Saturday night at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, Ringside MMA holds its Rage event, with two belts up for grabs.
In the main event, Alberta’s Ryan Machan makes his debut with the organization fighting for the vacant lightweight belt against local fighter Guillaume De Lorenzi.
It will be a new experience for Machan on a couple of counts. It will be the first time fighting on the East Coast after 12 fights in his home province (Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer) and one in B.C.
He is most known for fighting numerous times for the MFC and last year for Pure Fighting Championship, the promotion run by his coach Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald, former top contender in the UFC.
It will also be the first time fighting for a belt for Machan (10-3), who will likely be looking for an opportunity to submit his opponent — he has won his past five by rear naked choke.
“I’ve really developed my boxing game, but my comfort level will always be the ground,” Machan said. “If I can get my opponent to the ground, I’ve been able to submit everybody in the first round, so that’s definitely my strong point.”
The 26-year-old has trained Gi jiu-jitsu at Gracie Barra under Josh Russell, also MacDonald’s jiu-jitsu coach, for about 10 months now.
“I love working with (Josh) because he’s my weight,” Machan said. “He doesn’t outmuscle me, he just uses technique and it really shows me how to use technique against bigger guys without using a lot of energy.”
While he hasn’t seen much of De Lorenzi’s fights, he does believe one result will give him a hint on how to approach the fight — a first-round loss by, you guessed it, rear naked choke at the hands of War Machine, who interestingly also has the same record as Machan.
“War Machine and my style are similar so that’s what I’m looking to do with (De Lorenzi).”
De Lorenzi (7-1), who used to fight at welterweight but has dropped down to lightweight, doesn’t think much can be taken from that February 2009 loss, which took place in the main event of XMMA 7 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
“I was supposed to fight Phil Baroni first at 170,” De Lorenzi said. “But 10 days before it was switched and War Machine wasn’t able to make 170 so it was at catchweight at 175. I was just coming back from training camp in Thailand, and I was already 170 pounds. He was a lot bigger; he was back in the ring at about 195 — 20 pounds more than me. And (when) you change opponents 10 days before the fight, you change the dynamic of the fight. I was sick also. Everything went wrong.
“But he had the win, and I had the loss. That’s MMA.”
Advance notice won’t be a problem in this one — their matchup has been set since February.
De Lorenzi, who trained in Quebec City for a while before moving back to Montreal, works with many of the same people that UFC welterweight champion George St-Pierre does. First off, he trains under Firas Zahabi out of Tri-Star gym in Montreal
“I can train with all pros right there,” De Lorenzi said. “And I follow the team. So I can go to (the Grant brothers) gym for boxing and Jonathan Chaimberg’s for conditioning.”
He said he’s trained with GSP himself two times in four months. Add being able to train with Otis Grant, a former WBO Middleweight boxing champions, and he’s got quite the world-class experience.
De Lorenzi is a striker first, excelling both on the feet and with ground and pound. But he knows what to expect from Machan and believes he’s got the submission defence to survive what Machan might throw at him.
“I don’t work that much submissions, but I know the game, so I can prevent moves and things like that. I can escape well myself.”
The co-main event features an all-Quebec matchup for the organization’s vacant featherweight title between Mitch Gagnon and Guillaume Lamarche.
The event can be ordered and watched via online pay-per-view on the RingsideMMA.tv website, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
