EDMONTON, Feb. 3 — The Maximum Fighting Championship solidified its position as Western Canada’s premiere mixed martial arts organization this past weekend with its 11th installment: “Gridiron.”
Just prior to the opening bell, they briefly embraced in the center of the ring to reaffirm their friendship and good will, but that good will immediately disappeared once the bell sounded.
They advanced with Kilkenny throwing a jab that Valimaki immediately ducked under to attempt a double-leg takedown, but ended up scooping Kilkenny up above his shoulders.
They spent a brief period on the ground with neither fighter having a clear advantage. Each established back-control, but neither was able to capitalize on their position.
Now back on their feet, both exhausted fighters seemed resolved to stand and trade blows until they couldn’t throw any more. With each punch it seemed that the next one to connect would decide the fight.
Each fighter took some devastating abuse, but in the end it was a straight left from Valimaki that sent Kilkenny crashing backwards to the mat like a giant redwood.
After the victory, Valimaki thanked the fans and told them to watch for him in the UFC in April. He later told Sherdog.com that it was not official, but his camp had been told that a victory tonight would likely pave the way for his return to the UFC.
Adam Braidwood is a defensive lineman for the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos, and he made the most out of his mixed martial arts debut with a vicious knockout of Halifax’s Ryan Jimmo who was also in his first match.
The match started out looking fairly even, with the two big men exchanging knees in the clinch. Jimmo did his best “Cro Cop” impression with a powerful looking high-kick that breezed past Braidwood’s face.
The pair closed again, and a tight Braidwood punch sent Jimmo down to the mat where he briefly defended against some vicious punches straight to his face. The referee saw that Braidwood had knocked him out and stepped in to stop the fight.
Highly touted light heavyweight Roger Hollett (Pictures) of Halifax faced off against another Eskimo in Mike Maurer. This fight started the same as Jimmo and Braidwood’s, with the two throwing knees from the clinch.
This outcome was different though, as Hollett broke from the clinch and initiated a beautifully planned and executed sequence that won him the fight.
Starting with a left high-kick to the head that stunned Maurer, Hollett saw him drop his hands very slightly and darted quickly in with a devastating left-right hook combination to the head, the sound of which could be heard in the upper rows over the noise of the crowd.
The Edmonton fans became eerily silent as if they weren’t sure what they were seeing when Maurer went rigid as a board and fell face first to the canvas, giving Roger Hollet the knockout at just 36 seconds of the first round.
The brutal knockout gave a happy Hollett a bonus check for “Knockout of the Night.”
Afterwards Hollett asked for the microphone to make this statement. “Apparently there’s somebody out there who thinks he can take me out in under two minutes. Jason Day, just sign the dotted line buddy, and we’ll find out.”
Jason Day spoke with Sherdog.com afterwards and the Rumble in the Cage light heavyweight champion seemed nonplussed, saying that fighters often call him out.
American Top Team’s Steve Bruno (Pictures) left the warm confines of Florida to come to Edmonton and submit Graydon Tannas by rear-naked choke.
In what was undoubtedly the fight of the night, Calgary’s Nigel Zettergreen (Pictures) and Prince Edward Islands’ Matt Dutkoski (Pictures) were the only match to make it out of the first round.
An extremely well matched pair, Zettergreen and Dutkoski went the distance, each thrilling the crowd with nice attacks and counters.
Zettergreen had the fans gasping with his leaps over the guard of Dutkoski, but in the end it was Dutkoski’s superior wrestling and control that gave him the split decision.
Submission of the night was awarded to “The Kid,” Ryan McGillivray, who sunk in a very tight armbar on a game Aaron Gallant to improve his record to 3-0.
BTT Canada’s Sean Locke made the move from competitive BJJ to MMA and scored a decisive submission victory over tough CMAC middleweight Dan Chambers (Pictures).
Chambers showed his prowess with his hands early on, forcing Locke to implement his game plan of taking down and keeping the heavy hitter on the canvass, where he forced Chambers to tap via arm-triangle choke just seconds away from the end of the first round.
Chambers later said that he was aware that it was only 10 seconds until the bell, but admitted that he was only three seconds away from unconsciousness.
Ryan Machan (Pictures) seemed very strong while overpowering Tim Blanchard (Pictures) to get the mount, and forced the end of the fight by raining down many unanswered shots.
Vernon, B.C.’s Kyle Ayotte secured a controversial rear-naked choke on Mike Bell. The referee indicated that Bell tapped and therefore stopped the fight. Bell immediately went to his knees, spread his arms and told the ref that he never tapped.
In the end the decision stood.
The first fight of the evening was over in just 21 seconds when Paul Ebejer tapped to a guillotine choke applied by Josh Kyrejto (Pictures).
At the end of the evening Kyrejto told Sherdog.com that he was very dissatisfied with the win, stating that it was very odd how easy it was.
UFC upstart Jason MacDonald (Pictures) took a brief respite from his training camp with Greg Jackson in New Mexico, where he’s preparing for his bout with Rich Franklin (Pictures) at UFC 68, to join the organization in which he had fought 10 times in the past.
MacDonald took to the center of the ring to the thunderous applause of the supportive Edmonton fans, and thanked them for all of their support over the years.