MFC Twitter Conversation Ends In Stunning Fashion

I am not an important person in the world of mma. I'm just another fan/supporter of combat sports and its athletes.

On July 7 while reading through my Twitter feed, I came upon a tweet from Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) promoter +Mark Pavelich. His claim is that the MFC is the "largest show in Canada" and I responded with the question of what qualifies this statement:

@MarkPavelich what qualifies the MFC as the "biggest" promotion in the country? 3-4 shows a year? Longtime supporter but don't get that.
— MinnesotaMMA (@MinnesotaMMA) July 7, 2013

@chrisbobroberts @MinnesotaMMA We do 4-6 shows a year , we've done 8 before , were the longest legal (cont) pic.twitter.com/zM0gq8CG3l
— Mark Pavelich (@MarkPavelich) July 7, 2013

@MarkPavelich thanks. Don't agree that some of that (4 show a year, all in Edm) makes you the "biggest" but appreciate your response.
— MinnesotaMMA (@MinnesotaMMA) July 7, 2013

Mr. Pavelich was gracious enough to respond to my question with some facts about his promotion. And they are valid points. The fact that the MFC has been around since 2001 is true. To date, the promotion have hosted 40 events. MFC has a TV contract with +AXS TV Fights (who also show events from +BAMMA, +Legacy Fighting Championship, Lion Fights Promotions, +XFC - Xtreme Fighting Championships).

In my response I didn't agree some of those facts make a promotion the "biggest" and thanked Mr. Pavelich for responding. Result: my Twitter account is now BLOCKED by @MaximumFighting and @MarkPavelich!

I don't agree with many statements the MFC promoter make. I do not like how Mark Pavelich seems to promote the MFC and himself above the actual fighters and fights. I disagree with his stance on banning all female fighters from his promotion. His constant focus on #THEMFC and being 'the biggest' is odd. Does it really matter that you are the BIGGEST mma promotion in Canada or Japan or Guatemala???

Put on great fights with real fighters (Thomas Treadwell vs his brother Mike is NOT a good fight with real fighters). Don't say you will have shows in the U.S. (see 2010 interview here*) when you never leave Edmonton!

I have watched MFC since their TV contract began with HDNet/AXStv. I typically tweet live results and follow the fighters under contract with the promotion. And this will not change. But my opinion and respect of its promoter is changed.

* = in this same interview Pavelich praises Antonio McKee (who he later slams & cuts from the MFC) and says "he's going to kick the crap out of that guy [Jacob Volkmann]." Volkmann defeated McKee by split decision. He calls Todd Duffee "one of the top 20 heavyweights in the world" and speaking on +Bellator MMA being around in 2011, "I'll give two to one on that, two to one I'm telling you they won't be and if they are here, count the amount of shows they did this year and the amount of shows they do next year will be half of what they did this year." For the record, Bellator did 22 shows in 2010 and 25 shows in 2011 (MFC had 4).

Buffer

Thompson tops Daley

Nick "The Goat" Thompson used his superior ground skills to earn a hard fought victory over Paul "Semtex" Daley at MFC 20.

Thompson used effective counter-punching throughout the fight and when the fight moved to the ground Daley could do nothing to stop the attack.

Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Thompson and the third had it 30-27.

The only moment where Daley did any damage was late into the second round when an over-hand right hit Thompson in the back of the head. A stunned Thompson fell to the mat, but Daley was unable to finish the fight. For Daley, it was enough to win the round on two judges scorecards, but not the fight.

Thompson, who just passed the bar exam, improved his record to 38-10-1. Daley fell to 19-8-2.

Noble loses in Canada; McKee 1st MFC Lightweight Champ

Minnesota lightweight Derrick Noble (23-12-1) fought IFL veteran Derrick McKee at MFC 20 in Edmonton losing a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 49-46 for McKee, who used his superior wrestling skills to get takedowns and do enough work on the ground to win four of the five rounds.

McKee (23-3-2), who has victories over Delson Heleno, Mike Dolce, Marcus Aurilio, and Edwin Dewees is the first ever MFC Lightweight Champion.

Nick Thompson Talks MFC, Paul Daley

From http://www.maximumfighting.com
By: Keith Mills - Feb 19, 2009

UFC vet Nick Thompson has made huge sacrifices fighting while working his way through law school but the rewards have been worth it. Having recently passed the bar exam and going about as far as he could fighting in Russia, Costa Rica, and Japan one might think it is time to hang up the gloves to settle down with his wife. Not the case for Nick as he travels to Alberta this weekend to fight fellow EliteXC vet Paul Daley in MFC live on HDNet.

KM: How did you get involved with MFC?

NT: (Derrick) Noble was there first. He is my teammate. Mark treated him
well so I was interested in fighting there. When EliteXC folded I was
talking about fighting Alessio but they signed Daley for that fight. Daley
is somebody I'd love to fight; he is the number one striker in my weight
class. There is Thiago Alves but I think I'd give it to Daley in just
striking. Once I knew they had Daley I called Mark about this show about
being on this card.

KM: Strikeforce picked up many of the old EliteXC contracts and the rest
seemed to go to KOTC. What is your contract situation with all that?

NT: I still have fights left on that deal but non-exclusive. Until they tell
me otherwise I'm not fighting for them. If they call me up and tell me they
have a fight for me, great. Until I hear from them I'm assuming they are
done. I just had an attorney look at the contract. The days of just signing
your name and trusting the promoter have come and gone. I have people
looking over every contract I do.

KM: Where are you in your law school degree?

NT: I'm all done. I took the bar two days after I fought Jake Shields and
passed.

KM: Is this an area of law you are interested in getting in?

NT: Very much so. In fact I talked to people who represent Brock Lesnar
among others about possibly doing work for them.

KM: To what degree are you concentrating on being a fighter as opposed to
being a lawyer?

NT: I've only interviewed for a job but am fully open to possibilities, even
going so far as to hang up fighting and just doing law. Something in-between
is great but I sacrifice a lot in order to fight and it would be nice to go
to a buffet with my wife. It would be nice for the fighters to have somebody
who has been in their shoes and knows what they are dealing with as well as
know the law.

KM: What do you think about fighting Paul Daley?

NT: I'm really excited. As I said I think he is the number one striker at
170 pounds. The only reason to fight is to test yourself against the best
guys. I fought the best jiu-jitsu guy in the weight class Jake Shields and
now fighting the best striker. I'm excited.

KM: How is preparation for this fight different than for Eddie Alvarez?

NT: I don't know if it is a whole lot different. I have to be a little more
wary of his kicks as his kicks are a little more dangerous than Eddie's but
it is going to be the same kind of fight where I need to be ready to use
good footwork to stay away because if you stay in range he can knock you
out.

KM: Do you anticipate this fight going to the ground?

NT: I hope it goes to the ground. I feel I have an edge there. Paul may not
be a real great wrestler when you have the striking ability he has it
doesn't open up the takedowns because you have to worry about defending the
strikes. He took down John Alessio so there is the possibility he might be
taking me down.

KM: What did you think of his fight against Jake Shields?

NT: I thought he had a really good gameplan. I think he knew Jake was better
than him on the ground and rather than make a mistake where I did trying to
out-jiu-jitsu Jake he just said 'fine, you are on top of me and you are
going to hit me a little bit but eventually the ref is going to stand us
back up and I'm going to have another change to knock you out'. I think it
was a great strategy that didn't work for him but a good idea. It showed he
is a very smart fighter.

KM: That is the first time Jake looked bad.

NT: He realized Jake is not a real active fighter on top. He waits for the
bottom guy to move and then submits them just like he did with me.

KM: Tell us about your fight with Jake.

NT: I'm still disappointed. It is heartbreaking anytime you put that much
work into getting ready for a fight and then not only lose but lose in a
minute on national television. I know I'm a much better fighter than that.
That being said I think it is what MMA is all about. I overestimated my
jiu-jitsu ability; Jake saw me make a mistake and capitalized. It was an
excellent gameplan by him and what jiu-jitsu and fighting and MMA in general
is all about. It was a mistake he saw me do on tape. I didn't know better at
the time and Jake knew better and exploited it. We have been working hard at
the gym and it is not going to happen ever again.

KM: Since then you picked up a win over Travis McCullough in Madtown
Throwdown. Tell us about that fight.

NT: Not a huge deal. He is a forty-fight veteran and more than anything I
wanted to get back in the ring and knock off some rust before I fight
someone like Daley, more than anything a preparation for Daley. I took him
down and ground-and-pounded him. He tapped out to punches.

KM: At Extreme Challenge in New Jersey you were cornering Nat McIntyre. Any
sense of distraction that you were there during your own training cycle?

NT: No. Nat is our striking coach, one of the best American Muay Thai
strikers. Being out there with him was exactly what I needed, like I would
hold pads for him. It was a little bit of role reversal but we are pretty
good about coaching each other in the gym.

KM: How have you changed since your fight in EliteXC?

NT: Nothing really changed, just improved.

KM: Anything else to get across to the fans?

NT: I just want to get back to my winning ways. Losing sucks.

KM: Brock Larson from your team and weight class is fighting in the UFC. How
has he helped prepare you for Daley?

NT: We are always training together. Everybody at the gym helps each other.

KM: How would you describe Brock Lesnar's training at this time?

NT: I've really been impressed with Brock since the day he came in. There is
always the size people talk about but what really impressed me is he is
willing to learn. He came in like a black slate saying 'teach me'. When you
get somebody that athletic and then has that attitude they are unstoppable.
I think if you want to complain about him getting a title shot that is a
fair complaint because he was 1-1 at that point but at the point he beat
Randy Couture he obviously deserves to be there.

KM: What is your opinion of Derrick Noble vs. Antonio McKee on this same
card?

NT: Well I hope it isn't boring because if it is boring it means McKee won.
Derrick and McKee are definitely top-level guys. McKee is just really
boring. You want to win on the one hand but still want to make it exciting
and doing that against McKee is going to be tough. Noble can knock you out
so easily with one punch and with McKee it looks like Derrick is going to
get at least five chances to do that.

KM: Sponsors to thank?

NT: Tapout, Gamma-O, MMA Warehouse, and Calio Shoes

Noble, McKee In Clash Of Styles

From http://www.maximumfighting.com
By DEREK VAN DIEST Sun Media - Feb 19, 2009

It's expected to be the ultimate contrast in styles.

Derrick Noble is a stand-up fighter, who's willing to trade punches with an
opponent in the middle of the ring. Antonio McKee is a grappler, looking to
take his opponents down and work on a submission.

Tomorrow the two will meet for the Maximum Fighting Championship world
lightweight title.

"I expect it's going to be kind of a grinding, long fight," Noble said."Antonio is a tough opponent. What he does, he does well, which is take people down and keep him there.

"I trained for the fight to be long and I've trained a lot of wrestling to try and defend what he's going to do. Hopefully I can counter that, get my strikes off and knock him out."

Both Noble and McKee are experienced fighters with nearly 70 fights between
them.

Noble, 30, fights out of Champlain, Minnesota, while McKee calls Lakewood,
California, home.

"I know what he does, he takes people down and he stays on top of them,"
Noble said. "I think this is a contrast of styles. I'm more of a stand-up guy, but I'm not lost on the ground. If he takes me down I know what I'm doing.

"So it's not a case of if he takes me down, he wins and if I stand up, I win."

McKee has been criticized for his style of fighting, which has been called
boring by some in the fight game.

Yesterday at a press conference, he defended the style backed up by a 27-3
record.

"I really think that I've been able to develop something that is unique and special and no one's been able to stop my take downs," McKee said."So it's been effortless for me. I've never been on my back.

"I'm really comfortable on the ground and, at the end of the day, I'm looking to pull out the victory."

Thompson wins in Madison

Nick "The Goat" Thompson made his return to the Madtown Throwdown promotion last night and came away with an easy 1st round victory. Thompson faced fellow Minnesota fighter Travis McCullough and won by submission due to strikes at 2:38 of the first round.

After taking the fight to the ground, Thompson tried to end the fight with a submission. Thompson eventually took the back of McCullough and forced the tapout with several strikes to the head.

Madtown Throwdown 18. You can watch the Thompson fight here around the 1 hour, 58 minute mark of the video.
Free video streaming by Ustream
Thompson will now put his focus on his next fight, which will be against one of the top welterweights in the world in Paul "Semtex" Daley. They will face off at MFC 20 on February 20 in Edmonton, Alberta. The event will be broadcast live on HDNet.

Noble victorious in Canada

Derrick Noble made his debut in the lightweight division a successful one as he defeated 24-year old Ariel Sexton by 2nd round submission. Noble had fought all of his previous 34 fights in the welterweight division.

The fight was one of the featured bouts on HDNet Fights presentation of MFC 19 in Edmonton.

After a first round of striking, which saw both fighters cut, Sexton finally went for a takedown early in the second. Noble saw the shot coming and quickly jumped guard and secured a guillotine choke to force the tapout at 1:30 of the second.

Derrick Noble to appear on HDNet

Minnesota Martial Arts Academy standout Derrick Noble will be competing on the HDNet Fights broadcast of MFC 19 live from Edmonton, Alberta on Friday. The broadcast begins at 9 PM.

Noble (22-11-1) will be fighting prospect Ariel Sexton (5-1) in a lightweight bout. Both fighters last competed in February at Hardcore Championship Fighting in Calgary. Noble defeated Brendan Seguin (15-13-1) by 2nd round KO.

Noble has fought all around North America and has victories over top fighters like Jake Ellenberger, Carlo Prater, current MFC Welterweight champion Pat Healy, and UFC contender Thiago Alves. Some of his losses have been to UFC veterans Gideon Ray, Jorge Santiago, Chris Lytle, Keith Wisniewski, Josh Neer, and Thiago Alves.