Jason MacDonald is just trying to keep the good vibes going.
After dropping four of five fights, getting cut by the UFC, the Red Deer Middleweight mixed martial artist is finally starting to gains some momentum, winning his last two fights. On Friday he will try to make it three in a row, this time in front of a national TV audience.
MacDonald (23-13) will be stepping into the ring with another UFC castoff and old foe Matt Horowick (23-13-1) as the main event for the Let’s Get it On tournament at River Cree Resort and Casino at 8 p.m.
“It’s a good opportunity to get a couple of fights under my belt and get a couple of steps closer to getting back in the UFC,” said MacDonald.
The two have fought before — back in 2004 before both signed on with the UFC — a fight Horowick won by submission.
“I lot to him by an arm bar with just a couple of seconds to go in the first round, in a fight that I was dominating up until that point,” said MacDonald. “For me it’s a good opportunity to go out there and avenge a loss, wipe a loss off my record, and get one step closer to where I want to be.”
Let’s Get it On is a first of it’s kind event in Canada. The tournament will feature a West bracket based out of the Edmonton area and an East bracket based in Montreal. Both brackets will feature a 170 pound division and a 155 pound division. Each division has 16 fighters — eight in each bracket — and will work themselves down through four separate events in each division with a final fight at the River Cree Resort on Dec. 10, where national champions will be crowned in each division and contracts to Strikeforce and $25,000 will be awarded.
Jason MacDonald is not part of the tournament but he is providing the main event for the first night.
There are two other local fighters in the 170 pound division — both veterans of MacDonald’s Pure Fighting Championship promotion. Red Deer’s George Belanger (4-2-0) will fight Langley B.C.’s Colin Daynes (3-0-0) in a first round match, while Red Deer’s Advin Omic (4-2-0) will be taking on Aaron Berke (4-1-0) of Kamloops, B.C., in an alternate fight — where if one of the winners from the main draw is unable to continue on, they will take their place.
“They both have some tough fights, but I expect great things from them and I expect them to move on to the next round of the tournament,” said MacDonald. “The (155 pound) tournament starts up in June and I have Ryan Machan fighting in the lightweight tournament, and he’s one of the favourites to win the lightweight tournament.”
Tickets are still available for the event through ticketmaster and at MacDonald’s gym Pure Fitness.