Notes and quotes from fighters from The Great White North.
Friday's main event at MFC 28: Supremacy in Enoch, Alta., is sure to bring excitement.
Two Alberta-based rising mixed martial artists square off for the MFC's recently vacated light-heavyweight title.
On the one hand there's Edmonton's own Ryan (Big Deal) Jimmo, who said he's sold 150 tickets to friends and family for the event at the River Cree Resort and Casino, and on the other Dwayne (D-Bomb) Lewis from Fort McMurray, Alta., who is seemingly aiming for home-cage advantage by selling over 300 of the venue's 1,800 seating capacity. That adds up to a lot of cheering for either side.
Lewis doesn't think there's much to take from that experience.
"We were totally different fighters back then," Lewis said. "We were raw and we were fighting at heavyweight.
"It was the second pro fight for both of us, so it was more like a schoolyard tussle than an actual MMA fight. I don't even dwell on it anymore."
Jimmo, on the other hand, still thinks the fact that he beat his fellow Canadian once could give him the edge in their second meeting.
"Sure we're two totally different fighters, but psychologically people get conditioned by these things, so I do think in the back of his head, it still sticks with him," Jimmo said. "I was his first loss, so on a subconscious level, it will stay with him, probably for the rest of his life.
"He was my first building of confidence and I was his first tearing down of confidence so I see that as a definite advantage coming into the fight."
Again, Lewis dismisses that notion.
"I don't think it even plays a part. We're so different right now, we have different styles and we've both evolved a lot," Lewis said. "Plus, I've lost fights since."
Of the two fighters, Jimmo is definitely the brashest one as he was posing and flexing and playing things up for the crowd at Thursday's weigh-ins. The 29-year-old, who is originally from St. John, is on a 13-fight win streak so when he beat Wilson Gouveia in his last fight by unanimous decision, it was a no-brainer that he was going to get a shot at the title.
On the other hand, Lewis, who is also an East Coaster as a Labrador native, is just two fights removed from a loss to former title-holder Emanuel Newton. His last win, over ex-UFC fighter Razak Al-Hassan, was a lacklustre split decision that many thought could have gone the other way.
"It was a controversial decision so I was a little surprised they gave him the title shot," admitted Jimmo. "But that's fine, I feel like I'm above him anyway in terms of skill."
In fact, the MFC decided at first not to give him the championship fight and it was instead going to go to Glover Teixeira. But Jimmo balked at that match-up since Teixeira was a newcomer. Ultimately, the MFC decided to go back with the all-Canadian affair.
Lewis was relieved and believes his results speak for themselves.
"It was pretty disappointing, the fact that (the MFC) said if I won the fight they would give me a title shot and then they said they weren't going to," Lewis said. "I know the fight wasn't all that great, but in the end I still got the win. But in the end (MFC president) Mark (Pavelich) came through to his word and gave me that shot so I'm ready for it."
The 36-year-old believes the biggest challenge Friday night will be getting hands on Jimmo.
"He fights with that Machida style, an elusive style, so I'm going to have to close off the corners and try to get in close on him," said Lewis.
Jimmo says with Lewis the biggest danger is not his opponent's technique but how hard he hits.
"I think he has limited skills per se," Jimmo said. "He likes to throw and he's a danger to anyone, just because he throws heavy fists. Anyone in the world gets in the ring with him, he starts throwing ... he can end a fight against anyone pretty much."
Jimmo definitely has knockout power himself. In his first six fights after the first showdown with Lewis, he won each by first-round stoppage (four by knockout). But five of past six fights have gone to decision.
He attributes that to a few different factors -- and admits it was partly intentional.
"Part of it is I'm been fighting a little tougher guys. But I'm also very comfortable going three rounds, so I said to myself, it might not be that much longer until I got to go five rounds, so I want to get very used to going three, so that five won't seem like a problem whatsoever. So it was a little bit of pre-planning for a championship fight. I didn't want to finish all my fights first round and then all of a sudden I may need to go five."
How's that for self-confidence?
And as far as the large "Fort Mac" crowd goes, he's not concerned.
"When you get in that ring, there's only your opponent in front of you. And people can scream and do whatever they want, it's not going to influence me in any way. So if he brings a larger crowd, it's just going to be a larger amount of people disappointed when I beat him."
"Demon" Demarce in "All-Devil" affair against "Hell Boy" Whitson
Twenty-two-year-old Curtis (Demon) Demarce is making a big name for himself. The Brandon, Man., native is on a seven-fight win streak and is coming off a win by submission in his MFC debut in September after his third straight victory in The Fight Club, the relatively short-lived rival organization that was recently acquired by another Edmonton promotion Aggression MMA.
Demarce said his move to the MFC was a bit of a pre-emptive strike.
"I knew TFC was going to fold, I kind of figured that would happen," Demarce said. "They offered me fights for the title plenty of times, but as far as my career-wise and the pay I don't think it was the right thing to do. MFC was offering me the multi-fight deal and you can't go wrong with HDNet and all the exposure."
Now the young lightweight steps in on short notice to take on Richie (Hell Boy) Whitson after Vancouver's (Ragin') Kajan Johnson had to pull out with injury. He thinks the matchup against Whitson, a former cast member on The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. who lost to eventual winner Ross Pearson, has fight-of-the-night potential.
"We're both similar styles, both aggressive, both like to stand and bang," Demarce said. "I know Rich comes in great shape and likes to push the pace. I think it will be a good fight. We're both pretty well-rounded."
Demarce also explained when he got his nickname and how it wasn't his choice. In his second professional appearance, he took a fight on short notice against Bob Keleman, who was originally supposed to fight a guy whose nickname was Demon. When they showed up to the show, the poster still had the original opponent on it.
"Ever since then we've gone along with it and said I'm the Demon. And it goes with my last name too."
Demarce said the biggest thing he'll look to quash Friday against Whitson is the hype behind his name.
"He's got The Ultimate Fighter experience and everyone looks at that as a big deal, but to me he's just another opponent," Demarce said. "He better have God on his side because the Demon's coming!"
Oh, Demarce loves to play up his nickname. And the fact he is fighting a guy with a similar moniker isn't lost on him.
"I guess this is going to be a 'Hell' of a fight!"
NOTES: The weigh-ins for the event were held Thursday afternoon at the Kitaskinaw School on the Enoch Cree Nation. Lewis weighed in at 203.6 pounds and Jimmo hit the scale at 203.4. Demarce was 153.8 while Whitson was right on the number at 155.0.
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