| After a resoundingly successful debut at the Bell Centre last spring, Ringside MMA will once again make its presence felt inside its celebrated walls. It is with great pleasure and pride that Ringside MMA will present Ringside 12, in collaboration with evenko, on October 21st at theBell Centre in Montreal. With a super fight and 3 championship matches scheduled on the card, Ringside 12 will be the showcase the most talented Quebec MMA fighters of their generation.
The main event will feature an explosive battle of international proportions as Paul “Semtex” Daley (27-11-2) from England will face American Luigi “The Italian Tank” Fioravanti (22-10-0). Daley, a notorious KO artist (with 20 of his wins coming by way of knock out), is a UFC and Strikeforce veteran, and made his last appearance in Montreal at UFC 113 in the infamous number one contender’s match for the UFC welterweight title when he faced Josh Koscheck. He will be making his return to the Centre Bell after having faced such formidable fighters as Duane Ludwig, Martin Kampmann, Dustin Hazelett, Scott Smith, Nick Diaz and Jake Shields. Facing him will be Fioravanti, who in addition to M-1 Challenge is also a veteran of the UFC, , and his preferred method of attack is no secret to anyone. Having already stood toe to toe against the likes of Chris Leben, Jon Fitch, Forrest Petz, Luck Cummo, Diego Sanchez, John Alessio, Pete Spratt and Joey Doerksen, this fighter keeps the crowds at the edge of their seats with his fearless willingness to stand and fight. Fight fans are sure to see an explosive battle between two warriors who use their fists to earn decisive victories rather than leave things in the hands of the judges.
In the co-main event of the night, Ringside MMA’s bantamweight and featherweight champions respectively, will battle for the 135 pound title in a 5 round match. Michel “Mitch” Gagnon (7-1), a 26 year old native of Sudbury and current champion at 145 pound, will make his debut at bantamweight after a successful and spectacular title defence last April when he stopped Rejean Groulx after a somewhat controversial takedown in what was already a candidate for fight of the year. Though he is currently on a 5 fight win streak that has not seen him lose in over 30 months, he faces what could be his toughest challenge yet in his opponent, Stephane Pelletier(5-1),. This is Gagnon’s opportunity to be Ringside MMA’s first ever double title holder in 2 different weight classes simultaneously. Not looking to be anyone’s stepping stone, Pelletier turned heads after getting a submission victory over Mikael Pellerin only a few days after participating in tryouts for the reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. Only 3 months later at the Colisee Pepsi, Pelletier surprised the analysts with his 3rd consecutive win, a stoppage over the veteran Dimitri Waardenburg, to win the Bantamweight title.
At lightweight, the vacant 155 pound title will be in play in a 5 round championship match that will put the Bellator veteran and Tristar trained Mike Ricci (6-1) versus one of the best Canadian fighters in his weightclass, Kurt “The Hurt” Southern (11-3), a formidable wrestler. Ricci’s record would have been perfect had it not been for the loss at hands of Pat Curran. He is known to be a well rounded athlete who possesses not only strong defence, but only an affinity for Muay Thai, and trains with the Canadian National Wrestling Team. However, well schooled in wrestling is Southern, who fought competitively in the sport for over 13 years before making his MMA debut in 2007. The Saskatchewan native has accumulated victories over the likes of Martin Grandmont, Brad Cardinal and most recently BJJ ace Jorge Britto. Currently riding a three fight winning streak, Southern is coming back to Ringside after his only appearance back in January, 2010.
Also on the main card of the evening, former Ringside welterweight champion Alex “The Dominican Nightmare” Garcia (6-1) will make his return to the cage after losing his title and suffering his first loss at the hands of Seth Baczynski last April. Fighting out of Montreal, Garcia had won his first six matches over the likes of Ricky Goodall and Tyler Jackson. The undisputed top prospect in Canada will be making the first stop on his way back to the top as he meets the veteran Matt MacGrath (10-6) from Halifax. MacGrath has faced some of the best fighters in his weight class over the last three years including Matt Veach, Cory MacDonald, Claude Patrick, Jonathan Goulet, Ryan Machan, Kalib Starnes, and Marcus Aurelio, of which several are veterans of the UFC. Having lost to Aurelio by submission in May, MacGrath will be looking to get back to his winning ways at the expense of Garcia.
Tickets for Ringside 12 will go on sale as of September 2nd, 2011 at noon on www.evenko.ca
www.ringsidemma.tv
Twitter: @ringsidemma
Facebook: Ringside
|
