MFC 35 went down last night from the Mayfield Trade Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The night was filled with excitement and MMASucka.com was live on the scene. Check out the ‘Aftermath’ below.
Elvis Mutapcic vs. Joseph Henle
MFC 35’s main event lived up to the hype and high expectations of the sell-out crowd in attendance at the Mayfield Trade Centre as Elvis Mutapcic and Joseph Henle went toe to toe for two full rounds, with each clearly earning the nod in one of them, although Mutapcic came closest to ending the fight when he dropped Henle at the close of the first round. In the third round Mutapcic unleashed one of his many vicious leg kicks, but this time the kick caught Henle square on the right knee and in the process tore his ACL and MCL to shreds forcing him to call off his attacker, and the bout, the moment he awkwardly went crashing to the canvas. For the 26 year old Mutapcic it was a sweet moment as he won the MFC middleweight belt in very convincing fashion. It will be interesting to see who he defends his title against first, but whoever it is they better start kicking posts now.
Shane Nelson vs. Graham Spencer
In the highly anticipated debut of the MFC’s featherweight division, Graham Spencer showed that the past two month’s he spent in California training at Team Alpha Male was well worth it as he dominated B.J. Penn Gym product “Sugar” Shane Nelson from bell to bell. With good ol’dirty boxing and dominant takedowns, Spencer showed why he is one of Canada’s top ranked featherweights. In a surprise twist to the evening, after his win the MFC offered him a shot at the organizations lightweight championship in February in a rematch against Mukai Maromo whom Spencer soundly defeated in December of 2010. Although Spencer has yet to make a final decision, from what he told me following his bout, he isn’t likely to take the fight because he doesn’t want to fight at lightweight in the future and that he’s happy being a featherweight.
Ryan Fortin vs. Smealinho Rama
In a very unexpected turn of events, two of Canada’s heaviest hitters, Smealinho Rama and Ryan Fortin settled their bout on the ground rather than on the feet as is the norm for the two big men. Rama surprisingly, given that he is known for his brawling style, took “The Vanilla Gorilla” took the ground almost immediately fishing for a submission. Fortin fought through a deep arm-bar and took top position, even mounting Rama only to be reversed and ultimately choked out via RNC in a very quick and exciting fight. As a reward for his efforts, Rama will face B.C.’s Mike Hackert, currently the country’s number one ranked heavyweight, in a title fight elimination bout. But who will the winner face for the belt?
Jared McComb vs. Derek Parker
In a rematch of a stellar back and forth bout from May that resulted in a draw, junior hockey enforcer Derek Parker rode out the first two rounds until the third when Jared McComb came out with a heavy right that cut Parker open wide. It wasn’t enough though, as it only seemed to incite Parker who answered back with some nice jabs of his own that ultimately sealed the fight for him leaving no doubt about who the better man was on this night as the judges awards him the unanimous decision
Sabah Fadai vs. Cody Krahn
“Make weight, Make weight!” That’s all Sabah Fadai had to say to Cody Krahn, who has missed his contracted weight in 3 of his last 4 bouts, after choking him out at just 1:24 of the first via triangle. After the bout, Sabah Fadai went over to Krahn’s corner and put his arm around his defeated for only to be met with a shove off which prompted people to step in between the two. Not the most professional showing for Krahn, before or after the fight. It was also revealed at the post-fight press conference that Krahn had tried to withdraw from the matchup after the weigh-ins yesterday as he had physical complications resulting from his unsuccessful weight cut but was convinced in the end to compete on the card after all.
Paul Grandbois vs. Jason Kuchera
The crowd got rocking with the night’s first main card bout as both men came out swinging for the fences a put on a slobber knocker of a battle, leaving both battered and bloody. Grandbois used a nice stiff jab to back off his opponent while Kuchera stuck exclusively to haymakers from the left and right. In the end Kuchera’s gas tank, or lack thereof, proved to be his undoing as Grandbois battered him on a his way to a second round TKO.
Matt Jelly vs. Daniel Swain
Right off the bat the much smaller Swain looked to close the distance with jabs and take the fight to the mat, quite surprisingly, as Jelly is known for his slick submissions from his rubber guard. Wrestling clearly won out over jiu-jitsu in this bout though as Swain repeatedly dominated Jelly from top position for the first two rounds, nearly finishing him with a deep arm-bar in the second that Jelly somehow gutted through. Although Jelly came back to take the third round from a clearly tired Swain it was not enough to earn the decision as Swain, who fights out of AKA Prangley in Coeur D’alene, Idaho was awarded the win in unanimous fashion. It was a stellar showing for the American who took the fight on 5 days’ notice and fought up a weight class, as he normally competes as a featherweight, although he may actually be better suited as a bantamweight.
Jesse Veltri vs. Garret Nybakken
Coming in on a 3 fight losing skid, Nybakken had to know that it was do or die if he wanted to keep his spot in the MFC and although he was taken down early on he managed to keep a tight guard, wrapping Veltri up and waiting for him to make a mistake. When he did, posturing up to high, Nybakken snatched an arm and pulled with everything he had, eliciting an almost instantaneous tap from Veltri who dropped his fifth in a row with all of the losses coming inside the opening round.
Chase Degenhardt def. Chad Sherman
Sherman landed some heavy leather to finish the first round, but it was Degenhardt who controlled the tempo in the first. Degenhardt was unable to get anything going on the ground. In the second, Degenhardt quickly clinched up and landed a killer knee that sent Sherman running with his hands down, which is never a good move in a fight, at which point Degenhardt clocked him on the chin from behind sending Sherman crashing to the mat. Degenhardt followed up with a couple unanswered strikes before looking to referee John Braak to step in and stop the fight before unleashing any more damage.
(Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.com)
