By Kelsey Mowatt Antonio McKee delivered on his promise last night that he would finish Luciano Azevedo, or thrill the Enoch, Alberta crowd while trying, as the Maximum Fighting Championship’s lightweight champ stopped the challenger in convincing and gory fashion.
In his usual trademark form, McKee quickly took Azevedo to the mat and began working from the top position. Fighting alongside the ropes, McKee postured up and landed two hard right elbows to the forehead region of Azevedo, which opened a couple of large, profusely bleeding cuts. After ringside officials evaluated Azevedo’s condition the bout was stopped at 3:11 of the first round. McKee had been criticized by HDNet broadcaster and former fighter Guy Mezger in his recent MFC title defences, for not being more aggressive.
“Whoever the MFC puts in front of me next, I’ll whoop their ass too,” said McKee in a press release from the promotion. “I guess it’s not true – you can teach an old dog new tricks. And I want to thank (HDNet commentator) Guy Mezger for bringing the best out of me.”
Welterweight prospect Ryan Ford had his MFC return spoiled by American Top Team’s Doulas Lima, as the Atlanta fighter caught the Canadian in the second round with a beautifully executed armbar. Throughout the fight Ford looked to take the fight to the ground and work from the top position, however, taking the resilient Lima to the ground proved to be a difficult task for the powerful Ford.
When the bout was on the mat Lima utilized an active and open guard efficiently, keeping Ford on the defensive with sweep or submission attempts. Moments into the second, with the fight once again on the floor, Ford attempted to work his way out from under the ATT fighter, however, soon found himself ensnared in a fight ending armbar.
“I want the belt now,” declared Lima, who also secured the Submission of the Night award. “I was promised if I win this fight they will give me a title shot. That’s what I want – please.”
In other action from the HDNet broadcast; David Heath caught Solomon Hutcherson with a pounding Superman punch and follow up strikes to end their thrilling slugfest, Fort McMurray’s Dwayne Lewis made Mike Nickels pay for a sloppy takedown attempt with a fight ending, right uppercut, and former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor Jesse Taylor relied on his wrestling skills to score a UD win over Tom Watson.
Here are the full results for MFC 26:
Antonio McKee def. Luciano Azevedo by TKO (doctor stoppage due to cut) R1 3:11
Douglas Lima def. Ryan Ford by Submission (armbar) R2 0:48
Jesse Taylor def. Tom Watson by Unanimous Decision
David Heath def. Solomon Hutcherson by TKO (strikes) R2 3:46
Dwayne Lewis def. Mike Nickels by TKO (punches) R1 1:30
Curtis Demarce def. Tyson Steele by Submission (triangle-choke) R2 4:09
Ford Robertson def. Andrew Buckland by Unanimous Decision
Aaron Berke def. Ryan Ballingall via Submission (rear-naked choke) R2 0:35
Chad Freeman def. Theo Brisley via Submission (armbar) R1 3:04
