THE CANADIAN PRESS
ENOCH, Alta. — Douglas (The Phenom) Lima rallied to submit Jesse Juarez in the third round Friday to win the vacant Maximum Fighting Championship welterweight title at MFC 27.
Juarez, a national champion wrestler at Montana State in 2005, had controlled Lima in the first two rounds but got caught in the third and had to tap to a triangle choke that transitioned into an armbar.
Lima (16-4) won two minutes 37 seconds into the third round.
“Man, there’s no words to explain how happy I am now,” said the 22-year-old Brazilian who fights out of Atlanta.
The 170-pound title was held by Pat Healy, but he was stripped of it for fighting for other organizations in violation of his contract, according to the MFC.
In the co-main event at the River Cree Resort and Casino, Edmonton welterweight Ryan (The Real Deal) Ford choked out veteran Pete (Secret Weapon) Spratt in a rematch of MFC 15 in February 2008, when Ford registered a disputed submission win.
Lima, who submitted Ford last time out at MFC 26, ran his winning string to five fights.
Juarez, 29, had his nine-fight win streak snapped in losing for the first time since September 2008.
Juarez (15-6) took Lima down early, stacking him in a corner to negate Lima’s submission skills and convincingly win the first round. He did the same again in the second against the ropes until referee Vern Gorman stood them up. The fight immediately returned to the ground with Lima unsuccessfully looking for a triangle and Gorman stepping in again.
“He was strong in the beginning. Man, I had to wait for the right moment,” said Lima, who pounced in the third.
In their first meeting, Ford hit Spratt after the bell for the end of round one and Spratt was clearly still feeling the effects when Ford put him away via rear naked choke in the second.
This time Ford (13-3) caught Spratt in a corner, took him down and then put him away after the 39-year-old Spratt gave up his back. The end came at 3:07 of the second round.
Spratt (21-19) had a good first round, softening Ford up with leg kicks before taking him down three times. The Texan’s progress was halted briefly in the second when he took a knee to the groin with an audible pop.
The two fighters did not touch gloves before the opening bell but embraced in the ring afterwards.
“Let bygones be bygones,” said the 28-year-old Ford. “This is sport. We don’t like each other when we’re coming in but after we’ve got to keep it real.”
Earlier, Dhiego Lima, Douglas’ 20-year-old younger brother, knocked out Bill Fraser of Courtenay, B.C., with a straight right at 2:36 of the second round in a bout fought at a catchweight of 175 pounds. Lima (4-0) needed just one punch to topple the 37-year-old Fraser (4-2), who fell backwards onto the canvas. Light-heavyweight Rodney (Sho Nuff The Master) Wallace won a unanimous 29-28 decision over a lacklustre David Heath in a matchup of former UFC fighters that promised more than it delivered.
Wallace had the most success when he got Heath to the ground in the second and third rounds. Heath, who just signed a new MFC deal, was unable get his offence on track for much of the fight.
Wallace (10-3) was making his MFC debut after being cut by the UFC following three straight losses. Heath (16-7) had his three-fight win streak snapped.
Wallace was a late replacement, filling in for Brazilian Glover Teixeira who had visa issues.
Light-heavyweight Dwayne (D-Bomb) Lewis of Fort McMurray, Alta., won a (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) split decision over (Razor) Razak Al-Hassan.
Al-Hassan (11-3) had won four straight since being cut by the UFC after two straight losses and appeared to do enough to make it five in a row over a sluggish Lewis.
“I just couldn’t get going,” said Lewis.
Al-Hassan used his leg kicks to attack Lewis (12-5) in the first round. Lewis offered little and referee John Braak asked both fighters after the first round to be more active. Braak did it again midway through the second round, which finished with Al-Hassan mounted.
Lewis tried to sweep Al-Hassan to the ground in the third but ended on the bottom rather than on top.
(Ragin’) Kajan Johnson (18-11-1) of Burns Lake, B.C., dominated Ryan Healy, a former Strikeforce and WEC fighter, en route to a unanimous (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)decision.
It was an especially tough second round for Healy who was hurled face down on the canvas at one point, leaving a bloody smear. Healy, who deserves credit for surviving the fight, lost his mouthpiece twice in the round.
Healy (19-9-1) took the fight on a week’s notice and forfeited 20 per cent of his purse after weighing in at 158.2 pounds, missing the lightweight limit of 156.
The Team Quest veteran came into the bout on a five-fight win streak, which followed five straight losses.
