Matt Veach (right) will fight on short notice at MFC 28. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
UFC veteran Matt Veach will step in for sidelined Maximum Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Antonio McKee to face Drew Fickett in the co-main event of MFC 28 “Supremacy.”
“I’m disappointed not to be facing McKee for the title, but it’s only a matter of time until I get my hands on the MFC lightweight belt,” Fickett stated in a release.
A member of Matt Hughes’ H.I.T. Squad, Veach enters his matchup with Fickett on a four-fight win streak. The 29-year-old Illinoisan has not lost since being released by the UFC in April 2010 on the heels of back-to-back submission losses to Frankie Edgar and Paul Kelly, the only defeats on his 14-2 ledger.
In October, Veach captured the lightweight title of U.K.-based organization Cage Warriors Fighting Championship with a five-round decision over Kenneth Rosfort-Nees. Following the Fickett bout, Veach is scheduled to defend his strap April 2 against Norman Parke at CWFC 41 in Cork, Ireland.
The resurgent Fickett, 31, also rides a four-fight streak into the fight. After a disastrous 2009 which saw him go 0-5, the “Night Rider” reversed course with a 4-0 2010. Three of those wins came on Sept. 10, when Fickett submitted Charles Bennett, Dennis Bermudez and Carlo Prater to win Shine Fights’ one-night lightweight grand prix. Fickett holds a lengthy professional record of 40-13, including wins against the likes of Josh Koscheck, Kenny Florian and Kurt Pellegrino.