EDMONTON, Alberta -- Ryan Ford capped off a long night of fights with a quick one Friday, defeating veteran opponent CJ Fernandes with a rear-naked choke in the main event of MFC 16 inside the sold-out River Cree Resort and Casino.
After a restart in the center of the ring, Ford again worked his way onto Fernandes' back and attempted the choke. Fernandes worked his way out, but the third time ended up being the charm and Ford got the finish 2:32 into the first round.
"I sunk my hooks in and pushed the hips forward," said the 26-year-old hometown fighter, who has been training MMA for just one year. "I was surprised he escaped the first choke attempt. He was the strongest guy I've fought yet. Matt Hughes (Pictures) says I'm a one-dimensional fighter? Jiu-jitsu baby!"
For the second show in a row, Ford defeated a much more experienced fighter with a rear-naked choke. He upped his record to 6-0 with the victory and booked himself into a match for the vacant MFC welterweight title at MFC 17 on July 25.
"I've arrived and I'm here to stay," he said. "July 25th I'm getting that title!"
In the semi-main event of the evening, Chase Gormley used superior control in the clinch to grab a clear-cut victory over Eric Pele (Pictures).
The majority of the fight was spent in the corners of the ring with Gormley pinning Pele and keeping busy enough that the ref didn't restart the fight. It appeared Pele was winning the boxing aspect, but Gormley did a good job of quickly closing the gap and bringing the fight into the clinch each time.
Gormley's style may not have been crowd pleasing, but it was effective as he won 30-27 across the board.
"He was a lot stronger than me," said the 24-year-old Californian, a former collegiate wrestler whose record now stands at 6-0. "I wanted to stand up, but I realized it would have been a matter of time before he landed. It would have been playing with fire, and I would have gotten burned."
Matt Veach and Matt MacGrath (Pictures) battled in a welterweight clash with a spot against Ryan Ford for the vacant welterweight title rumored to be on the line. Despite having a noticeable height disadvantage, Veach kept the fight close and scored points on the judges' cards with no less than eight takedowns during the course of the fight.
MacGrath attempted a variety of submissions, but none had Veach in any serious danger. In the end, the judges awarded Veach the decision: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. Sherdog.com scored the bout 30-28.
Benson Henderson started fast, slowed a little, but then turned it on again late to defeat Mike Maestas.
Henderson won the first with his control of Maestas, but Maestas answered in the second with a deep choke attempt. In the final round, however, Henderson turned it back on. Opening a cut on Maestas' temple, Henderson grabbed the back of his opponent and got the rear-naked choke 4:11 into the final round.
Chris Camozzi returned to the MFC ring after his tough loss at the last show to control Dwayne Lewis for all three rounds en route to a unanimous decision. Camozzi won the first by trapping Lewis in the corner and connecting with a few shots, and he won rounds two and three on the ground. All three judges as well as Sherdog.com scored the bout 30-27 for Camozzi.
For the first time in his MFC career, Jason Kuchera was involved in a fight that did not end in an explosive knockout.
Aaron Lofton came up to Edmonton from Oklahoma and defeated the hometown fighter via guillotine choke with five seconds left in the second round. Kuchera suffered a nasty cut on his upper lip in the first that covered the canvas in blood. In the end, both fighters were exhausted, but it was Lofton who had enough strength left to elicit the choke out.
Gavin Neal had a strong opening round against Ryan McGillivray, but the bout tightened significantly in the final two rounds.
After Neal controlled the first round, the second was very close on the ground and the third ended with both fighters trying for the knockout in the final 30 seconds of the bout. When the fight was over, the scorecards revealed that Neal was the winner of a split decision: 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. Sherdog.com scored the bout for Neal 29-28.
Mike Sorenson opened the televised card with a victory via guillotine choke over Jeremy Martin, who was making his professional debut. Martin probably won the first round with his wrestling and control on the ground, but early in the second Sorenson saw an opening and took it for the win 1:06 into the second round.
In preliminary action, Brandon Curts (Pictures) used a rear-naked choke at the last second of the first round to defeat Sean Wright.
Tory Sorenson moved to 3-0 by submitting Mike Tubbs with a rear-naked choke 51 seconds into the fight.
Opening the evening, Jason MacDonald (Pictures)'s student Evan Sanguin defeated Dave Nippard via TKO 2:23 into the first round.