MFC

(You know it's a meaningless fight when the promoter starts nodding off. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

If you like to keep tabs on the careers of UFC washouts, tonight's "Maximum Fighting Championship 22: Payoff" show in Edmonton is a great opportunity to see a bunch of them in action. Headlining the event will be a middleweight clash between submission specialists Jason MacDonald (21-12, fired from the UFC earlier this year after back-to-back losses to Wilson Gouveia and Nate Quarry) and Travis Lutter (9-5, fired from the UFC last year after back-to-back losses to Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin). It will be Lutter's first fight since the Fraklin match, which took place nearly 18 months ago.

Also on the card, welterweight veteran John Alessio (25-13, 0-3 in the UFC) takes on Luigi Fioravanti (15-5, fired from the UFC after his loss to Anthony Johnson in February), while light-heavyweight David Heath (13-5, axed by the UFC after three straight losses in 2007-2008) rumbles with TUF 3 also-ran Mike Nickels. Plus: Marvin Eastman, Pete Spratt, and a lightweight meeting between Antonio McKee and Carlo Prater that was supposed to be a title fight until Prater missed weight. Folks, it doesn't get any more average than this — you may or may not want to miss it.

MFC 22 will be broadcast live on HDNet beginning at 10 p.m. ET. The complete lineup and weigh-in results are after the jump...

(Okay, but just so you know, shooting out jets of sparks from your arms is currently prohibited under the unified rules. Photo courtesy of faniq.com.)

I guess Bobby Lashley is serious about this cage-fighting stuff after all. MMA Mania reports that the former WWE star has signed with Canada's Maximum Fighting Championship promotion, and will appear at their "Hard Knocks" event (May 15th, Edmonton) a month before he collides with Bob Sapp in Biloxi. Lash will be taking on Mike Cook, a Frank Shamrock-trained heavyweight who's either 6-3 or 5-5, depending on who you ask. Will Cook further expose Lashley as a work-in-progress, or will Lashley redeem himself after his unsatisfying performance against Jason Guida? "Hard Knocks" will be broadcast live in North America on HDNet, and will feature UFC vets Marvin Eastman, David Heath, and Trevor Prangley.

MMA Mania also reveals that the June 27th Lashley vs. Sapp pay-per-view event has been given the official name of "Unarmed Combat." Din Thomas is expected to be on the card (along with Tom Atencio), and Lashley's fight nickname is now "The Dominator." Yawn. Come on guys, I think we can do better than that...

("Just out of curiosity, what's up now, bitch?" Mousasi surveys the wreckage of the similarly-named Musashi in their K-1 match at Dynamite!! 2008.)

— Though he may still be making his U.S. debut for Affliction, Gegard Mousasi's next fight will be in Japan. FiveOuncesofPain reports that DREAM's 2008 middleweight grand prix winner could return at DREAM 9 (May 23rd) to take on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou; it would be Mousasi's debut as a light-heavyweight, and his first MMA fight since last September. Sokoudjou currently carries a 5-4 record, and has dropped his last two matches to Luis Cane (at UFC 89) and Renato Sobral (at Affliction: Day of Reckoning). The African Assassin needs a break, but he probably won't catch one here.

— A battle between two middleweight grapplers who flamed out of the UFC despite loads of talent has been booked as the main event of MFC 21 (May 13th; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). MFC prez Mark Pavelich announced yesterday that Travis Lutter vs. Dean Lister would headline the show, which will also feature Marcus Aurelio, David Heath, John Alessio, and Solomon Hutcherson. Lutter hasn't competed since his loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 83 last April, while Lister made his most recent appearance at UFC 92 in December, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Yushin Okami.

Former IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has reportedly verbally agreed to face Drew Fickett at the next Affliction event in Las Vegas on October 11. The real question is, will Fickett find some clever new way to screw it up? Fickett's manager, Alexander Oxendine, seems open to that possibility:

“We’re in discussion with a few organizations and Affliction is one of them,” said Oxendine. “They are at the top of our list. As far as Drew is concerned, he’s made a great turnaround with his life and training. He is ready to move forward.”

If you don't know, Fickett is the same guy who managed to get himself fired from MFC and booted off a Strikeforce card in one glorious weekend when he tried to breach his contract in the apparent hopes that no one would figure it out. They did, chaos ensued, and Fickett went on to lose via questionable stoppage in a Rage in the Cage event.

So now one of MMA's favorite troublemakers is being offered a spot in Affliction against one of the tougher welterweights outside of the UFC, and he's not sure if he wants to take it? Affliction should not only be at the top of his list, it should be the entire list. He should run down there and sign the contract in his own blood before they have a chance to change their minds. Let's hope this is just a negotiating ploy by his agent. If Fickett ends up turning this down to fight in some small show at a fairground somewhere, we'll know it's time for new management. No, not Mark Dion, either.

By request, and courtesy of HDNet Fights, here's the MFC 15 match between UFC vet Pete Spratt and top MFC welterweight contender Ryan Ford (who was slated to fight Drew Fickett for MFC's vacant welterweight title this month before everything turned to shit). Ford gets rocked near the end of the first round, but answers back by nailing Spratt a good five seconds after the round ends — no point deducted by Herb Dean there, but you'd better believe he takes a point later for shorts-pulling. The still-undefeated Ford mobs the muddled Spratt in the second frame, and eventually secures the flying rear-naked choke. Freakin' Fickett...him and Ford would have been good together.

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