This weekend is an important one on the Canadian sports calendar. On Sunday night, the CFL’s season will come to an end in Vancouver when BC Place Stadium plays host to this year’s Grey Cup Game between the East Division Champion Toronto Argonauts and the West Division Champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Not everyone is thinking about the game coming up this weekend, however.
Battle of The North Happens Friday on Fight Pass From Montreal
While the Argos and Blue Bombers prep for Canadian football’s ultimate prize, another championship will be handed out on Friday night from Montreal. It’ll be a night for crossovers when Samourai MMA heads to Casino Montreal for Samourai MMA Chapter 12: Battle of the North (also titled Samourai vs. BFL 1.)
As the title of the show implies, this event pits the finest competitors from Samourai against those from British Columbia-based Battlefield Fight League for a full night of MMA action. Friday’s show will be seen on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT.
All told, barring any late adjustments between now and the weekend, the final version of Samourai MMA Chapter 12 will feature 10 fights. Highlighting the night is a five-round affair for the Vacant Samourai MMA Super-Welterweight Championship between current BFL Super-Lightweight Champion Rodrigo Sezinando (7-1 MMA, Samourai promotional debut) and former Samourai Super-Welterweight Champion Jonathan Ramsay (5-1 MMA, 5-1 Samourai.)
Dissecting Rodrigo Sezinando
Rodrigo Sezinando enters the Samourai MMA Chapter 12 main event having posted a mark of 4-1 over his last five fights. Currently, he’s on a three-fight winning streak, extended last time out with a first-round knockout by way of ground and pound strikes against Dario Sinagoga (7-2 MMA, 7-2 BFL) in BFL 80 on May 9 to take the 165-lb. belt.
Sezinando improved to (7-1) on Thursday and is now the 2 time BFL super lightweight championhttps://t.co/fTBMkPFVw4 pic.twitter.com/Kjqkm50pxr
— Battlefield Fight League (@BattlefieldFL) May 13, 2024
Numerically speaking, the current super-lightweight champion has won six of his fights inside the distance. Thus, it goes without saying that he’s an explosive fighter when the cage door closes on fight night.
Just look at the video tape of his fight against Sinagoga this past spring. During the opening round of the contest, he shot for a takedown, only for Sinagoga to pop back up. Undaunted, Sezinando drove Sinagoga down to the mat and took mount.
From there, the fight turned into another case of one-way traffic. Rodrigo Sezinando pounded away with shots to the head, forcing the referee to step in and put a halt to the proceedings. How will he handle the shift in weight to 175 lbs. and can he keep the aggression going in the Samourai MMA Chapter 12 main event?
Looking At Jonathan Ramsay
In the other corner, Jonathan Ramsay, nicknamed “Finish Him,” has posted a record of 4-1 in his last five fights dating back to November of 2022. Most recently, he saw the five-fight winning streak dating back to his professional debut snapped at the hands of Danny Mallette (6-1 MMA, 4-1 Samourai) by way of fourth-round knockout back in June.
Mallette has since turned his attention back to the squared circle of boxing with a TKO victory over Petar Gavrilovic to go 2-0 in The Sweet Science. Despite the fact that Jonathan Ramsay sustained his first career defeat inside the cage, he knows how to dish out the pain on any given fight night.
Looking at the footage of Ramsay’s contest versus Irving Molina two years ago, he executed a brilliant takedown of his opponent, going into side control right away and landing some nasty elbow shots. It was only a matter of time before Ramsay took Molina’s back after another burst of ground and pound strikes, with the rear-naked choke finally ending the affair in one minute and 29 seconds’ time.
Jonathan Ramsay is a young man who was cast for the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter on ESPN+ but did not make the final roster for the television series. With a great track record so far in his MMA career, should he win the Samourai MMA Chapter 12 main event on Friday night, Ramsay could very well find himself on the short list for a UFC deal in the near future.
Final Thoughts
While there are other MMA promotions holding shows throughout the day and night on Friday, if you don’t have any plans for the evening hours, do yourself a favor: Carve out some time for Samourai MMA Chapter 12 and the Samourai MMA Chapter 12 main event.
Get that pizza ordered early on Friday night. You won’t want to miss a second of this exciting show.
Prediction: Jonathan Ramsay by First-Round Submission.
