MFC 32: Bitter Rivals

[keithlewis]

Brian Cobb could have a lot to say, but he chooses to take a different path … a very different path from that of his boisterously talkative opponent Antonio McKee.

Cobb is quietly going about his business, working on a game plan, barely taking a break through the recent holidays to hone his craft and prepare for his shot at the Maximum Fighting Championship’s lightweight crown. While McKee has delivered verbal jabs along the way, with more surely to come, Cobb refuses to take a bite at any bait.

“The Bandit” loves the position he’s in – just one step away from stealing McKee’s title at MFC 32: Bitter Rivals.

“I have built a career off of being the underdog,” said Cobb. “I don’t expect many people to think I can win this fight either. But rankings don’t mean anything and talk doesn’t do anything. That’s why we fight the fights.”

The long-awaited showdown between Cobb (19-6) and McKee (26-4-2) happens on Friday, January 27 emanating live on HDNet Fights from the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. The co-main event shares the spotlight of the televised card beginning at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (check local listings for channel designation).

Cobb, who is riding a four-fight winning streak, has had a few opportunities to jump up and fire some verbal volleys in McKee’s direction, especially when the reigning champ shot off snippets such as being able to beat Cobb quick enough to go shopping before heading home after the fight. Still Cobb bit his tongue, letting the comments fall on deaf ears, and keeping his cool.

“Nothing anyone does can get under my skin,” offered the 31-year-old Bakersfield, California, product. “He is doing what he feels is the best thing to do to promote himself and the fight. I’m obviously the target because I will be the one across the ring from him come fight night.

“I take Antonio as the type of guy who is doing his job improving and attracting attention to his brand. Hate him or love him, people want to see what he will say next and if he can follow through with his predictions. I am definitely more reserved than Antonio, but we both have similarities including our wrestling base, our work ethic, and our desire to win. I just want to make my family and fans proud.

“I just want to put on a great show for the fans in Edmonton, and I know Antonio and I can put together fireworks for them. I hope for the best showing from both of us.”

Cobb made quite a splash in his organizational debut, and just as he does for the title fight, entered that bout as a sizeable underdog. Little was known about him at the time. In fact, about the only thing that anyone mentioned was how a fighter with a vastly unrecognized name had immerged in the world’s top-20 rankings.

Cobb went out and proved he deserved such a ranking, overcoming an early dangerous predicament against then No. 1-ranked contender Drew Fickett to score a first-round TKO and the MFC’s Comeback of the Year for 2011.

That encounter was a constant battle for positioning – one which Fickett had early, but lost to Cobb who turned the tables in dramatic fashion to score the stunning victory. It’s quite likely a battle for position will again be the case when Cobb challenges McKee. Normally McKee has a considerable edge in this department as a result of his incredible wrestling prowess, but for a change the champ is facing someone who can contend right with him in scoring and defending the takedowns.

With wrestling abilities arguably assessed as a saw-off, the door is wide open for other attacks to come into play. Cobb boasts 12 submission victories on his resume, while McKee, who has suffered only one loss since 2003, has been tapped just once in 32 fights. McKee has fought three times under the MFC banner, successfully debuting and taking the vacant title in February 2009 against Derrick Noble. He then cruised past Carlo Prater eight months later, before putting together his most impressive outing in ages with a first-round destruction of Luciano Azevedo in September 2010.

On top of his stellar win over Fickett, Cobb holds key career wins over Kazunori Yokota and Diego Saraiva.

“I definitely respect Antonio’s wrestling and jiu-jitsu game,” noted Cobb. “I feel like I will be one of the better wrestlers he has ever faced but how we stack up will be a difference maker.

“I continue to work with Division I wrestlers on a daily basis but I know how dangerous his takedown shots and explosive finishes are.

“We both like to work the top game. I know he has had success beating people with good bottom games but I feel he can appreciate that a wrestler has a better ability to escape from the bottom than most jiu-jitsu players. I hope to not spend much time on the bottom but I think I can move well from the bottom to create some exciting scrambles if necessary.”

If it all falls into place according to his design, Cobb has the chance to take McKee’s title and become just the second MFC lightweight champion in the organization’s history.

“Becoming the MFC lightweight Champion would mean the world to me,” declared Cobb.

“I have trained very hard throughout my entire career to get a chance like this with such a big organization. Being the champ would give me the opportunity to build my brand and hopefully bring more attention to the caliber of fighters in the MFC to my fans in California.

“Mr. Pavelich has built an incredible organization and I hope to win the belt and represent myself, my family, the Lord and the MFC to best of my ability.”

[keithlewis]

Coy called upon to face Lima


With several injuries to contend with, the Maximum Fighting Championship has made some swift and impressive changes to the lineup for MFC 32: Bitter Rivals taking place on Friday, January 27.

Most notably, rising sensation Dhiego “Maluco” Lima, recently ranked as the No. 2 welterweight prospect in the world by Bloody Elbow, has seen his opponent change due to an injury suffered by original foe Bruno Carvalho.

Lima (6-0) will now take on Nathan “Soulforce” Coy (9-4) in a featured matchup on the HDNet Fights live broadcast emanating from the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

Coy, a former All-American wrestler while at Oregon State University, has won four of his last six outings with three of those victories coming inside the first round. He has a total of five first-round stoppages over the course of his five-year career, and also holds notable decisions win over Rick Story and Mike Pierce.

The 33-year-old, who is originally from Portland, Oregon, and now fights out of Coconut Creek, Florida, has also tangled with notables Tyrone Woodley, losing a narrow split-decision, and Brian Foster.

Another switch to the main card was necessitated when hometown product Mukai Maromo suffered a broken finger in training. With Maromo sidelined, “Dirty” Dan Ring (5-0-1) maintains his spot on the card and James Haddad (4-1) jumps from the undercard to the televised card to battle Ring.

Haddad, who fights out of Calgary, Alberta, was slated to take on Curtis “The Demon” Demarce on the undercard. Demarce (12-10) will now face a soon-to-be named opponent. Ring, a Vancouver, B.C., product, moved into face Maromo after “The African Assassin” was originally tabbed to fight Adam Lynn.

Lineup for MFC 32: Bitter Rivals

Wilson Gouveia vs. Dwayne Lewis, light-heavyweight

Brian Cobb vs. Antonio McKee, MFC lightweight title

Diego Bautista vs. Ryan McGillivray, welterweight

Nathan Coy vs. Dhiego Lima, welterweight

Jamie Toney vs. Kyle Jackson, welterweight

James Haddad vs. Dan Ring, lightweight

Matt Jelly vs. Garrett Nybakken, lightweight

Brendan Kornberger vs. Allen Hope, middleweight

Curtis Demarce vs. TBA, lightweight

[keithlewis]

MFC's Dwayne Lewis The Cinderella Man of MMA


Go ahead. Count him out. Dwayne Lewis doesn’t really mind. He’s been counted out before, and he’s been the afterthought of some pundits looking at the steadily improving light heavyweight division in the MFC. He doesn’t mind because he knows what his doubters expect; he knows what his true fans believe, and he damn well knows what his heart tells him is possible. He is, after all, the Cinderella Man of MMA.

For those who don’t know, Cinderella Man is the story of boxer Jimmy Braddock, a fighter who overcame outstanding odds to win the world heavyweight title in 1935. You may be wondering what the connection is to MFC standout, Dwayne Lewis. He’s not a boxer. He’s not fighting for the title yet, and 1935? He’s not that old, so what’s the deal?

Jimmy Braddock stepped up when called upon. This is where the story of Dwayne Lewis begins. He was a kick boxer when he met Sandy Bowman and started training in his club. Bowman had just started his affiliation with Pat Miletich and Miletich Fighting Systems, and Lewis had been training for less than 6 months when fate came knocking. Bowman walked in one snowy Friday afternoon and made an announcement to all the guys in the club, “Who wants to fight at Rumble in the Cage 21?” In a moment of foreshadowing for his entire career, Lewis didn’t hesitate. He threw his hand up. Soon after, he walked into hostile territory against a local fighter and scored the 33-second TKO. “After that I was hooked,” said a smiling Lewis.

Jimmy Braddock fought for his fans. This is how the story of Dwayne Lewis has grown. Simply put, fighters fight. Some fight for glory. Some fight for paycheques. Lewis fights for his fans. It’s no wonder they literally follow him from city to city to see him live in action. His pride grows from putting on shows, not from padding his record with easy Ws. When asked about his exciting and risky style, he was candid in sharing his motivation. “It gets my fans up on their feet and cheering, and that’s all that matters to me.” Those are easy words to spit out, but the Cinderella Man of MMA doesn’t have to say it. He lives it. One still has to wonder if he gets concerned about losing in an increasingly competitive light heavyweight division, but don’t wonder, he’ll tell you himself, “I’d rather go down in a blaze of glory.”

Jimmy Braddock disillusioned doubters. This is when the story of Dwayne Lewis gets real. Most pundits counted Lewis out against Marvin Eastman. The guy had too much experience. Lewis was supposed to lose to Razak Al-Hassen, the MMA veteran was on a 4-fight win streak. Few predicted Lewis could build a successful MMA career because he was starting too late. He was 32. Despite all this doubt, Dwayne Lewis had at least one person who always believed in him. Himself. With that belief, he devastated Eastman, defeated Hassen, and drove his MMA career to become arguably the most popular fighter on the MFC roster.

Jimmy Braddock worked hard for his family. This is where the story of Dwayne Lewis hits home. Outside of the work he puts in during training and in the ring, Lewis holds down a full time job to support his 3 young children – Brandi, Logan, and Summer. His wife of 9 years, Christa, works with him to keep the family strong, and he recognizes the importance of their marriage and partnership, “She is definitely the anchor of our family. Without her, I wouldn’t be doing this.” During work days, as fights are approaching, Lewis’ days start at 3:30am and end at 11:30pm as he balances work, training, and time with his family. He will tell you it’s all worth it, “It’s something I can look back on and share with my kids.” When asked where he finds the strength, he told the MFC, he does it for his loved ones, “I come home, and all my friends and family are so proud. That really gives me the drive to push on for another fight.”

Jimmy Braddock became the champion. This chapter is not yet complete in the career of Dwayne “D-Bomb” Lewis, but fans get the feeling that an outline is being written, and Lewis is authoring the story himself. He has a close relationship with Sandy Bowman and a dynamic training team at Bowman’s MMA. The club has great depth in Miletich Fighting Systems, high level BJJ, world class taekwondo, and strong kickboxing. Lewis also has a growing list of sponsors from Heritage Harley Davidson, CarMacks, Birch Mountain, Great Plains Security and Western RV, to the Edmonton Rush and Staredown Fight Wear, so his shorts stay looking good (and profitable). Indeed, Dwayne Lewis has the pieces in place to make big things happen.

Big things start this Friday at MFC 32 Bitter Rivals when Lewis hits the ring with dangerous MMA veteran Wilson Gouveia. Will D-Bomb be counted out again? He doesn’t seem to care either way. “I’m always told I’m just a bum with heavy hands, and I go with it.” Apparently his hectic schedule isn’t enough to dampen his sense of humour because Lewis knows his training at Bowman’s gives him much, much more than heavy hands. Then again, heavy hands may be all he needs. He predicted what we all expect, “I think you’re going to see a dogfight, man. Once he comes in to trade bombs, I’m not going to be taking a step back. I’m going to be taking a step forward.”

That step forward in the ring may also be a big step forward in his career. The stage is set with a sell-out crowd, a packed venue, a wild fight, and a worldwide broadcast. Jimmy Braddock was in legendary fights, and this could easily be a fight worth talking about come December’s reflections on the MMA happenings of 2012. It all goes down this Friday, and Lewis couldn’t be more ready. Then again, maybe he’s just a bum with heavy hands.

Go ahead. Count him out.