The Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, hosted the Maximum Fighting Championship’s "Unplugged 2" last Friday night, November 10th, the second installment of the "Unplugged" series that mostly features younger and upcoming fighters from the MMA promotion. The event, which was held in a far smaller venue then the usual, larger, location of choice lately for the MFC, the Shaw Conference Centre, was sold out according to the organization, with 750 fans attending. The main event featured Jason "Dooms" Day, who was replacing MFC Lightheavyweight Champion Victor Valimaki, due to his upcoming December UFC bout against David Heath, taking on Shawn Marchand. Day had won 2 fights in a row since losing to Valimaki in the LHW championship bout at MFC 10 in September, while Marchand came into the fight having lost his last fight against Scott Arnold at UGC 14, suffering his only career loss to that point after winning his first 3 MMA bouts. The far more experienced Day however was apparently too much for Marchand, stopping the fighter with strikes for the TKO victory at 1:54 of the first round.

"I went into this fight wanting to end it quickly and safely because I fight again in two weeks," Day tells FCF. "I took him down and had him in side mount working elbows and throwing a few punches, I heard his corner say stand them up, there’s no action. So I took mount and starting raining down punches. I landed several hard shots and he was unable to get out of my mount, the ref stopped it as he rolled to his side. I have to give him credit thought he took some hard shots and didn’t give up."

Day is scheduled to fight Ricardeau Francois at the upcoming King of the Cage Canada event "Amplified," which will also take place in Edmonton at the Northlands’ Agricom Arena. Day, who now carries a combined pro-am record of 12-6, will take on Francois, who shares the same MMA record of 12-6, for likely the number one contender spot in KOTC Canada’s LHW division. Francois failed in his bid for the organization’s 205 pound title in June, when he was submitted by Travis Galbraith with a guillotine choke at the promotion’s "Widowmaker" event. Francois, who stands 6’6", carries a reputation for being a strong striker, with 6 of his 12 victories coming way of TKO, one of which came against Wes Sims in 2004 at Apex "Genesis". The Montreal resident also nearly defeated UFC veteran Patrick Cote at TKO 19 in January of 2005, losing the fight by split decision. Day seems to be keenly aware of his upcoming opponent’s capabilities and is looking forward to the bout.

I felt great after my fight, no injuries I think I only took one punch but it didn’t leave a mark," says Day. "I am sticking to my usual game plan for Francois. It is no secret that my strength is on the ground and in the clinch. I am planning on keeping it a tight fight, work him hard in the clinch, take him down and pound him out. His strength will be in his reach and his kickboxing back ground, I plan on taking that part of his game away from him early in the fight. I can’t wait for this fight, I am coming out hard and fast and I will push the pace to see if he can keep up."

In other action from the MFC "Unplugged 2" show, Edmontonian Ryan McGillivray took on Calgary fighter Jon Kennedy, in what according to the MFC press release; was the fight of the night.

"With the result still up for grabs entering the third, McGillivray again unloaded on Kennedy with several good combinations before the fight went to the ground," the MFC release reported. "McGillivray stayed calm and quickly locked on an armbar earning the submission victory at 1:30 of Round 3. The fight will definitely go down as one of the contenders for MFC’s Fight of the Year and was one of the all-time best encounters in the MFC ring."

Ryan Machan submitted Kevin Olson at 1:16 of the second round with a rear naked choke, Dan Chambers stopped Nick Perry with strikes in the first round at 3:04 for the TKO win, Kyle Dillman also earned a TKO victory by defeating Curtis Poulin with strikes at the thirty second mark of round two, and Graydon Tannas submitted Mike Bell with a rear naked choke at 3:05 of round 1, to round out the "Unplugged 2" card.

Eltham Warriors’ Jake Bostwick went after Marvin Arnold Bleau, of the Elite Fighting System, hammer and tongs, making Bleau work hard for the takedowns and punishing him with heavy punches at every opportunity. The end came in the second round when Bostwick took mount and started trying to pound Bleau through the floor until Bleau tapped out at the 1:05 mark rather than prolong the battering.

Heavy-fisted Dorlan O’Mally, from London Thai Fighters, made short work of Team Titan’s Danny Cornwall, overpowering him in the stand-up exchanges and knocking him down with a brutal knee to the chest. O’Mally backed away from the fallen Cornwall, who told the referee he had had enough after 38 one-sided seconds.

Mark Weir’s cousin Che Mills looked good against the more experienced Paul Taylor, of Team Supreme, bloodying his nose before taking his back and choking him for the win midway through the first round. At the top of the bill Lee Doski, from Tsunami Gym, struggled with Elite Fighting System team-member Dean Bray’s high-kicking style before Bray slipped to the canvas throwing a kick and Doski jumped straight on him, taking his back and catching the rear naked choke that won the match.

Full Results:

Sergei Ussanov NO CONTEST Andrew Burnett (Accidental Illegal Blow)

Tony Pasos def. Dan Movahedi by Rear-Naked Choke 1:56 R1

Darren Russell def. Harvey Harra by Armbar 0:50 R1

Steve Elliott def. Jason Young by Armbar 3:59 R1

Dorlan O’Mally def. Danny Cornwall by Verbal Submission 0:38 R1

Jake Bostwick def. Marvin Arnold Bleau by Tap-Out to Strikes 1:05 R2

Ed Smith def. Rocci Williams by TKO (Ref stoppage – strikes) 1:16 R1

Marius Zaromskis def. Dariusz Swierkosz by Triangle 0:52 R2

Andre Winner def. Sami Berik by TKO (Ref stoppage – strikes) 1:50 R3

Michael Johnson def. Andy Walker by Verbal Submission 2:28 R2

Che Mills def. Paul Taylor by Rear-Naked Choke 2:37 R1