As covered in separate previous articles The Fight Club
(TFC) and Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) have been stepping on each other’s
toes with their latest shows, both of which take place September 10th in
Canada.
MFC have been around since March 2001 mostly in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and
were one of the first shows broadcast regularly on HDNet. MFC built up former welterweight champion
Ryan Ford who left the promotion shortly after February 2009 in a bitter public
dispute with his manager at the time MFC owner Mark Pavelich mainly over the
terms of a new contract. MFC cards are
strong enough with the amount of UFC vets the star was hardly missed for the
five shows since the split.
TFC have also been based out of Edmonton but have only been holding shows since
December 2007 with much more limited distribution tape-delayed on The Fight
Network. When Ryan Ford left MFC he
joined this competition for three fights to date, mainly against opponents less
known than the UFC vets Ford faced in MFC but arguably more interesting.
Although the rivals have crossed before behind the scenes this much more public
clash heated up over TFC’s July 17th pay-per-view debut. The card in Alberta was supposed to be
headlined by Ford vs. Carlo Prater but the show ended up being postponed until
September 10th, a date MFC was already scheduled to make their debut in
Manitoba. Within days of the TFC card
being re-scheduled MFC signed Ryan Ford to fight on the Manitoba card leaving
TFC without a main event for Alberta.
Now within hours or each other both TFC and MFC are releasing details of their
separate cards on the same date. TFC is
now headlined by a rematch between TFC LHW champion Martin Desilets and UFC vet
Victor Valimaki. The event will be
broadcast tape-delayed on The Fight Network but is no longer a live
pay-per-view. MFC to be aired on HDNet
features LW champion Antonio McKee vs. Luciano Azevedo and is supposed to have
Ford vs. an as-yet-unnamed opponent.
Look for more details of both shows to be released in the weeks to come.
