Kurt Southern

By Kelsey Mowatt

Kurt Southern didn’t plan to leave the lightweight division at this stage of the game, but following consecutive losses to TUF 22 competitor Tom Gallicchio, the Canadian is heading to featherweight.

Southern (13-6) is preparing to fight Gabriel Solorio (12-10) at at Prestige FC’s October 24th debut, which will take place in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. It will mark the first time Southern has fought since he dropped two title fights to Gallicchio, which took place under the Maximum Fighting Championship banner last year. It will also be the first time “The Hurt” will compete at 145 pounds.

“I’ve kind of heard it a little bit throughout my career. A lot of people would just casually mention that ‘hey, you know, you could probably make 145’, or, ‘you should drop to 145,’” Southern said, in a recent appearance on Full Contact Fighter Radio. “I’ve heard it from a few people, and I’ve always kind of thought about it…”

“My goal was to someday, maybe get to the UFC at 55, and if I wasn’t doing well, then I kind of had that ace in the back of my pocket to kind of give me a new life. So, I kind of always knew that I could do it,” added Southern. “I’ve had a couple of hard cuts to 55, but for the most part it’s pretty easy for me. I knew that 45 would definitely be a challenge and that I’d really have to change my lifestyle a lot, and make sure that I always eat clean and always keep myself lean at all times, not just in a fight camp sort of thing.”

Southern  worked his way into the MFC’s title shot picture by recording back-to-back finishes over Mukai Maromo and Jonatas Novaes. Before he faced Gallicchio, he had put together a 4-1 run following his 2010 campaign.

“I look back at a lot of my fights and I always have given up a good height and reach advantage to my opponent, like almost every time,” furthered Southern, who is one of the owners of the Modern Martial Arts Center in Saskatoon. “I’m only 5’7 right, and lightweights are getting bigger and bigger too right? Like every year. There’s some big boys out there.”

“Even after my last fight when I fought Tom Gallicchio and Marcus Edwards was also on that card, and we were kind of hanging out at the after party, and we all jumped back on the scale when we got back to the guy’s hotel room and both those guys had about eight-and-a-half pounds on me at the time. So I was like okay, well, that kind of made my decision a 100% clear that it was time for me to move down.”

Prestige FC 1 will be hosted by the Crescent Point Place, and in the main event, welterweight Ryan Machan will take on UFC vet, Mike Rhodes. The card will be streamed at Go Fight Live.