Fan voting makes Birchak-Jones bantamweight title bout MFC 38 main event

The fans have spoken, and of a trio of title fights, they want to see the little guys headline next month’s Maximum Fighting Championship 38 card.

MFC’s “Punch the Vote” fan campaign is over, and by a narrow margin, according to the promotion, a bantamweight title fight will be the main event at MFC 38. A middleweight title bout came in second and will serve as the co-main event, while the heavyweight title will be up for grabs as the championship fight on the main card.

“MFC 38: Behind Enemy Lines” takes place Oct. 4 at Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Tickets for the event are on sale now. The show’s six-fight main card will air live on AXS TV at 10 p.m. ET. Prelims stream on the promotion’s Facebook page at 8:15 p.m. ET.

The promotion’s inaugural bantamweight title will be on the line in the main event when Anthony Birchak (10-1) takes on Tito Jones (10-6). In the co-feature, Sam Alvey (20-5) meets Jason South (10-0) for the 185-pound belt. And the heavyweight title is up for grabs with Smealinho Rama (6-0) vs. Anthony Hamilton (9-2).

“All three of these title fights are deserving of main-event status, so we wanted to hear what the fans had to say, and they decided which of the three they felt belonged with top billing,” Scott Zerr, MFC director of media and fighter relations stated.

Birchak ran his win streak to four fights in May when he outpointed Ryan Benoit at MFC 37, his debut with the promotion. Prior to that, the onetime Bellator veteran had three straight TKO stoppages in 2012 against Matt Leyva, Roman Salazar and John Green.

Jones, a Strikeforce and Rage in the Cage veteran, will make his MFC debut on a three-fight win streak in 2012. Those wins got him well back on track after a rough stretch that saw him drop four of five fights, including a unanimous decision loss to Bao Quach at the first Strikeforce Challengers show in 2009.

Alvey, a cast member on Season 16 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” in February dropped a unanimous decision in a middleweight title fight against Elvis Mutapcic at MFC 36. But Mutapcic vacated the belt and signed with World Series of Fighting to compete in that promotion’s middleweight title tournament, putting the belt back up for grabs. After the loss to Mutapcic, Alvey got back on track in May with a third-round TKO win over Jay Silva.

South has all 10 of his wins by stoppage, including nine submissions, with eight straight coming by choke – five in the first round. After fighting just once in 2012, South has a pair of wins in 2013, including a second-round rear-naked choke stoppage of “TUF” veteran Kyacey Uscola in February.

Rama, widely regarded as Canada’s top heavyweight prospect, will fight in front of his home province once again. His resume includes six first-round stoppages with three by submission and three by knockout. At MFC 38 in February, he knocked out Mike Hackert midway through the first frame. He’s 3-0 under the MFC banner.

The recently signed Hamliton brings a three-fight win streak into his fight against the unbeaten Rama. In November at a Rumble on the Ridge event, the Jackson-Winkeljohn’s MMA product notched a seven-second knockout. He followed that up with a 38-second TKO in December and a first-round submission in March.

The complete MFC 38 main card includes:

• Anthony Birchak vs. Tito Jones – for bantamweight title
• Sam Alvey vs. Jason South – for middleweight title
• Anthony Hamilton vs. Smealinho Rama – for heavyweight title
• Jonatas Novaes vs. Kurt Southern
• Teddy Ash vs. Jared McComb
• Aaron Gallant vs. Matt Jelly

For the latest on MFC 38: Behind Enemy Lines, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.