(PRESS RELEASE) -- SACRAMENTO, Calif. – This Saturday mixed martial arts fans will pour into the McClellan Conference Center in Sacramento for West Coast Fighting Championship 16.
“It wasn’t easy, but we were able to put it together,” West Coast Fighting Championship matchmaker Jeremy Luchau said. “There was a lot that had to be negotiated between Max and David, but ultimately I feel like both guys were able to concede in some areas to make the fight happen.”
The showdown will take place at a catch weight of 175 pounds and although a non-title affair will be contested with a possible five rounds.
Griffin (11-2) is the current West Coast Fighting 170-pound champ and former Tachi Palace Fights welterweight kingpin. Meanwhile, Mitchell (19-5) has held titles for the promotion at middleweight and heavyweight.
“I’m not sure there’s been a more significant fight booked in that region in a long time,” said Luchau, who has served as the West Coast Fighting matchmaker since early 2015. “I really believe that with a victory, one of these guys should get the call.”
In the co-main event, an equally impressive tilt takes place pitting Sacramento’s Josh Emmett against Sothern California’s Christos Giagos.
“Emmett has been the man in the region for a long, long time,” Luchau said of the 8-0 Team Alpha Male product. “He has pretty much run the course of competition in the region, defeated all comers and is now looking to make that jump to the next level.”
He will have to do so against the well-versed Giagos (11-4), who held titles at both Tachi Palace Fights and Resurrection Fighting Alliance, before being cut from the Ultimate Fighting Championship after going 1-2.
“Giagos is a game opponent and was just the what the Emmett camp was looking for to give them that boost to the next level,” Luchau said. “It’s another fight where I feel like the UFC could be the next step for either guy.”
A pair of local heavyweights will vie for the newly vacant strap, as Josh Appelt (11-5) takes on Roy Boughton (12-6).
A pair of UFC vets will also be featured on the undercard, as Turlock welterweight and UFC vet Lewis Gonzalez (10-2) fights Ty Freeman (9-4) and hard-hitting, UFC vet Scott Smith (18-10) clashes with Bellator vet Justin Baesman (17-8).
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