The Maharaja Banquet Hall in Edmonton, Alberta, will host King of the Cage Canada’s “Face Off” this Friday, and local MMA fans will have an opportunity to catch several of the capital city region’s up-and-coming fighters. It’s a busy time for the promotion, as just two weeks later, KOTC will head to Calgary for its “Grinder” event, which will showcase a lightweight title fight between KOTC World Champion Clay French and Canadian 155lb. champ, Rory MacDonald. First things first however, and this week’s “Face Off” card features a compelling main event between Edmonton’s own Jarid Bussemakers and Nanaimo, British Columbia’s, Nick Hinchliffe.
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 18th, 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 14th.
“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
