Unless your name is Lyoto Machida, every mixed martial arts fighter knows that his career has its ups and downs.

Victor (The Matrix) Valimaki has had his fair share. Fortunately for the Edmonton native, as he embarks on a new stage in his fight career, he is already riding a four-fight win streak. And Saturday he makes his debut with his new promotion, The Fight Club, when he takes on St. Paul, Minn.'s Isaiah Larson in the co-main event of TFC 7: Full Throttle at the Shaw Conference Centre.

But the road to Full Throttle has been a little bumpy.

The former 205-pound champion in the Maximum Fighting Championship reached a peak when he earned a shot at the UFC in 2006 following a five-fight win streak. That was an "up."

Unfortunately, he dropped a split decision to David Heath in his Octagon debut in December 2006 and fell to 0-2 in the premier promotion when he was TKO'd by Alessio Sakara four months later. He was then cut by the UFC. That was a "down."

And it was compounded shortly thereafter. He lost his MFC light-heavyweight belt to Roger Hollett when he suffered an eye injury in the first round of their bout and ultimately had to tap out from Hollett punches when he could no longer see clearly. He later discovered he sustained a scratched cornea. And it was the first two-fight skid of his career. "Double down."

Around the time of that bout, Valimaki had a falling out with manager Mark Pavelich, president of the MFC. He would also be out of commission for a while with the injury and another medical issue that followed. Almost a year later, in June 2008, he resumed his career, fighting the first of three in KOTC. And that was the start of another great run.

He's currently coming off a win in Finland in November at the M-1 Challenge. However, he's had a few fights fall through in the meantime, including one back in Finland earlier this year when he missed weight and the bout got cancelled.

But Valimaki (13-5) recently signed a three-fight deal with TFC, the cross-town promotion to the one where he held the title. He said he's talked with Pavelich and put any bad blood aside -- he's even had offers to return to the MFC. But he felt TFC presented the best opportunity.

"Milan Lubovac, one of the owners of TFC, has been my boxing trainer for a while," Valimaki said. "I'd been talking about fighting for him for a while. I was weighing my options between a couple of different events and this was the best option at the time."

The deal is an exclusive one when it comes to Edmonton, but he is free to fight elsewhere. He's been asked to return for a fight in Finland, something he'd like to do.

"After what happened with me missing weight and the fight getting cancelled … I feel like I owe them a little bit."

Of course, he always has his eye on a return to the UFC and after winning four straight -- often the benchmark for veterans to grab the organization's interest -- he has already been in talks again with Joe Silva, who manages talent relations for the UFC. The only problem is they're on a signing freeze until August.

"They told me keep winning and in August we'll chat," Valimaki said.

So for the time being his sights are square on Larson, The Striking Viking, who took this fight on short notice after a few others pulled out. Valimaki, who will have about a three-inch height advantage, also expects to have quite a bit of reach on Larson and believes the key will be to put pressure on him standing up.

"He's a tough guy, has got quite a bit of experience," Valimaki said. "I don't know a ton about him. I've seen some footage and he seems like more of a wrestler than a standup guy. He's got a couple of decisions, so I'm sure he could go the distance.

"I'll just try to take his head off!"

Larson's plane was significantly late arriving in Edmonton. So TFC promoters decided to make the bout at a catchweight of 210 pounds so as not to put him in a position where he had to cut too much weight in too short a time to get down to 205. Both fighters were made aware: Valimaki hit the scales on Friday at 209.5 pounds, while Larson (11-4) was 208.

Considering Valimaki's experience, some may be surprised to see that he's not the one headlining the show. Instead it's Ryan (The Real Deal) Ford taking on Anchorage, Alaska's Dave (Pain Train) Mazany. Ford is another popular Edmonton native but one who has yet to accomplish what Valimaki has. But Valimaki understands the situation.

"They promised Ryan the main event for this one before I signed with them," Valimaki said. "I'm not really an egotistical guy like that. … I'll be the main event next time around."

Speaking of Ford, he is also making his TFC debut after a well-publicized split with Pavelich. For The Real Deal, things are entirely different than they were just 12 months ago.

At this time last year, Ford was unbeaten in six bouts and preparing for his first shot at the MFC's welterweight belt against Pat Healy. But he since dropped two title fights to Healy, couldn't negotiate a new deal with the MFC, and now says he will never fight again for that promotion.

But he believes that it's for the better.

Ford, who is now self-managed, says his whole training outlook has changed. He spent a number of weeks in Victoria working with new jiu-jitsu coach Adam Zugec at his school, Zugec Ultimate Martial Arts (ZUMA). He also trains with Valimaki at Hayabusa Training Centre in St. Albert, Alta., just outside Edmonton. That facility boasts classes in a number of MMA disciplines, including wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai, judo and No-Gi jiu-jitsu. He says the new structure has really been helping him.

"I have more direction than what I did in Edmonton," Ford said. "Before guys would just show up and you do what you gotta do. But now everything is laid out (in terms of your training routines)."

There was a question whether he'd be able to take the fight at all. Pavelich claimed he was still under exclusive contract with him and the MFC until the end of July and couldn't take a fight at another organization in Edmonton. The matter went before a judge, who ruled Ford was free from his former deal because he fulfilled the three-fight requirement, the essence of the contract.

Ford (8-2), who weighed in at 170.5 pounds, is glad to have that behind him. Saturday is the first of a five-fight deal he signed in March.

Mazany (5-2), making his second appearance in Canada following a TKO loss to Claude Patrick at TFC 6 in March, came in right on the number at 170.