MFC 30: 'Up Close and Personal' took place last night (June 11, 2011) from the Mayfield Inn Trade and Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.
It was a night of extremes with every fight either ending in first round stoppage or decision.
The main event of the evening was a compelling lightweight bout, as the resurgent Drew Fickett took on Brian Cobb. Cobb had stepped in on late notice when Hermes Franca's legal woes led to his release from the promotion and a potential title shot.
Fickett got off to a great start, slipping a wild Cobb hook and leaping on his back standing. Cobb attempted a crazy scramble with a forward somersault but Fickett refused to budge from his back. For the next two and a half minutes, Fickett postured trying to secure a fight-ending rear naked choke but Cobb defended well.
With about 30 seconds remaining in the fight, Fickett appeared to have the choke locked in but Cobb slipped out, turned into Fickett's guard and absolutely began throwing bombs. "The Nightrider" turtled up and wilted beneath Cobb's assault of punches as the referee stepped in and stopped the fight, allowing "The Bandit" to steal another victory from the brink of defeat.
With the big win, Cobb will likely challenge for the vacant lightweight title later this year, potentially against the winner of the night's co-main event which can be found after the jump;
In the co-main event of the evening, Marcus Davis went to war in a rematch five years in the making against Pete Spratt. Davis largely used superior footwork and counter striking to keep "The Secret Weapon" off balance.
Spratt tried to get back into the fight with leg kicks but Davis began to use them against him, catching his kicks and taking the striker down. Davis put a hurting on Spratt from top position and eventually worked his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Upstart fighter Sheldon Westcott finally settled the score with Thomas Denny in a rematch of a draw between the two fighters. This time around at a 165 pound catchweight, Westcott made certain there was no controversy by taking Denny down and pounding on him while attempting submissions from top control for three consecutive rounds.
Westcott lost a point for illegal blows to the back of the head in the third round and could have set the stage for another draw but he didn't allow Denny to get back in the fight at all, hurting "The Wildman" and taking him down for the rest of the fight. When it was all said and done, he took a unanimous decision with a 29-27 victory on all three judges' scorecards.
Rising welterweight prospect Dhiego Lima faced his toughest test of his young career in a very dangerous Jamie Toney. Toney controlled the fight early with aggressive stand-up but the tides turned quickly when Lima initiated a clinch. From the Muay Thai plum position, Lima leveled Toney with two glancing knees to the head and he proceeded to throw Toney to the canvas where he would pound his opponent out with ground and pound to score an impressive first round technical knockout (TKO) victory.
In one of the more confusing bouts of the evening, Robert Washington had a victory against Curtice Demarce stolen away from him by the judges. Washington kept Demarce at bay with aggressive striking and repeatedly put Demarce on his back throughout the fight and was originally announced the victor. When they came back from a commercial break, the commission announced that Demarce was actually the winner and a 30-27 scorecard had been mistakenly read for Washington. How Demarce won 30-27 on any scorecard is beyond perplexing and borderline ridiculous. Hopefully the MFC does right by Washington but he didn't do them any favors by showing up three pounds overweight.
The first televised fight of the night was over in a heartbeat as middleweight Andreas Spang made quick work of Cody Krahn. Krahn dove for a takedown early and was swiftly put away with a guillotine choke from the always game Spang. With the victory, Spang got back on track after losing his last bout at MFC 29.
For complete MFC 30 results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here.