ENOCH, Alberta, Feb. 22 -- Put two guys in the ring who do not like each other, and you are sure to get fireworks. That was the case Friday at the sold-out River Cree Resort and Casino as Ryan Ford ran his undefeated record to 5-0 with a second-round submission victory over Pete Spratt (Pictures), albeit with some controversy.
Heading into the fight, Spratt was promising to stop Ford's career dead in its tracks. The first round was an exciting one with big takedowns from both guys as well as impressive striking.
Late in the round, Spratt landed a kick to the face of Ford that may have been the beginning of the end had it not been for the fact that Ford fell under the ropes. After trying to punch Ford through the ropes, Spratt stood back up, allowing his opponent to recover.
The controversy came at the end of the first round. With Ford on top of Spratt following a takedown, the bell rang to end the round. Spratt was the only one of the three men in the ring to hear the bell, and Ford kept punching. Referee Herb Dean (Pictures) did not stop the fight on the bell, allowing Ford to get in two extra shots that went undefended before the ringside commission advised Dean that the round had ended.
Spratt was obviously stunned by the blows and remained on the mat for more than a minute. He finally returned to his corner and was given a couple of minutes to regain his senses, but from ringside it was clear that as the second round started, Spratt was still shaking the cobwebs from his head.
The second round was exciting just like the first, only marred by a point deduction to Ford for grabbing the shorts. Spratt landed another big kick to the head after the break. Ford then managed to get the fight to the ground shortly thereafter and eventually worked his way onto Spratt's back. From there, it was only a matter of time before Ford slapped on the rear-naked choke, and Spratt tapped out as they fell backward to the mat at 4:01 of the second round.
"I choked his ass out just like Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) did," said Ford, who has been training MMA for just nine months. "He talked a lot of trash before this fight, and so I had to shut him up."
As for the ending of the first round, Ford said neither him nor Dean heard the bell.
"It's not my fault Herb didn't hear the bell," he said. "I punch until the referee tells me to stop punching."
Ford is quickly becoming one of the most recognized and popular athletes in Edmonton, judging by the fan reaction tonight. It's unlikely he will ever give Wayne Gretzky a run for his money in terms of popularity, but he has found a home in the MFC that will continue to promote and showcase this talented young fighter's career.
What's next for Ford?
"Next, the MFC welterweight Title," he said. "After that, I'm off to the UFC. The question is not what's next for me, it's who's next for me."
In the co-main event, Jesse Forbes (Pictures) pulled off a miraculous comeback victory. Thoroughly dominated and beaten for the first two rounds, Forbes secured an armbar out of nowhere to defeat Chris Camozzi at 1:45 of round three.
The first round had Camozzi being very effective on the bottom and landing an array of elbows and strikes to the face of Forbes that opened multiple cuts. Forbes seemed hesitant to engage, repeatedly standing over the downed Camozzi but not doing much. Three elbows late in the round opened a huge gash over the left eye of Forbes.
The second round began with Camozzi landing a nice kick and knee to Forbes before the referee momentarily stopped the action to have the ringside doctor check the cut. The rest of the round was pure domination from Camozzi, who appeared to be well on his way to victory as the bell rang to end round two. By that point, both fighters' shorts had turned from snow white to crimson red.
Down 20-17 on the Sherdog.com scorecard heading into the third, it seemed Forbes would need a miracle to get the win, and a miracle came in the form of an exposed arm. Forbes' victory earned him submission of the night honors from the MFC.
"I came out and was throwing some hands, but then he started laying an ass kicking on me," Forbes said. "I tried to break his knees with my face, but that didn't work too well. I was bleeding everywhere and I couldn't see anything. The ref asked if I wanted to keep going. In the last round, I'm not sure what happened. We scrambled, and he gave me his back. I got on, and he didn't follow me around with his hips, so I grabbed onto the arm."
Forbes' face was a patchwork of stitches at the post-fight conference.
"I'm not sure how many stitches they gave me, but it's a lot," he said. "I'm not sure what's next for me. I'm still under contract with the WEC. They told me to go get some experience elsewhere, and I ended up here in MFC. As soon as my cuts heal, I'll be back."
Mike Maestas made the long trek up from New Mexico to fight undefeated prospect Ryan Heck. After an entertaining three rounds of action, Maestas came away the victor with a unanimous decision.
All three rounds were similar. Maestas started each strong on the feet and in the clinch. Then, when the fight went to the ground, he was able to control Heck and throw in a couple submission attempts as well. Maestas was penalized one point in the first round for throwing a knee while Heck was on the ground, but in the end that point deduction did not matter as Maestas won 29-27 across the board, which also matched the Sherdog.com scorecard.
"I thought the lost point might affect me, but I dominated the rest of the fight, so it didn't matter," said Maestas, who moved to 5-1-1 with the victory. "The leg kicks were really working for me, and he wasn't blocking them and he just kept letting me have it. Those kicks wore him down."
With the victory, it appears Maestas may have booked a shot at the vacant MFC title. According to Tom Vaughn, the head trainer at FIT-NHB out of which Maestas fights, their camp was told that the winner of the fight would be in line for a title shot in the future.
Ryan Jimmo (Pictures) put on a show during his fight with Craig Zellner (Pictures) and after, as he defeated the WEC veteran via rear-naked choke 3:20 into the first round.
Jimmo opened with a couple of leg kicks before taking the fight to the ground. While inside Zellner's guard, he landed a few elbows that opened up a cut. Jimmo managed to pin Zellner's arms while in side mount and rain down some blows, which eventually led him to the mount. When Zellner rolled over, Jimmo went to the back and got the fight-ending choke.
"We circled, and I saw he was tentative, so I threw a kick and he seemed even more tentative," said Jimmo, who has a quick turnover and will be fighting Ray Penny on March 15 in ECC 7. "I stuffed his shot and took him down and then I laid some pain down on his face."
After the fight, Jimmo entertained the audience by showing off his break dancing skills.
"To be honest, I use to watch break dancing videos and Michael Jackson videos for hours at a time and practice them on my own," he said. "That's how I learned to break dance.
In other action, Ryan McGillivray got back in the win column after consecutive losses by defeating Jason Zorthian via armbar 4:10 into the first round. After surviving the first 30 seconds of the fight, McGillivray controlled the remainder of the bout on the ground until securing the victory.
Jason Kuchera went past 30 seconds for the first time in his career, as Allan Hope pushed him to the limit in an outstanding slugfest. Both fighters landed some big shots throughout the fight and left it all in the ring. Both were exhausted when the fight ended 1:11 into the second, after Kuchera sent Hope to the canvas and pounded away until the ref stopped the fight. Kuchera was awarded with the knockout of the night.
Gavil Neil returned to the MFC ring in impressive fashion. He defeated Albuquerque, New Mexico's Joshua Groves with a rear-naked choke at 1:05 of the second round. Despite losing the first round on the feet to Groves, Neil rebounded in the second round to secure the submission victory.
Dave Nippard needed more time to walk to the ring than he did to fight in it, as he emerged with a TKO victory over Carlos Espinoza in just eight seconds. Nippard landed a punch that sent Espinoza to the canvas and followed it up with a stream of blows until the referee stopped the fight.
Keto Allen also needed very little time in the ring. He defeated fellow first-timer Doug Page via rear-naked choke in just 41 seconds. Allen got the fight to the ground with a big slam and ended the fight as soon as he got his opponent's back.
Opening the evening, Mike Tubbs took an uninspiring unanimous decision over Alec Pelentsov 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.