Graham Spencer (photo via Maximum Fighting / Alicia Hamilton)

By Kelsey Mowatt

Although Graham Spencer has gone nearly two years now without fighting, it sounds like the featherweight could return to the Maximum Fighting Championship in 2015, as a more complete fighter than ever before.

Since Spencer submitted Mukai Maromo in February, 2013, to take the MFC’s lightweight belt, the 30 year-old has vacated the title, undergone shoulder surgery, and worked hard to improve his skill set. So much so, the Nanaimo resident and electrician by trade, worked up north for multiple months so that he could secure the funds he needed, to pay for additional coaching.

“Well, first of all, injuries for me, are never a good thing,” Spencer said on Full Contact Fighter Radio recently, while discussing his time away from the ring and whether he’s improved his game. “Especially for me, because I was off, I wasn’t even training for a year. I was working up in Northern Alberta, there’s no training I could get up there, but I had to take an overall look at my game, see some areas that I need to work on.”

Spencer has become one of Canada’s leading featherweights by putting together a 10-1 record, which in large part, has come through his developed grappling and submission skills. Of Spencer’s 10 victories, five have come via tap-out.

Spencer (photo via maximumfighting.com)

“One of the things I needed to work on is my boxing,” said Spencer. “So, I’ve been putting in the extra time. I’ve got a personal boxing coach that I get one-on-one sessions with. I’m putting everything I have into this camp. Paying extra for boxing, paying extra for strength-and-conditioning sessions. I’m really putting everything into this camp.”

Putting “everything into” it includes another trip to the renowned Team Alpha Male camp in Sacramento, California, where Spencer has gone several times before to train. The fighter confirmed on FCF Radio that he will be returning to action, January 23rd at MFC 42, against an opponent who has yet to be announced.

“I’ve been down here for just over a month,” Spencer said. “I’m not fighting until closer to the end of January, so I’m just sort of getting into my camp, but I’ve been helping all the other guys get ready. Urijah’s (Faber) fighting this weekend, and there’s a few guys fighting at World Series next weekend in Sacramento, so I’ve been getting tons of good work in.”

Although Spencer is still listed as the MFC 145 pound champion, the fighter believes his next bout will not be a title fight.

“I wanted to fight in October, but it just wasn’t going to work out with me financially, and stuff like that,” added Spencer, who has also been training with Island Top Team coach and BJJ black belt Robert Biernacki. “So, that’s okay, because it gave me some extra time. I was able to come down to California for a little bit of extra training.”