Music: {allcanada} AFC looking to 'take over' Canadian MMA

The regional mixed martial arts landscape in this country is under construction, and in Western Canada, one company is the leading architect of change.

Formed earlier this year when a trio of organizations from a trio of major centers -- Victoria's Armageddon Fighting Championship, Calgary's AX Combat, and Edmonton's Aggression MMA -- banded together, the rechristened super-promotion known as Aggression Fighting Championship (AFC) has positioned itself to become a major player on the on the Canadian MMA scene moving forward.

Though the company has already hosted a few shows since doing the promotional Voltron thing, the month of November stands to serves as their coming out party, as the organization will hold three events -- one in each of their three home locations -- that will offer fight fans in those markets a chance to see some recognizable names and emerging Canadian talent in their area.

"As an organization, we're not trying to be the next UFC," said the AFC's Victoria-based co-owner and promoter Darren Owen when speaking with Sportsnet earlier in the week. "We're trying to help these younger guys establish themselves, and helping these veteran guys remain active and showcase themselves. We'd love to be the unofficial farm team for the UFC in Canada; help guys get back in there, and help guys get there a first time. We're not delusional on what we are."

The AFC will be on full display this weekend as the company delivers events in Calgary and Victoria on Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Friday's event in Calgary features the type of emerging local talent you tend to find on most regional MMA events, but Saturday's show in Victoria showcases what the AFC hopes will be the type of blended line-up they will continue to feature moving forward.

Former UFC competitors John Alessio and Kendall Grove will both be making their promotional debut on Vancouver Island Saturday, with the event serving as a homecoming for local boy Alessio, who has not competed in his home province in more than eight years. In addition to the proven headliners, AFC 13 will showcase some of the top emerging talent from both Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland as well, including local standouts Diego Wilson (6-1) and Ryan Janes (4-1) who train alongside former Strikeforce champ Sarah Kaufman at Zugec Ultimate Martial Arts, and middleweight David Perron (4-1) from Vancouver.

"For this event (in Victoria), I anticipate a bigger crowd than our last few events. I believe it's going to be very Sarah Kaufman-esque," said Owen of Saturday's event, referencing the former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion's AFC 5 win in front of a packed house in April 2011. "I think everyone's going to go nuts when Kendall Grove walks out. I think everyone is going to go nuts when John Alessio walks out, and I think it's going to be a great night."

In what some would consider a risky move, both Grove and Alessio have also been tabbed to take part on the AFC's Nov. 23 fight card in Edmonton. Though there is the potential for one or both fighters to incur a medical suspension Saturday night in Victoria, Owen believes he and his partners have stacked the AFC 14 fight card so full of talent that losing either man wouldn't hinder the overall success of the event. Additionally, he sees the chance for veteran fighters who want to remain highly active competing as frequently as they would like under the AFC banner as one of the organization's main selling points.

"I think if you look at MMA this past year, there's the potential for anybody to drop off any card at any point in time," said Owen, citing the myriad of injuries that have hobbled the UFC in 2012. "That's part of the reason that card is as stacked as it is. If you lose one of those guys -- or both -- the card is still strong enough to hold weight on its own.

"Part of the reason a lot of these bigger-name guys are calling us and trying to find out what the deal is with the AFC is that we're putting on 10-12 events per year. A lot of these guys want to keep busy, but they don't have the opportunity to. These guys want to fight, they want to get paid, and continue their careers, and so this gives fighters like John Alessio and Kendall Grove a platform (to fight as often as they would like to fight).

"I think they're viewing us as their Canadian home," Owen said of AFC 13's two high-profile competitors. "John has expressed interest that if he wins (his two fights this month), he'd like to fight for the lightweight title. Same with Kendall; he's already asking about title fights too.

"If opportunities arise in other places, we're not here to hold fighters back. I think that's what sets us aside from some other organizations up here. If these guys can go get a paycheque somewhere else and it doesn't conflict with what we're doing, we have no problem with that. We're a very fighter-friendly organization."

The process of melding three stand-alone organizations into one super-promotion is not easy or quick, but the AFC ownership group continues to get closer to delivering the finished, polished product with each successive event. Though everyone dreams of making it big on his own, the group saw a better opportunity in banding together and made the decision to merge their organizations.

"You can only grow so big as two guys running each organization," admitted Owen, who ran eight events in Victoria under the Armageddon Fighting Championship banner with his business partner Jason Heit prior to the merger. "There is strength in numbers, and you need a certain number of shows (per year) to get an actual, paid TV deal instead of `We shot this show, it cost us 1,800 bucks to film it, we can sell it to two different places, and end up making a couple hundred bucks.' That doesn't make any sense.

"We're also pretty smart. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses and use our own expertise. Combined we've done a significant number of shows, and you learn from every show. We know not to blow our budget. People might not get the WWE-style light show and fireworks going off, but that's because we don't have egos. We're in this to build this, and we're doing it smart.

"We'd rather put more money into our fight card and have our fans enjoy the fights, see some bigger names, and not have a whole bunch of flashing lights and sirens going off. We're just going to be smart, and take the smart steps to ensure that we're going to be here for the long run."

November's three-pack of shows will be the final events on the company's 2012 calendar, but Owen and the rest of the AFC ownership group have expansion plans for next year -- and their sights set on becoming a dominant force in Canadian MMA.

"Continued growth and continuing to expand our roster," Owen offered succinctly of the AFC's goals for next year. "Probably 10-12 shows, and crack into the Vancouver market. We'd like to go back to Winnipeg -- that's definitely in the plans for 2013 -- as is the possibility of going further east in Canada as well.

"We're taking over. I'm putting it out there. That's what's happening."