Last weekend we were disappointed when APEX canceled its card just four days prior to the planned Saturday show. Canadian promoters make up for up this weekend with two events on opposite sides of the country. As usual we have some other random tidbits, and this week the mailbag makes its triumphant return.
The IFL’s sole Canadian team had a recent roster change when “The Pride of El Salvador” Ivan Menjivar (Pictures) decided that fighting at 155 pounds on a regular basis for the Toronto Dragons was something he’d rather not do.
Menjivar is definitely better suited to 145, and I’m wondering if World Extreme Cagefighting’s promise to prominently showcase featherweights had anything to do with his decision. Ivan is one of the most underrated fighters we have up here, so hopefully we’ll see him in the WEC soon.
Replacing Ivan on the Dragons is Wagnney Fabiano (Pictures). That name may not be familiar to many MMA fans, but in the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu it’s a different story. Already an acclaimed grappler when he came to Canada five years ago, Fabiano continued to compete and has won NAGA and Grappler’s Quest events in the U.S. In 2005 he won the Brazilian Abu Dhabi Combat Club trials.
Fabiano was slated to fight last weekend for APEX, but we know how that turned out. I’m looking forward to seeing him in the IFL.
On another IFL note, the addition of Team Tompkins’ Pete Brown to the Los Angeles Anacondas as a 155-pound alternate gives Bas Rutten (Pictures)’s squad nearly as many Canadian fighters on their roster as the Dragons.
Alessio in WEC
This weekend the WEC holds its first card since being acquired by the parent company of the UFC, Zuffa LLC. The only Canadian on the roster as far as I know is welterweight John Alessio (Pictures), who takes on Brian Gassaway (Pictures). Both these guys have a ton of experience, so this could be an excellent fight.
KOTC in Canada
King of the Cage finally comes to eastern Canada with its Freedom Fight brand. There are several fights on this card that I would love to see, and I’m still kicking myself that I can’t make it to Gatineau to catch it.
The main event pits recent PRIDE “Real Deal” competitor Travis Galbraith (Pictures) in a light heavyweight bout against Craig Brown (Pictures). Galbraith (10-4-0) has the edge in experience, but Brown brings an unblemished record of 3-0 and has a lot to lose.
At 155 pounds, Mark Bocek fights short-notice replacement John Mahlow (Pictures), who got his shot when Jeff Curran (Pictures)’s teammate Matt Fiordirosa (Pictures) was injured before Christmas.
Bocek is a BJJ prodigy who started his training under Rickson and Renzo Gracie (Pictures), and is the first ever Canadian-born Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Besides that claim to fame, he has won numerous BJJ tournaments, the most recent coming last year when he won the North American Abu Dhabi Combat Club trials.
Presuming they don’t fight to a draw, either TJ Grant (Pictures) of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia or Nicholas Portieous will lose for the first time when the meet in the cage.
I confess to not knowing too much about Portieous, but Grant and I live in the same city so I have been fortunate enough to watch him closely for quite a while. In fact, last Friday night I paid a visit to Fitness Plus, where Grant’s trainer Scott MacLean was running him through Muay Thai drills.
You know how sometimes you watch somebody do something and you just know that it’s right? That’s the way it feels watching TJ train and fight. I think this fight has a great chance of being the bout of the night.
Weigh-ins will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe Ottawa on Friday, and is free and open to the public. It starts at 12:30 p.m. and after the paperwork is done, they expect the fighters to hit the scales at about 2.
Shut-Up And Fight!
A smaller event based in Vernon, British Columbia, SUAF is mainly targeted at entry-level fighters who want to face the same. Put on by the local Miletich Fighting Systems affiliate, this will be the second SUAF in recent months. They already have the third card planned for March.
GSP in Houston?
The Houston Chronicle recently reported that Marc Ratner, the UFC’s vice president for regulatory affairs, said it's "a good possibility" UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) could have his first title defense at UFC 69 in Houston, Texas.
Most of us would love to see “Rush” defend his belt in his hometown of Montreal, but I’m just looking forward to seeing him back in a cage, period.
Quick mailbag
Hi Andy, Love your column. … Just had a quick question for you. I never see it mentioned anywhere – what is up with the UFC contract status of Sam Stout (Pictures) and Mark Hominick (Pictures)? Both have had two fights in the UFC, on what were I assume 3 fight deals, yet neither has been back. Is Hominick being blackballed by the UFC for the way he won his last fight over Jorge Gurgel (Pictures)? – Thanks, Shayne Hill
Hi Shayne, thanks for the e-mail. I figured that if there was one person who would be best suited to answer your question it would be the trainer/manager of Stout and Hominick, Shawn Tompkins (Pictures):
“To answer your writer’s question, the relationship between Mark Hominick (Pictures), Sam Stout (Pictures) and the UFC has never been better. In fact in Hominick's case he is very excited about the UFC's buying of WEC and the choice to include a 145-lbs. division. This of course gives him a comfortable playing field to hold a title at his true weight.
Both Stout and Hominick have been fighting a lot in 2006 and it has just been a difference of timing and scheduling this past fall. After February's TKO, look for the Team Tompkins representatives to blast back onto the UFC 155-lbs. division, hopefully in April. Neither one is going anywhere else and we are proud to be part of the UFC.”
Well there you have it Shayne, right from the horses’ mouth.