MFC 40 Results and Fight Highlights Video: Sam Alvey Lands Knockout Blow to Retain Title

“Smilen” Sam Alvey retained his world middleweight title with a one-punch knockout early in the fourth round at the Maximum Fighting Championship’s MFC 40: Crowned Kings Friday night in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Alvey (22-5) slipped past a punch from Wes Swofford then sent the challenger flat on his back to the mat with an overhand right. Swofford (9-5) was clearly done and referee Kyle Cardinal stepped in front of Alvey to wave off the fight at the 1:02 mark of the fourth. For Alvey, who fights out of Temecula, California, it was his third straight victory, but it came following a close call just seconds into the fight.

Swofford, who hails from Redding, California, dropped Alvey in the opening seconds and had the reigning champ wobbled. Yet as Swofford swooped in, Alvey returned the favor with a right that put his foe down on the canvas. Swofford was docked a point late in Round 2 for a second accidental low blow, but the challenger was leading on most ringside scorecards until the bout came to an end before a packed house at the Shaw Conference Centre. Alvey’s 14^th career knockout earned him the Knockout of the Night award.

Alvey’s teammate Tom “Da Tank” Gallicchio made it a clean sweep in the title department for the Team Quest duo as he claimed the MFC’s vacant lightweight title with an easy first-round submission victory over Kurt Southern. Gallicchio beat Southern via second-round submission at MFC 39 but failed to claim the belt after missing weight. The rematch didn’t change anything, though the result came even faster. Gallicchio (19-8) finished Southern (13-6) with the same rear-naked choke stoppage as their first encounter to pick up his third straight win.

Gallicchio’s first title defense will come against Marcus “Bad Intentions” Edwards (7-2) who won for the seventh time in his eight outings by scoring a rear-naked choke finish over Aaron Gallant (6-6) at 4:51 of Round 1. Edwards and Gallant built quite a rivalry as they clashed at the official weigh-in, but Edwards, who fights out of Littleton, Colorado, cruised to the win after the pair exchanged wild strikes in the early moments.

The MFC also set the first title defense for injured bantamweight champion Anthony Birchak. The reigning title-holder will meet Jesse Brock who busted up Kevin Croom over three rounds to take a split-decision verdict. Brock (17-8) utilized his wrestling skills throughout the bout yet did considerable damage with right hands that battered and bruised Croom (14-5). Brock came through virtually unscathed as he snapped Croom’s nine-fight winning streak.

The AXS TV Fights main card featured a triumphant return for former MFC light-heavyweight champion Victor “The Matrix” Valimaki as he went into battle in front of his home-town fans for the first time in over two years. Valimaki (18-8) shook off the early ring rust and needed just over three minutes to salt away the win, submitting Bill Widler (8-6) via rear-naked choke.

Rounding out the main card, former K-1 competitor Shane “Shaolin” Campbell (9-2) notched a successful MFC debut with a second-round TKO win over Jerrid Burke (6-4).

Debuting pro Mike Hay delighted his huge throng of supporters as the Edmonton product registered the Submission of the Night award, coaxing the tapout from Justin Lavertu via triangle choke at 3:27 of Round 1 in their bantamweight preliminary bout.

Other MFC 40 results:

Corey Gower (5-2) def. Jon Barnard (2-1) – split decision
Levon Kinley (3-0) def. Cody Moorman (2-1) – tapout via guillotine choke, 4:26 of Round 1

(Photo courtesy of Guhdar Ali/MFC)