AFC owner eager to play in MFC promoter’s backyard for Friday card at Edmonton’s Shaw Conference Centre
By Evan Daum, Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - Bad blood is nothing new for the sport of mixed martial arts.
And when it comes to animosity outside the bright lights of fight night, Aggression Fighting Championship owner Darren Owen doesn’t hesitate to share his disdain for rival promoter Mark Pavelich of the Maximum Fighting Championship.
Owen is in town this weekend for AFC 19: Undisputed, which goes Friday at the Shaw Conference Centre. And while the British Columbia-based promoter wants the fights to do the talking, Owen didn’t shy away from throwing some verbal punches when it came to Pavelich.
“He plays dirty. Some information even came out (Wednesday) that he called the Manitoba Athletic Commission trying to find some dirt on us — that he couldn’t find,” Owen explained. “He tried to get two of our fighters suspended, well, he actually got Michael Hill and Kalib Starnes suspended for these fights, but we’ve appealed them and got them overturned. He’s trying to take paycheques away from these fighters.”
“Ryan Ford feeds his family with the money we’re going to pay him tomorrow night and Mark Pavelich goes out of his way to get his opponent suspended a week before the event,” added Owen, with respect to the AFC welterweight title fight between Ford and Hill. “That’s the type of character we’re dealing with here.”
That’s a claim Pavelich was quick to shoot down when reached for comment.
“That’s ridiculous. I don’t have the power to do that. I own the largest MMA show in Canada, but I don’t have the power to stop anything, or to spearhead anything. That’s what commissions are for and it’s their job to do those things,” Pavelich said with respect to the Hill and Starnes situation.
“When these shows come along, their main attraction all the time seems to be ‘we’re going to mess with the MFC.’ It’s ridiculous. If someone gets suspended, I have no power or say in that.”
Despite Pavelich’s denial, the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission did confirm Thursday that someone, who they declined to name, had in fact tipped them off about a fighter on the AFC card who had participated in an unsanctioned fight. That tip triggered a 90-day suspension, before the athlete was able to successfully appeal.
As for Friday night, Owen is billing the event as “the best non-UFC card in the history of Canada” as the organization looks to move past the still unnamed tipster’s unwelcome road block.
“The fans can expect an extremely high level of MMA talent on display and overall it should be a great night of exciting fights,” Owen said.
A heavy dose of Canadian content has become a staple for the AFC, including both title fights at AFC 19, which in addition to Hill and Ford, features fellow Canucks Shane Campbell and Jesse Ronson fighting for the lightweight title.
“It totally matters,” said Owen of having as many Canadians as possible. “I’m tired of it often being the case where Canadian guys get passed up for an American that may have a more recognizable name somewhere, because they’ve been brought on from a different event somewhere.”
“We’ve got such amazing talent in this country and they should be put in the forefront. Everybody in Canada should know who these phenomenal athletes are and we’re just happy we can give them the platform to showcase their skills.”
AFC 19 marks the second time in less than a year Owen has brought his promotion to Edmonton, after coming to town back in November 2012 for AFC 14: Invasion.
And with a healthy and knowledgeable MMA fan base, Owen is eager to continue to come into Pavelich’s backyard and go toe-to-toe for fans dollars.
“There’s been a lot of MMA here over the years and these fans know the sport and they know a good quality event when they see it,” Owen said. “It’s a good demographic for it. It’s more working-class type people and there’s the right age demographic … They like their fights, so it’s a good market for us.”
NOTES: Former hockey tough guy Derek Parker is set to take on local product KB Bhullar in middleweight action. Parker, who had over 260 penalty minutes as a rookie with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League, was last in town for MFC 35 back in October … Tim Hague will fight for the second time in less than a month when he faces Starnes. The former UFC fighter is looking for a second consecutive win after a pair of losses last year to Mike Hackert.
