UNCASVILLE, Conn., Aug. 17 -- The inaugural Global Fighting Championships card at Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort was cancelled Friday night after four of the eight scheduled bouts fell through.
Less than an hour before the preliminary fights were set to begin, hundreds of disappointed fans were turned away when Mohegan Sun officials announced the card's cancellation. No explanation was given, only a guarantee of a full refund.
GFC representative Joel Parker revealed that half of the night's fights were called off, prompting the decision to nix the card rather than put on a lackluster event. Parker did acknowledge that
Edwin Dewees (Pictures), who was set to fight
Mavrick Harvey (Pictures) for the newly created GFC middleweight belt, failed to make the contracted weight of 185 pounds.
Fans were not the only ones outside the Mohegan Sun Arena who voiced their displeasure.
"Half of the card, most of the main events were disqualified for medical reasons," said fighter Greg Mucci, who was scheduled to fight Andrey Nevski on the undercard. "I've seen this happen at other venues, where a fight is stopped, or a fight is cancelled, but never half the fights. It's ridiculous."
Mucci said efforts were made to pair the remaining eligible fighters with each other to salvage the event but in the end the card fell through. According to Mucci, the bout between Eric "Butterbean" Esch and
Ruben Villareal (Pictures) was the only main card contest that was still viable.
Mixed martial arts agent Ken Pavia confirmed on Friday that
Mark Kerr (Pictures) and
Edwin Dewees (Pictures), both represented by Pavia, were pulled from the card by the overseeing athletic commission.
According to commission doctors, said Pavia, Kerr registered an unhealthy blood pressure reading on Thursday. Dewees, whom Pavia said cut 14 pounds in two and a half hours, was also removed when his blood pressure level was elevated. Dewees missed the middleweight title fight limit by six-tenths of a pound, but would have been able to fight a non-title bout had his blood pressure registered normal.
Mucci also indicated that one fighter, whom he declined to name for lack of details, pulled out "because he didn't want to take a drug test." Neither GFC promoters nor representatives of the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation could be reached for comment.
Parker said that GFC would likely make an official statement in the coming days regarding the reasons for the card's cancellation and any plans for future events.
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