Anthony Birchak picked up a unanimous decision win over Ryan Benoit at MFC 37: True Grit Friday night in Edmonton in the first bantamweight fight in Maximum Fighting Championship history.
Birchak and Benoit went back and forth for 15 minutes in a bout that was full of submission attempts, striking and displays of resilience.
Ultimately Birchak ended up earning the unanimous decision victory in what’s being talked about as one of the better fights so far in 2013.
With the win, Birchak earned a title shot and a chance to become the inaugural MFC bantamweight champion later this year.
“Last Night was by far the biggest test of my career against very tough respectable opponent,” Birchak wrote on his Facebook wall Saturday.
“I want to thank everyone for all the kind words and wishes everyone sent me and for tuning in to watch a fight that hopefully kicked off the MFC Bantam Weights in a Unfollowable performance! Thank you 2 all my sponsors friends fans and family love you all and Look forward to my 1st world championship here later this year! Thanks Again!”
Birchak improved to 10-1 after his fourth consecutive win, while Benoit dropped to 6-2 and had a four-fight win streak snapped.
https://twitter.com/BabyfaceBenoit/status/333113724321800193
The bout was bumped to main event status earlier in the week after the original headliner — a heavyweight tilt between Michael Barnett and Smealinho Rama — was cancelled after Barnett failed a pre-fight medical.
The event, which took place at the Shaw Conference Centre, also featured a middleweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter veteran Sam Alvey and UFC veteran Jay Silva with Alvey winning by third-round TKO.
Kurt Southern needed less than three minutes to submit talented striker Mukai Maromo in a lightweight bout.
St. Albert, Alta., native Luke Harris utilized his jiu-jitsu skills to submit Jason Zentgraf with a neck crank in just over two minutes.
Also, a highly publicized fight between brothers Thomas and Mike Treadwell took place on the preliminary card with younger sibling Thomas winning by first-round submission due to strikes.
Other results from MFC 37:
— Peter Neufeld (7-3) def. Garrett Nybakken (5-6) by unanimous decision
— Allen Hope (8-10) def. Paul Grandbois (5-6) by second-round TKO.
— Jared McComb (5-2) def. Marcus Hicks (14-22) by first-round submissison (rear-naked choke)
— Maged Hammo (5-2) def. Allan Munroe (5-5) by first-round submissison (rear-naked choke)
