ENOCH, Alberta --
Yves Edwards picked up his third straight win in his Maximum Fighting Championship debut, as he controlled fellow UFC veteran
Derrick Noble en route to a first-round technical knockout in the
MFC 24 “HeatXC” headliner on Friday at the River Cree Resort and Casino.
Fighting in Canada for the first time in his long career, Edwards had no problem heating up in the colder climate. After an initial feeling out process, the American Top Team standout connected with a straight right that sent Noble to the ground. Edwards trapped Noble in the corner and unloaded a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to call a halt to the action 4:41 into the first round.
“I just wanted to come out and feel him out,” Edwards said. “I thought I would be the faster guy, and I was right. I got his timing down, and I heard my corner telling me what to throw, and I landed it and it worked out.”
In the co-main event,
Tom Watson put a devastating right head kick on
Travis Galbraith and sent him crashing face-first to the mat.
After breaking apart from a clinch in the corner, Galbraith dropped his hand. Watson then came over the top and landed the fight-ending kick 1:56 into round one. An early candidate for “Knockout of the Year,” the win was Watson’s seventh straight.
“My corner was telling me before the fight to be relaxed and wait for the mistake,” Watson said. “I saw that he was dropping his left hand, so I faked and threw the head kick, and it caught him a little bit better than I expected it to. Hopefully, this gets me a bigger fight and a bigger opponent for my next bout in the MFC.”
Meanwhile,
Dwayne Lewis posted his seventh straight victory, as he stopped
Ryan McClain on strikes midway through the second round. McClain, who replaced teammate
David Heath on less than a week’s notice, had no answer for Lewis’ flurries. He cornered McClain and unloaded with a barrage of punches. McClain dropped to the ground and tried to roll away to escape the strikes, but Lewis followed him to the ground and forced the referee to intervene 2:08 into the second round.
The first-round fireworks did not end there.
Jesse Juarez came a long way from Torrance, Calif., for very little work, as he put away
Nathan Gunn in just 11 seconds. Once the bell rang, Juarez came across the ring, and, when Gunn dropped his left hand, he came over the top with a right round kick that connected on the temple and ended the match before either man had broken a sweat. Gunn has found himself on the wrong end of highlight reel knockouts in two straight fights.
Pete Spratt melted him at MFC 22 in October.
Finally,
David Letourneau took a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated
Nick Hrynchyshyn in an entertaining bout that left Hrynchyshyn’s blood all over the computers and notepads on press row. Letourneau was effective in getting his jab through Hrynchyshyn’s defenses and connected with numerous kicks to the ribs of the young prospect. Scores were 30-27 across the board.
Dami Egbeyemi def. Paapa Inkumsah -- Split Decision
Garrett Nybakken def.
Chris Barber -- Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 2:30 R1
Zach Blaber def.
Eric Chouinard -- Submission (Kimura) 1:17 R1
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