vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
- Jason Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira*
- Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller
- Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
- John Hathaway vs. Diego Sanchez

Preliminary Card (Spike TV)

- Dong Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah
- Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon

Preliminary Card (Not televised)

- Melvin Guillard vs. Thiago Tavares
- Luiz Cane vs. Cyrille Diabate
- Joe Brammer vs. Aaron Riley
- Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensen

* – Not officially announced

FiveOuncesofPain.com first reported the possibility of a light heavyweight match-up between the fast rising Jon Jones and grizzled vet Vladimir Matyushenko last week, and now the bout has been made official through one of the fighters involved in the upcoming scuffle.

Matyushenko recently reported that the bout was “official” in a recent posting on The Underground forum.

The duo will go at it during “UFC on Versus 2” on August 1 from the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Bones” Jones is coming off of the most impressive performance of his career with a devastating first round TKO of Brandon Vera during the inaugural “UFC on Versus” event, while “The Janitor” is currently on a three-fight win streak in the UFC with cosecutive victories over the likes of Jason Lambert, Igor Pokrajac and Eliot Marshall.

Rumors of a UFC light-heavyweight matchup came to light on Wednesday between fan favorite Jon Jones (10-1) and mma veteran Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4).

TheGarv.com was the first to report the news and has since been confirmed by MMAjunkie.com that both fighters have been approached about facing one another on Aug. 1st at UFC on Versus 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jones’ headlined the first Versus show against Brandon Vera, dominating his opponent in the first round using his ground-and-pound to earn a first round TKO victory. He had been coming off his first professional loss after a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill for using illegal elbow strikes (12-6 motion) in their fight. Jones had been dominating Hamill up to that point and had the “Hammer” mounted when he used the illegal move.

Matyushenko, a former IFL light-heavyweight champion, has won his last three fights including two in the UFC. The Belarusian defeated Eliot Marshall at the same Versus event via split decision and earned a unanimous decision over Igor Pokrajac at UFC 103. Before that he lost to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at the Affliction: Day of Reckoning show.

The current rumored UFC on Versus 2 event appears as follows:

- Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko*
- Jake Ellenberger vs. John Howard*

* – Not officially announced

It appears as if a light heavyweight clash between fast rising phenom Jon Jones and tested veteran Vladimir Matyushenko may be coming to the second “UFC on Versus” event.

The news comes courtesy of a recent report from TheGarv.com, who reported that the bout has been agreed to by both fighters, and FiveOuncesofPain.com has since been able to confirm that – although the bout is not signed as of this time – the match-up is a strong possibility.

The card is expected to take place on August 1 from Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Bones” Jones is coming off of the most impressive performance of his career with an devastating first round TKO of Brandon Vera at the first “UFC on Versus” event, while “The Janitor” is currently on a three-fight win streak in the UFC with back-to-back… to back decision victories over the likes of Jason Lambert, Igor Pokrajac and Eliot Marshall.

Hoosier Fight Club followed up its historic January event – Indiana’s first sanctioned professional fight card – with an all-amateur card Friday night at the Porter County Expo in Valparaiso.  Paul and Danielle Vale treated MMA fans in “Da Region” to yet another fun-filled night of knockouts, submissions, and all-around exciting fights.

Noel puts the finishing touches to the TKO

In the main event of the evening featuring two heavyweights, after an evenly-matched opening period, Dallas Woods spent the second round working ground-and-pound from inside Aaron Noel’s half guard.  In the third, Woods stuffed Noel’s initial takedown attempt but struggled from there, gassing just a minute into the round.  Noel stuffed a tired takedown attempt by Woods, then began hammering away on his turtled opponent.  From there it was only a matter of time until the ref was forced to intervene, giving Noel the TKO victory 2:06 into the third round.

In the night’s co-main event, LA Boxing’s Jake Rosenbaum took full mount against Matt Baker about 90 seconds into their fight, got separation soon after, and began raining down some punishment.  Baker desperately worked to defend but had no answers.  Baker gave up his back and then got knocked out with several devastating strikes from Rosenbaum.  The end came 2:37 into a very one-sided fight.

Ryan Story notched an impressive first round submission against veteran IBJJA fighter Justin Curtis.  Story deftly neutralized Curtis’s offense, and secured a d’arce choke on a takedown attempt by Curtis.  From there Story wrenched the neck and elicited a quick tap.  The end came 2:05 into the fight, officially from a d’arce choke but more likely by neck crank.

"Submission of the Night"

As impressive as Story’s finish was, submission of the night honors went to Sam Agushi.  Terry House flattened Agushi with a devastating right just seconds into their fight, but Agushi somehow maintained his senses enough to weather the ground assault from House that followed.  House worked knees from side control and appeared to be dictating the action.  Somehow, incredibly, Agushi slipped his leg around House’s head and set up an inverted triangle choke.  House’s tapout wasn’t caught in time and he was put to sleep, giving Agushi a stunning submission victory 1:45 into the fight.

In the evening’s other action:

Kathryn secures full mount

Kathryn Gardiner stifled Katie Fry with good guard work, then rolled Fry into full mount, brutalized her with strikes, and elicited the tapout soon after Fry gave up her back.  Gardiner’s submission victory, due to strikes, came 1:43 into the fight.

Josh Dawson sprawled nicely on Ron Marshall’s double-leg takedown attempt, then quickly took Marshall’s back to finish the fight 2:09 into the first round by a rear naked choke.

Jorge Gonzalez got the better of David Shoemaker for three rounds of action, prevailing in a unanimous 30-27 decision.

Cody Martin prevailed in a split decision over Ryan Embry.

"Fight of the Night" (L) Ralph Nurse (R) Mike White

Ralph Nurse and Mike White staged a thrilling three-round battle in the fight of the night.  White won the first two rounds on the judges’ scorecards, then desperately hung on in the third as Nurse nearly finished the fight with punishment from full mount.  Nurse’s inability to close out the fight in the waning seconds ultimately cost him a unanimous 29-28 decision loss.

Joey Ross showed a lot of heart and grit against Mike Choucalas, surviving a first round in which Ross had several teeth knocked out.  In the second though, Choucalas sprawled on a Ross takedown, then overwhelmed Ross with punches and knees, forcing referee Don Clift to intervene 1:23 into the round.

Mike Mann completely used and abused an overmatched Jon Williams en route to a lopsided TKO victory 1:45 into the fight.

In the opening fight of the night, Alex Miller quickly worked out of Jarred Ewick’s guard, jumped to full mount, and nearly secured a vicious armbar from back mount when Ewick gave up his back.  Ewick’s escape was short-lived, as Miller quickly took mount again and secured a rear naked choke 2:10 into the fight after Ewick rolled.

For great photos of this event, stay tuned to ThruMyEye.com