A matchup for Maximum Fighting Championship's vacant heavyweight title headlines May's "MFC 37: True Grit" event at Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as Chris Barnett (7-1) faces Smealinho Rama (6-0).
MFC officials recently announced the two will fight in the evening's main card, which airs live on AXS TV.
"I'm excited to have Smealinho Rama and Chris Barnett battle for the heavyweight title," MFC President Mark Pavelich stated. "MFC 37 is going to keep our streak of fantastic shows rolling right along."
A former football player at the University of South Florida, Barnett boasts five of his seven career wins by knockout. "Beast Boy" is tae kwon do black belt who has also trained in wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and he currently owns a two-fight win streak and now makes his promotional debut. He meets the undefeated Rama, who at 20 years old earned MFC's "Submission of the Year" in 2012. Having fought professionally for just one year, Rama has finished all six of his opponents in the first round.
Additional fights announced include bantamweight Ryan Benoit (6-1) vs. Anthony Birchak (9-1), middleweights Luke Harris (9-2) vs. Jason Zentgraf (7-1) and lightweight Mukai Maromo (8-3) vs. Kurt Southern (10-4).
Two additional main-card fights are expected to be announced shortly.
"Our last few events have demonstrated the priority we have put on exciting fights, and I fully expect MFC 37 to keep that momentum going in a big way," Pavelich stated.
Source: MMAJunkie.com