Ryan Machan and business partners Jesse Fox and Gary Vig had the best interests of Red Deer mixed martial arts fighters in mind when they founded the Havoc Fighting Championship in June of last year.
“We recognized that is was hard to get fights with just one local Red Deer promotion company (Pure Fighting Championship headed by former UFC fighter Jason MacDonald) that held only two shows a year,” Machan said Wednesday.
“The must be 40 fighters out of Red Deer now who don’t get a chance to fight here. When there are only two shows a year you can only take 10 local guys, so there’s not a lot of opportunities. We decided we would start an organization and eventually have a show every two months and give everyone a chance to fight in their hometown.”
Friday’s show at the Westerner Prairie Pavilion will be the third for the Havoc Fighting Championship following events last December in Calgary and in June at the Red Deer Sheraton Hotel. The Sheraton show drew close to 1,800 spectators, one of the larger gatherings in Canada outside of the UFC.
“We’re hoping for a similar crowd this Friday, if not a bit bigger,” said Machan.
“This is something Red Deer doesn’t get very often. If you want to watch a show you have to go to Edmonton or Calgary and it turns into a long, expensive night. Red Deer is a big city and is capable of staging more of these events.”
Machan will fight on the Friday card, in one of six pro bouts that will follow eight amateur fights. The Red Deer athlete will take on William Sriyapai of San Diego, Calif., in a co-main event.
“He (Sriyapai) has 160 Muay Thai pro fights. He’s been active since about 2001,” said Machan, who first entered the cage on a competitive level nine year ago.
Machan noted that it’s not difficult to attract fighters from the U.S. due to the cost of fighting in, say, Ontario.
“It’s pretty easy for us because in Ontario, for example, it’s so expensive to hold fights because the commission fees are so high,” he said. “Guys will do anything to come to Alberta.”
The first bout on Friday’s Havoc Fighting Championship show — sanctioned by the Central Combative Commission based out of Penhold — goes at 7:30 p.m.
The card will feature a highly-anticipated HFC amateur lightweight title bout between Chris Chapman of Red Deer and Adam Wills of Cranbrook, B.C.
The amateur fights are scheduled for three three-minute rounds. The pro bouts consist of three five-minute rounds.
The official weigh-ins are slated for today at 6 p.m. at the Prairie Pavilion. Tickets for the card can be purchased through the company’s website — havocfc.com.