BY JAMES BRYDON
sportsnet.ca
ORILLIA, Ont. -- The first regulated mixed martial arts show in the province of Ontario is a go.
All fights are official following weigh-ins Friday for the sold out "MMA: The Reckoning," which will be held Saturday night at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ont., just north of Toronto.
Headliners Jordan Mein of Lethbridge, Alta., and UFC veteran Josh Burkman weighed in at 169.8 and 169.6 pounds, respectively, for their welterweight bout. In the co-main event, London, Ont.'s Chris Horodecki hit the scale at 154.2 pounds while opponent David Castillo was right on the number at 155 for their lightweight tilt.
Follow live results for the event starting at 8 p.m. ET here or on (Big Game) James Brydon's Twitter page.
Burkman, 30, is a former UFC fighter and contestant on Season 2 of The Ultimate Fighter and had a 21-second knockout in the finale (which was also his Octagon debut). But he was cut by the organization in November 2008 after a third straight loss.
After being off for a year following his release, he has since won his past three fights and has rededicated himself to his craft. The Utah native, who was offered a scholarship to play football in college but decided instead to pursue fighting, says he is much more focused now than when he was younger and liked to party.
"When I joined the UFC, I was 25 and I was just training for fights, but there's a difference between that and being a martial artist," Burkman said. "Now I want to get better all the time. It's created a healthier lifestyle and (made me) a better fighter."
Burkman (21-8) had praise for his younger opponent and believes their match up will live up to its billing as main event.
"He's a tough kid," Burkman said. "He comes forward, and I like to come forward ... this is going to be fight of the night."
Mein (20-7) -- who was sporting a retro Vancouver Canucks cap following the weigh-ins and said he's a fan of a hockey team "with players who are fighters" -- agrees.
"(My fight with Burkman is) going to be up and down and everywhere," the 21-year-old said. "Wrestling, ground, standing ... I'm ready for anywhere."
The event, which is not affiliated with any particular MMA organization, is being promoted by Knockout Entertainment Canada and overseen by the Office of the Athletics Commission in Ontario. Organizers say there will be 5,000 fans in attendance Saturday for the show, which features 11 Canadians, two Americans, two Brits and one Aussie.
Of note, the fight that is scheduled to go on record as the first sanctioned one ever on Ontario soil will be an all-Canadian welterweight bout between Joel Powell (170.2) and Brandt Dewsberry (169.2).
Athletics Commissioner Ken Hayashi said he was happy with the match-ups featured on the eight-fight card and had no issues approving the event, the first since the Ontario government decided to legalize the sport last August.
"I think it's an excellent card," Hayashi said. "If you look generally at events in other jurisdictions, I think this is definitely comparable (in terms of) good fights."
Apart from the weigh-ins starting a little late and a little bit of scrambling as officials tried to get all the fighters' mandated medical checks done following the weigh-ins, things went pretty smoothly as far as the commission's role goes.
"For our first show, it's gone really good," Hayashi said. "We were ready, we did a lot of work in getting our forms and our materials all ready."
It was a lightly-attended weigh-in, with just a handful of media and fighters' entourages, unlike what can be expected at the end of the month when the UFC comes to Toronto for UFC 129, which will take place on April 30 in front of a crowd of 55,000 at the Rogers Centre.
The full weigh-in results for MMA: The Reckoning are as follows (with bout order from bottom to top):
Main event: Jordan Mein 169.8 vs. Josh Burkman 169.6
Co-main event: Chris Horodecki 154.2 vs. David Castillo 155
Jason Young 156 vs. Jorge Britto 156
Rob Hill 156.8 vs. Spencer Rohovie 152.4 *
Matt MacGrath 170.4 vs. Dean Amasinger 170.8
Jason Saggo 155 vs. Taylor Solomon 156.2 *
Misha Cirkunov 205.4 vs. Ion Cherdivara 204.8
Joel Powell 170.2 vs. Brandt Dewsberry 169.2
* Two fighters were actually over their weight limits but their respective opponents agreed to accept the fights, without penalty (that is, nothing will be deducted from their purses). Rob Hill was 158.4 pounds initially and was given one hour to cut down to the 155-pound limit. He was still at 156.8 on his second try but Spencer Rohovie let him off the hook. Meanwhile, Taylor Solomon weighed 156.2 on his first attempt, which was good enough for Jason Saggo.
