Canada Forum >> The MM-eh News Thread

MM-eh.ca has learned that Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia’s T.J. Grant (16-5) has withdrawn from his planned bout vs. Charlie Brenneman (13-2) at UFC Live 4 this Saturday in Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center.

Grant had been feeling a little fatigued this past weekend, but his team thought that a few days of rest would help him to feel better.

When this Monday came around and he had no energy while working out, Grant informed UFC staff of the issue.

That day he expressed his frustration to MM-eh, saying that he didn’t feel the way a professional fighter should feel after an 8-week training camp designed to have him peak this weekend.

He saw a Physician who gave him a throat swab as well as took some blood, and the speculation now is that Grant may have either strep-throat or mono, but the tests won’t be returned for at least another day.

Grant was supposed to fly to Pittsburgh today, but he had a light workout early this morning with the hope that the antibiotics he was prescribed would have made him feel better, but when he still had no energy he called the UFC and told them that he couldn’t fight.

“I feel like I’m running on a small percentage of my abilities, maybe 50%” He said today.

MM-eh.ca has learned that Port Colborne, Ontario’s Alexis Davis (9-4) will be making her Strikeforce debut against Julie Kedzie (16-8) at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30 in Chicago.

Davis has been fighting since 2007 and has long been one of Canada’s best kept secrets.  She is the Raging Wolf Bantamweight Champion.

Kedzie is the leader of the women’s MMA team at Jackson’s MMA and has been a mainstay of the women’s MMA for years.  She is fresh off a win over striker Kaitlin Young.

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MM-eh.ca has learned that rising Saskatchewan star Kurt Southern (9-3) has been selected by Ringside MMA to face Mike Ricci (6-1) for their lightweight title at Ringside 12 in Montreal’s Bell Centre on October 21.

It was first revealed by MM-eh on June 20 that Ricci would be one-half of the pairing, but up until now there has only been speculation about who he would be fighting.  Several names that were guessed were Kevin Morin, Jason Saggo and Jesse Gross.

Southern, who fights out of Alliance Martial Arts in Saskatoon, is coming off of a very impressive win over Jorge Britto — one of Canada’s top jiu jitsu players at the score Fighting series earlier this month.

Ricci has been itching for the Ringside title for some time, as explained to MM-eh here.  He returned to the cage after a year-long layoff for a win over Jesse Ronson at Ringside 10 in April.

Montreal’s John Makdessi has suffered a training injury and has withdrawn from his planned bout against Paul Taylor at UFC on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle, scheduled for Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Bradley Center on Aug 14.

MM-eh has confirmed with Makdessi’s management that he tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL) during wrestling practice and will be sidelined for an indeterminate amount of time.

It has not been decided yet if the lightweight standout will have to undergo surgery.

Treatment methods vary depending on the severity of the tear, but it could be anything from just rest and recovery, to arthroscopic surgery, or even MCL replacement.

Makdessi has been replaced on the card by Donald Cerrone.

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MM-eh -  Makdessi injured, off of UFC on Versus 5

Montreal’s John Makdessi has suffered a training injury and has withdrawn from his planned bout against Paul Taylor at UFC on Versus 5: Hardy vs. Lytle, scheduled for Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Bradley Center on Aug 14.

MM-eh has confirmed with Makdessi’s management that he tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL) during wrestling practice and will be sidelined for an indeterminate amount of time.

It has not been decided yet if the lightweight standout will have to undergo surgery.

Treatment methods vary depending on the severity of the tear, but it could be anything from just rest and recovery, to arthroscopic surgery, or even MCL replacement.

Makdessi has been replaced on the card by Donald Cerrone.

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Toronto’s Adrian ‘The Bully’ Wooley (7-2) is the first Canadian to be matched up with an opponent for Bellator’s first foray onto Canadian soil.

Sources close to his camp have confirmed with MM-eh.ca that Team Tap Star’s Wooley will be taking on David ‘Bo’ Harris (5-2-1) at Bellator 47 in Rama, Ontario on July 23.

Along with the UFC’s Ivan Menjivar, Wooley is considered by many to be one of Canada’s top two Bantamweight fighters.  He is thought to be on the cusp of a UFC invitation, but a split decision loss to Nick Mamalis at the Score Fighting series last month may have derailed those hopes.

Another Canadian who is expected to be on this card is Alex Ricci (2-0), although no opponent is yet known.

I also got this article up on Sherdog, will be contributing now and again

MM-eh has learned that Misha Cirkunov and Tim Chemelli have once again verbally agreed  to fight.  The pair had originally been scheduled to meet at Slammer in the Hammer two weeks ago, but an injury to Cirkunov a week prior to the event prevented that.

Contracts have not yet been signed, but the fight is expected to be added to the already stacked Global Warriors Fighting Championship in Hamilton, Ontario on August 13.

Already on the card will be a match-up between Jason Saggo and Jesse Ronson, and the card will feature a main event featuring superstar in the works Jordan Mein versus an as-yet unnamed opponent.

In an odd twist to the above mentioned Slammer in the Hammer card, after Cirkunov withdrew Chemelli was lined up to fight American D.J. Linderman, but a few short days before the event the Ontario Athletic Commission revealed that they would not allow the fight to happen.  Sources have told MM-eh that their reason was because they felt that because Chemelli had won all eight of his fights in the first round he did not have enough experience to meet the 9-2 Linderman.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that undefeated Canadian Middleweight Nick ‘The Promise’ Ring (12-0) and Tim Boetsch (13-4) have both verbally agreed to fight at UFC 135 ‘Jones vs. Rampage’ on September 24 in Denver, Colorado.

The Calgarian Ring was a cast member of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Season 11 where he won two fights, but was forced into an early withdrawal due to a serious knee injury.

After his recovery from surgery he has won both of his UFC appearances, including a unanimous decision over Riki Fukuda, and most recently a rear-naked choke win over James Head at UFC 131 last month in Vancouver.

Boetsch has looked impressive since dropping a weight-class from light-heavyweight to middleweight, last earning a unanimous decision victory over Kendall Grove at UFC 130 in May.

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In what could easily be a fight of the year candidate, London, Ontario’s Sam Stout (17-6-1) will be facing Germany’s Dennis Siver (19-7) at UFC 137 on October 29th at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.  UFC President Dana White said that the pair have both verbally agreed to the fight.

The exciting Stout has already won a handful of UFC ‘Fight of the Night’ awards, and showed why he is known as the ‘Hands of Stone’ in June when he issued a brutal knockout punch to Yves Edwards at UFC 131 – Dos Santos vs. Carwin in Vancouver.

Siver has been on a tear lately, going 8-1 in his last 9 fights, including wins over top tier names such as Matt Wiman and George Sotiropolous.

Both Stout and Siver are known for their exciting striking-based fighting styles, so the two of them together should be fireworks.

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Ringside MMA President Eric Champoux announced today that Ringside Featherweight Champion Michel ‘Mitch’ Gagnon (7-1) will try to achieve another title in a different weight class when he drops to 135 lbs to face Bantamweight Champ Stephane Pelletier (5-1) on October 21st at Ringside 12.

Pelletier is 3-0 so far in 2011, having last dispatched Dimitri Waardenburg  at Ringside 11 in June.  Gagnon last won with a wicked slam to Rejean Groulx at Ringside 10 in April.

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A man from the Halifax area who has had MMA fights in the past was charged with second-degree murder by the RCMP-Halifax Regional Police integrated major crime unit today.

Steve Skinner (3-2) is alleged to have shot 20-year-old Stacey Jordan Adams to death on April 10, and police say that they believe the killing is associated with the local illicit drug scene.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the 38-year-old.

Skinner had his first MMA fight in Halifax in 2006, but after the store he owned was fire-bombed by members of a local crime family he moved to the Toronto area.

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Davis, who fights out of Dayboll Jiu Jitsu, told MM-eh in an interview several weeks ago that she’s ecstatic to have been signed to Strikeforce, and she hopes to soon get a shot at the title. 

At 10 a.m. EST today new Canadian MMA promotion ‘Instinct MMA’ is holding a press conference to announce the main event for their first card, and MM-eh has learned that it is comprised of Montreal’s Patrick Côté (15-7) vs. fellow UFC vet Crafton Wallace (18-5-1).

The exact date, expected for sometime in October, as well as the venue will be announced that the press conference as well.

Côté told MM-eh that as a free agent he has received numerous recent offers to fight all over the world, including the Singapore based ONE FC, as well as in England and Brazil, but several reasons led him to sign with Instinct.

Mainly, Côté has a very close relationship with Instinct President Stéphane Patry, who acted as his manager for several years.  This relationship allowed Côté to sign a contract for only one fight, somewhat unusual for a big-named fighter.

Top Canadian welterweight John Alessio (31-14) has been left without an opponent this Saturday night at Superior Cage Combat 2 in Las Vegas after opponent Waachiim Spiritwolf (9-8-1) withdrew yesterday with a reported shoulder injury.

A disappointed and upset Alessio confirmed the news to MM-eh today.

He added that SCC is searching for a last minute replacement.  “Keep your fingers crossed.” He said.

Alessio told MM-eh last week that ideally he would like to be able to fight every two months if possible, and it’s now been five months since his last fight, a loss to Siyar Bahadurzada in Belgium in March.

Alessio still fighting, Shawn Fitzsimmons steps up to replace Spiritwolf

A relieved John Alessio (31-14) announced on Twitter late last night that Superior Cage Combat has successfully found him someone to fight on only two days notice after Waachiim Spiritwolf withdrew due to a shoulder injury on Thursday.

Shawn Fitzsimmons (6-6) will be stepping up to the plate to fight him at Superior Cage Combat 2 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Edmonton’s Mitch Clarke added to UFC 140 in Toronto

Both Sherdog and MMAWeekly are reporting that sources have told them that undefeated Edmonton lightweight Mitch Clarke (9-0) has signed with the UFC, and will be making his promotional debut at UFC 140 on December 10 in the Air Canada Centre.

Clarke, who trains at the Hayabusa Training Centre, will be taking on New York City’s John Cholish (7-1), in what is so far the only rumoured bout for that card.

Winnipeg’s Roland Delorme sole Canadian on TUF 14

The Ultimate Fighting Championship yesterday revealed the fighters who will be participating in the fourteenth season of their popular mixed martial arts based show ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’

This will be the first time that the show will feature both Bantamweights and Featherweights, and Winnipeg’s Roland ‘Stunning’ Delorme is the sole Canadian who made the list.

The 27-year-old national judo champion Delorme (6-1) trains at the Winnipeg Academy of MMA.

The format of the show will have all 32 fighters fight each other in the first and second episode to reduce the number down to 8 in each weight class, and the two-Hour premiere will feature all of the preliminary fights on Wednesday, September 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV.

Photo of Roland Delorme by TKO Photography

Jabouin victorious over Loveland at UFC 134 in Rio

Montreal’s Yves ‘Tiger’ Jabouin (16-7) had a successful bantamweight debut at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last night, going the full fifteen minutes and earning a split-decision victory over Oregonian Ian Loveland (14-9).

Coming off a submission loss to Pablo Garza at UFC 129 in April, Jabouin knew that getting a win was of paramount importance.

“To me it was very important coming from a loss.  There’s a lot of fighters want to be in the UFC, so you have to stay competitive in order to remain in this league where resides the best in the world, so I had to get a win to prove I was one of them.”

Normally known for his impressive striking, Jabouin said that he felt like it was the rest of his arsenal that let him win tonight.

“I feel like my conditioning and my wrestling actually got me this fight, because for some reason I was a little bit gun-shy — my guns weren’t coming out, I couldn’t load them.  So basically I had to go in that box of tools that I have and show that it’s not just the striking — I’m not just a striker, that’s why I was able to get this win.”

Jabouin may not think that his striking was where he wanted it to be, but his numerous spinning back fists and kicks certainly seemed to throw Loveland off of his game.

“Spinning back-fists are very unpredictable, so basically any time that I throw them he’s in danger of getting hit with them.” he said.

But overall a happy Jabouin is happy with his win.

“I would have wanted to be able to win a little bit in the boxing exchanges and kicks, but hey, it’s all right.” He said while breaking into a big grin, “It’s all right.”

Photo by MMAJunkie

Stout withdraws from UFC 137

Sam Stout has followed in the shoes of teammate Chris Horodecki and withdrawn from his next fight, likely due to the recent untimely death of friend and coach Shawn Tompkins.

Both Stout and Horodecki, as well as fellow UFC lightweight Mark Hominick started their careers with Tompkins, and his passing has obviously affected them deeply.  Tompkins was also married to Stout’s sister Emilie.

Stout had been scheduled to face Dennis Siver at UFC 137, and Horodecki was to have faced Brad Cardinal at Freedom Fight on September 10.

Southern out of Ringside Title fight

Saskatoon’s Kurt Southern (9-3) has suffered a groin injury and withdrawn from his planned lightweight title fight against Mike Ricci at Ringside 12 on October 21.

No replacement has yet been named.