RINGSIDE MMA: Payback – Guillet remplaces Gauthier, Mike Thomas honored

Posted on | October 20, 2010 | No Comments

(For immediate release) October 19, 2010, Montreal – Some changes have been brought to Ringside 9: Payback, which will take place this November 13 at the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau in Montreal. The event will be headlined by a welterweight championship match between UFC veteran Jonathan “The Road Warrior” Goulet against the hard hitting Chris “The Menace” Clements. Tickets are on sale via the Ovation network for what should be a sold out show.

No strangers to success themselves, Clements is the current record holder for the fastest KO in history, 3 seconds against Lautaro Tucas in 2006, having taken the record from Goulet, who had set the record at 5 seconds 2 years earlier against Joey Brown. In 2007, Goulet almost retook the record having knocked out Travis Axworthy within 2 seconds; however it was recorded at 8 seconds due to the time taken by the referee to officially stop the fight. The fact that he was unable to regain what was taken from him by Clements only further fuels Goulet in this title fight. “If Clements did not beat my record, it may still have been mine, at least here in Quebec. Let me tell you that I was very upset when Chris Clements beat my record”, said Goulet before adding in a very determined tone, “Ultimately, I have a score to settle with Clements, because it’s something I still think about to this day…”.

With more changes being made on this card, one thing has become clear; that the misfortunate of some have become opportunities for others. Derek Gauthier, who was scheduled to be on the main card against Iraj Hadin, has suffered an injury during training camp and will be unable to compete. Fortunately, Samuel Guillet, who has just been signed by Ringside earlier this fall, and who was not supposed to fight until 2011 due recovering from surgery, has healed more quickly than anticipated and is ready to come back to the octagon. It will be Guillet, who is coming off a win in June against Jason Rorison, has been signed to face Hadin. Hadin is making his return to the cage after a long absence from competitive fighting which he took after suffering 2 straight losses.

Another loss due to suffering a fracture in his face after a very tough training session, Tommy Cote, a native of Victoriaville, must also pull out of his fight against Maxime Fecteau. For his replacement, Ringside decided to insert someone who has been a longtime rival in Gregory Carpenter. For Carpenter and Fecteau, this will be their second grudge match, with both fighters having faced each other in the amateur ranks. Fecteau emerged the victor in both matches, winning by guillotine choke and then by TKO. Both of these fighters will bring a long history into battle on November 13, but this time, with Carpenter hoping to erase the memory of those losses with a win in the professional ranks.

Also, Martin Trempe will finally make his professional debut despite losing his opponent, Steve Begin. He will now face another newcomer in Robert Masson of Terrebonne, as these two heavyweight titans are sure to let their gloves fly!

It is with great pride that Ringside MMA announces the first of what will be a long line of awards to honour individuals who have made their mark in the history of mixed martial arts in Quebec. It is for this reason that the obvious first choice for Ringside is to honour a man who without his contributions, the sport would never have evolved and become what it is today: Mike Thomas. Thomas is well known as one of the founders of MMA in Quebec, as it is practiced today. He has been a man of conviction who has never hesitated to fight for what he believed in, beginning as President of the IFC, which was the first ever mixed martial arts promotion in Quebec in 1996. The event was punctuated by the arrest of 9 individuals. Far from defeated, Mr. Thomas fought tooth and nail until all charges were dropped. This eventually led to the legalisation of the sport two years later in 1998, and its supervision by the RACJ, which was led by Mario Latraverse. Not only was the sport legalized thanks to the negotiations between Mr. Thomas and the Quebec Government, but a training centre was built on the Kahnawake reserve and these negotiations served to build a new bridge between the Provincial Government and the First Nations. It was then when Mike Thomas commented, “This only goes to show that if people are ready to sit down and talk, we can resolve any problem. If I die tomorrow, it will be with the knowledge that I had a positive impact in the world on which we live.“ Ringside will pay homage to Mr. Thomas for not only fighting to advance the sport of MMA, but for also being the instigator that led to the evolution of regulations and supervision of the sport, which, over the last 10 years, has produced amazing athletes who have who have excelled on both the local and international scene.

Tickets for Ringside 9: Payment are on sale now via the OVATION network either by phone (TOLL-FREE) at 1-866-999-0089, or online via their official website at the following URL: http://www.ovation.qc.ca/liste.asp?Nom=Ringside+%28Payback%29&UID=5M7BLF44B4W0ODC7ATGT&Lang=EN

The MMA event “Payback” will also be broadcast live on Canal Indigo! For more information on Canal Indigo, please contact your local cable distributor. Also note that previous Gala’s of Ringside MMA can be found in the “on demand” section of Illico (under SPORTS on channel 900 of Videotron), many of which at no charge.

RINGSIDE 9 : Payback – CONFIRMED MATCHES
Date : November 13, 2010 – 7:30pm
Location : CENTRE PIERRE-CHARBONNEAU, MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC

170 – Jonathan Goulet vs Chris Clements
5 Round Ringside MMA Welterweight Championship Fight

170 – Alex Garcia vs Tyler Jackson
155 – Christopher Boisvert vs Lenny Wheeler
155 – Samuel Guillet vs Iraj Hadin
145 – Réjean Groulx vs Stephane Bernadel
155 – Patrick Tessier vs Jason Saggo
155 – Yohan Gariépy vs Samuel Charbonneau
135 – Maxime Fecteau vs Gregory Carpenter
135 – Éric Daigneault vs Michael Pellerin
HW – Martin Trempe vs Robert Masson

RingSide MMA is a proud partner of Bud Light (http://www.budlight.ca), of Razor Wear (http://www.razorwearclothing.com), KÄRV Clothing (http://www.karv.tv), of le Journal de Montréal (http://lejournaldemontreal.canoe.ca), of Bar Le Garage (http://www.barlegarage.com), of Québec Érotique (http://www.quebecerotique.ca), de Production Équinoxe (http://www.production-equinoxe.com) and of Litho Milles Iles Printing (http://www.lithomille-iles.com). For more information about RINGSIDE MMA, or of RINGSIDE: Payback, please consult the official website at http://www.ringsidemma.tv or contact Éric Champoux by email at eric@production-equinoxe.com as well as our media relations department at media@ringsidemma.tv.