(Jon Jones photobombs the staredown – Video courtesy of YouTube/MCLHEA)

All of the fighters scheduled to compete on Thursday night’s MMA Live 1 card set for the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada made their respective contracted weight limits except for two, who hit their marks the second time after an hour in the sauna.

Main event participants Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford (169.4) and Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (171) shared a private conversation during an intense staredown, which concluded with the two welterweights exchanging a pat on the back and a smile,  breaking the tension in the room.

The fighters in tomorrow night’s second lasty bout, welterweights Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio (170.6) and Matt MacGrath (169.4) also hit their marks.

A bantamweight bout between  Nick Denis and Kyle Dietz was put on ice when Dietz pulled out of the event Monday, blaming a broken hand on his last-minute removal from the card. Although a list of alternative opponents were submitted to the Ontario Athletic Commission, none were granted approval in time for the weigh-ins.

Bantamweight Brent Franczuz (136.6) and lightweight Theo Toney (157.2) each took two tries to make weight for their respective bouts, but both did so within the hour allotted by the commission and were greenlit for tomorrow night’s affair, and as such were not penalized 20% of their purses.

———-

MMA Live 1
John Labatt Centre
Thursday, May 19, 2011
London, Ontario, Canada

Ryan Ford (169.4 ) vs. Karo Parisyan (171)
Matt MacGrath (170.2 ) vs.