Although Hinchliffe (9-3) heads to Edmonton, having being submitted by Maple Ridge prospect Dan MacIver in his last bout at KOTC Canada’s “Impact” event on October 18^th, on paper he will likely be viewed as the favorite heading into his fight with Bussemakers. After all, Hinchliffe is the promotion’s former Canadian light-heavyweight champion, and two of his three losses have come against notable opposition in UFC and Pride veterans Victor Valimaki and Travis Galbraith. In fact, before losing for the first time to Galbraith in their rematch bout at “Excalibur” in April, Hinchliffe had won 8 straight to begin his career.

Bussemakers (2-1) does not have the professional cage experience of Hinchliffe; however, the Edmonton fighter has made his presence felt in the region’s submission grappling scene for sometime now. That coupled with his first round stoppage of Jason Volpe, at KOTC Canada’s “Brawl at the Mall 3” card in April, catapulted Bussemakers into the main event for this Friday’s show.

“I think it will be a great fight that could go either way,” said KOTC Canada promoter Ken Kupsch when asked about Friday’s main event between a former champion and the local prospect. “We have a poll on our forums and right now, it is split exactly 50-50. This is an important fight for both of these guys.”

“Face Off” will also feature the KOTC debut of Nick Penner. The 28 year-old fighter is considered to be one of the region’s more notable heavyweight prospects, due to Penner’s extensive background in boxing and kickboxing. Since transitioning into MMA competition last August, Penner has gone 5-1, which includes a notable first round stoppage of Pride veteran Eric “Butterbean” Esch.

“We are excited to have Nick Penner fighting in King of the Cage,” said Kupsch. “I watched him fight Butterbean and it didn't take him long to put the big man away. We hope to put Nick against Chris Marez at our early spring show. Chris beat another big man, Cabbage (Wesley Correira), so to match these two giant killers should be of interest to fans.”

Penner’s opponent will be Jim Geddes, who despite the fact he does not have the professional MMA experience of his opponent, the fighter’s camp has told KOTC he will be more than ready come November 14^th.

“We don't know much about Jim Geddes other than he has had some amateur fights,” Kupsch said when asked about Geddes. “His management is very confident in his ability to beat Penner, but I guess we'll have to wait unit Friday night to find out.”

In a light-heavyweight match-up between two veteran fighters, Marcus “The Loudmouth Assassin” Hicks (8-13) will be back in the KOTC cage to take on Dwayne Lewis (4-5). Hicks continues to be one of the Nation’s most active fighters and although he will head to Edmonton on a 4 fight losing streak, 3 of them have come against notable opposition in Roger Hollett and “Ultimate Fighter” veterans Solomon Hutcherson and Krzysztof Soszynski. Lewis is coming off a victory at KOTC Canada’s “Unrefined” card in September, as the Fort McMurray fighter tapped Scott Stewart out in the first round with strikes.

“Hicks has been a regular for us for years, and he doesn't always win but no matter what, you can always expect a reaction from the fans,” said Kupsch. “Lewis is a tough guy from Sandy Bowman’s club in Ft. McMurray so again, I can not pick a winner here. This is another fight I would not bet on.”

Official Line-Up for “Face Off”

Jarid Bussemakers vs. Nick Hinchliffe

Marcus Hicks vs. Dwayne Lewis

Kris Kucher vs. Victor Agopowicz

Theo Brisley vs. Jeremy Ekkert

Nick Penner vs. Jim Geddes

Pierre Dumont vs. Adam Lorenz

Ryan Knysh vs. Neal Anderson

Trent Rowell vs. Ryan Ballingall

Tyson Steele vs. Cody Krahn

Dustin Senych vs. Dean Lewis

Mariusz Zastawny vs. Cody Zatorski

“I was really happy with my performance,” said Hinchliffe when asked for his thoughts on Friday’s bout. “I was obviously really, really disappointed with my performance at the Nanaimo show, that being my hometown. I was totally owning the Nanaimo fight. I made one mistake and got caught. That’s the beauty of MMA. I talked to Ken (Kupsch) that night and told him I wanted to fight again as soon as possible. That fire was definitely burning. I hit the gym hard and as soon as the bell rang I came out hard. I stuck with my game plan and did what I needed to do to win. I came in there pretty heated and fuming about the last fight.”

According to Bussemakers, who was quick to credit Hinchliffe for being a professional both before and after, the bout did not end without some controversy.

“Lots of people say the downward elbows to the head and neck should have got it stood up but it was my fault for giving him the chance to do it,” Bussemakers said afterwards. “I'm used to working with people on my back but I shut down after the first couple shots that landed. Other than that he was classy before and after the fight.”

“Nobody likes to lose, and that’s fine, but Jarid seemed cool with it after,” said Hinchliffe when asked about fight’s stoppage. “I didn’t hit him in the back of the head. The ref was standing right over top of us, when I took his back and landed my punch, I hit him right on the side of the chin, he had his face turned towards my right. As soon as I hit him with that punch he went to sleep, I hit a few more times on either side of his head and the ref stopped it. I talked to the ref afterwards and he said it was a clean shot, he said he was standing right there, don’t worry about what people say. I told him ‘I know it was.”

Controversy aside the middleweight contender also had some positive comments for Bussemakers.“I think Jarid is a total stand-up guy,” Hinchliffe stated. “He came out very aggressive, not being shy whatsoever; he poured on the pressure very fast. I respect anyone who steps in there but he’s definitely a gutsy guy. He’s really good, he has a lot of potential and he’s going to keep getting better and better. Right now I want to do the same; keep building my record because I’m hungry for that title.”

In another of the card’s more notable bouts, heavyweight prospect Nick Penner made his KOTC debut a successful one by stopping Jim Geddes in the first round with strikes. With the win, Penner, who has now won 3 straight, extends his overall record to 6-1.

“Well I am not very happy with my performance,” said a rather candid Penner. “I tried something totally random and got caught flat on my back. That could have lead to a bad night, lucky I got a sweep right away. Next time I will not f--k around like that.”

Despite not being overly thrilled with his performance, Penner seemed excited about making his debut for the organization in Edmonton, and is eager to get back in the cage as soon as possible.

“Edmonton is not my home town, Winnipeg is, but I love fighting out here,” Penner told KOTC Canada. “Everyone treats me really good. Besides my fight I had a really good time making my debut for KOTC, hope to do it again soon. Hell, if I could, I would fight tomorrow, but that is not going to happen. It would be nice to go again in three or four weeks though.”

A couple of weeks ago KOTC Canada spoke with Edmonton prospect Kris Kucher, who at the time, was hoping to earn his first MMA win at “Face Off.” The experienced martial artist was able to do just that, evening out is MMA record to 1-1, by submitting Victor Agopowicz in the first round with a rear-naked-choke.

“I thought the fight went great,” Kucher said. “I could not have asked for a better result. I set my game plan, and executed it. The move to lightweight was perfect. I feel comfortable with the drop and feel that this is were I need to be. The fight showed me a few areas I would like to strengthen and increase training in. All being said I did what I set out to do and pulled off the win that I knew I would get.”

With the remarkable popularity explosion that has surrounded the sport of MMA over the last few years, it may be easy at times to forget about the grass roots element of the sport. More events are held every month, fights are televised on nearly a nightly basis, and the sport’s best fighters have finally begun to receive the respect and recognition they deserve.

But athletes like Kris Kucher represent the beginning of the entire process, where a local fighter hones his skills, begins fighting as a professional, with the hopes that he too will be a household name one day like so many great fighters now are.

“I’m hoping that once I get a few more fights under my belt, get some sponsorship, I’ll be doing this full time,” said Kucher (0-1) who began his professional MMA career this past April. “Martial arts have always been a part of my life so I mean obviously it would be a dream come true to run with it as a career. I’d like to fight every second month if possible, so that one year from now, I’ve had another 5 or 6 fights. I mean obviously you hope for the wins, you might not always get them, but you hope for the best and keep positive.

I want to go out, go strong, maybe get a shot at the King of the Cage title, maybe even go up to the UFC. That would be fantastic.” Although a lot of new generation fighters begin MMA training with no previous experience in the martial arts, Kucher has been training and competing in martial arts virtually his entire life. Thus the Edmonton fighter is not only equipped with a solid foundation of skills for fighting, but years of competition experience, which will be a valuable asset as a professional MMA fighter.

“I’ve been doing martial arts since I was 4 years old,” the 20-year-old Kucher said when asked about his background. “I started with Tae Kwon Do, and progressed from there to compete on Team Canada and coached Team Canada for the World Championship. I also wrestled in junior and high school so I’ve always been competing. Going into MMA was the next step for me.”

Kucher has been rounding out the skills he learned through Tae Kwon Do and competing as a wrestler, by training at Santoro’s MMA facility in Edmonton. Despite the fact the gym has only been around for a relatively brief amount of time, it has attracted many of the region’s more notable fighters. After adding some new techniques to his skill set, Kucher decided it was time to jump in the cage.

“Lino, the owner of Santoro’s and who trains most of the fighters there, was really tight with Ken (Kupsch) and told me that Ken and King of the Cage were doing some great things,” said Kucher who has been training in MMA for approximately a year and a half. “I went down and talked with Ken, really liked what I heard, and we put together a contract.”

On April 4th, Kucher made his pro debut against Nick Coloumbe at KOTC Canada’s

“Brawl at the Mall 3” event in Edmonton, Alberta.

The bout did not go as planned for Kucher, as Coloumbe won the bout in the first round by tap-out due to strikes.

“It was disappointing because I know I let it go out of my game and into his,” Kucher said. “I should have tried to keep it on its feet a little more, but it’s one of those things, you have your first fight, you’re a little nervous, it’s anyone’s game. You got to take what you can, you get the first fight jitters out of the way, the first loss out of the way, and you got to come back strong. Basically I want to keep this next fight in my element, get it to what I’m good at and work it from there.”

Kucher is referring to the next challenge in his young MMA career, which will take place on November 14th, at KOTC Canada’s upcoming “Face Off” card in Edmonton, Alberta.

Kucher will drop down from welterweight, where he competed in his first pro bout, to take on his lightweight opponent Victor Agopowicz.

“I know he trains out of Fort McMurray with Sandy Bowman’s camp,” said Kucher when asked about Agopowicz. “As far as I know he doesn’t have a background in martial arts; he’s gone straight into MMA. Other than that I haven’t been able to find out too much about him. You have to train for a little bit of everything. Hope for the best and train for the worst.”

KING OF THE CAGE: RETRIBUTION RESULTS

Bout #1 (Amateur)
Eugene Rodrigues VS Anthony Devargas
Winner: Anthony Devargas via Armbar @ 0:40 of round 1

Bout #2 (Amateur)
Josh Edwards VS Gabe Gallegos
Winner: Josh Edwards via KO @ 0:19 of round 1

Bout #3 (Amateur)
Mike Maxey VS Frank Baca
Winner: Frank Baca via Tapout @ 2:02 of round 1

Bout #4 (Amateur)
Jason Bedker VS Gilbert Dunston
Winner: Jason Becker via Rear Naked Choke @ 1:02 of round 1

Bout #5 (Pro)
Joey Lujan VS Jason Keith
Winner: Jason Keith @ :00 of round 2 (Lugan could not answer bell after the first round) Three, 3 minute rounds

Bout #6 (Pro)
Aaron Gustavo VS Gerald Sedillo
Winner: Gerald Sedillo via Guillotine Choke @ 0:23 of round 1

Bout #7 (Pro)
Jacob Clark VS Robert Jeffers
Winner: Jacob Clark via Rear Naked Choke @ 0:49 of round 1

Bout #8 (Pro)
Josh Galloway VS Tarry Yezzi
Winner: Tarry Yezzi via Guillotine Choke @ 1:07 of round 1

Bout #9 (Pro)
Travis Ford VS Matt Knaub
Winner: Matt Knaub via Tapout @ 1:16 of round 1

Bout #10 (Pro)
Chris Leyva VS Daniel Armendariz
Winner: Chris Leyva via TKO @ 1:37 of round 1

Bout #11 (Pro)
Rylan Sandoval VS Ambross Teasyatwho
Winner: Rylan Sandoval via Guillotine Choke @ 1:09 of round 1

Bout #12 (Pro)
Levi Stout VS Brad Norquest
Winner: Levi Stout via Tapout @ 0:36 of round 1

Bout #13 (Pro)
Jasper Church VS Joe Coca
Winner: Joe Coca via Rear Naked Choke @ 3:26 of round 1

Bout #14 (Pro)
Dave Paxton VS Lance Friedenstein
Winner: Lance Friedenstein via Tapout @ 0:46 of round 1

POST FIGHT INTERVIEWS

	ANTHONY 'THE RECIPE' LAPSLEY
	DONALD SANCHEZ
	TONY 'KRYPTONITE' LOPEZ
	GEORGI KARAKHANYAN
	BEN FUIMAONO
	GREGG DALTON
	DANIEL HERNANDEZ
	CHANCE WILLIAMS

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“Opposing Force”

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