Vindication taking form

The fight lineup for MFC 25: Vindication is proving to be one of the most talent-laden rosters in the organization’s history.

With the official main event still to be announced, the MFC has already lined up five action-packed fights to highlight the card which will air live on HDNet Fights on Friday, May 7 from the Northlands Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

In the co-main event, a pair of light heavyweights will battle for the position of No. 1 contender for the MFC’s 205-pound belt. Top-ranked Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo (12-1), who will be fighting in his home town, takes on Brazilian standout Wilson Gouveia (12-7), who is making his promotional debut and taking on a new role in the light heavyweight ranks moving up from middleweight.

 Jimmo has won 12 straight fights since his pro debut and is coming off a convincing decision victory over former MFC light heavyweight champ Emanuel Newton at MFC 23. Gouveia has put together an impressive career resume that includes wins over such notables as Jason MacDonald, Jason Lambert, and Seth Petruzelli.

In another pivotal light heavyweight encounter, Dwayne Lewis (11-4) of Fort McMurray, Alberta, meets Mike Nickels (8-3) of Denver, Colorado. Lewis has won seven straight fights – five in a row by KO/TKO including back-to-back wins over Marvin Eastman and Ryan McClain at MFC 23 and 24, respectively. Nickels made his organizational debut at MFC 22, ultimately capturing a third-round submission over David Heath in an all-out war that earned the honor of MFC Fight of the Year for 2009.



A middleweight fight between David Heath (14-6) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and “King” Solomon Hutcherson (11-6) of Racine, Wisconsin, is also on the docket for MFC 25. This will be Heath’s first fight in the 185-pound division and he has a chance to turn things around for himself following the loss to Nickels. Heath holds a key career win over former MFC light heavyweight champion Roger Hollett. Hutcherson has endeared himself to the loyal MFC fans with an all-out hustle approach. He bested Dave Mewborn with a dominating decision at MFC 20 and fell just short in a close decision loss to Jason MacDonald at MFC 23.



An explosive welterweight matchup has also been signed for MFC 25, one that should certainly spark plenty of aggressive fireworks. Luigi “The Italian Tank” Fioravanti (16-6), fighting out of Coconut Creek, Florida, will take on “The Secret Weapon” Pete Spratt (20-17) of Dallas, Texas, in what promises to be a war of accomplished strikers. Fioravanti will be out for redemption following his organizational-debut loss at MFC 22, while Spratt served notice that he still has big-time punching power with his 2009 Knockout of the Year verdict against Nathan Gunn at MFC 22.



As well, the recently signed lightweight bout between Richie “The Dirty Samurai” Hightower (8-3) and “Ragin” Kajan Johnson (17-11-1) will open the HDNet televised portion of the card. Hightower, who hails from Phoenix, Arizona, makes the move down to the 155-pound ranks to take on Johnson, a native of Burns Lake, British Columbia, who added to his resume with a TKO win over Josh Russell at Heat XC 4.



Tickets for MFC 25: Vindication are on sale now via the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024 or through Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.ca/ and charge-by-phone (780) 451-8000