McKee-Azevedo Title Bout Headlines MFC 26

Anotnio McKee file photo: Rob King | Sherdog.com

Maximum Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Antonio McKee will defend his crown against Pride Fighting Championships veteran Luciano Azevedo in the MFC 26 “Retribution” main event on Sept. 10 at Westman Place at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. The show will air live on HDNet.

McKee will carry a 10-fight winning streak into the match. The 40-year-old last appeared in March, when he submitted Rodrigo Ruiz with a first-round kimura under the College Cage Series banner. Twenty one of McKee’s 29 career bouts have gone the distance, 18 of them victories. He owns notable wins against World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Carlo Prater, two-time Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight tournament finalist Toby Imada and former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Delson Heleno. McKee has not been finished in more than nine years.

The only man to defeat current WEC featherweight king Jose Aldo, Azevedo has not competed since November, when he submitted Jean Silva at a Win Fight and Entertainment show in his native Brazil. The 29-year-old Renovacao Fight Team rep has delivered 12 of his 16 wins by submission and held the lightweight championship inside the Cage Gladiators promotion. Victories against Strikeforce veteran Rodrigo Damm and American Top Team’s Din Thomas anchor his resume.

In the MFC 26 co-feature, twice-beaten welterweight prospect Ryan Ford will lock horns with Douglas Lima.

Ford will enter the matchup on a four-fight winning streak. The 28-year-old has secured 11 of his 12 wins by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Ford, whose lone defeats have come to UFC veteran Pat Healy, last fought in March, when he submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 6 finalist Tom Speer with a rear-naked choke at The Fight Club 10. He has never competed outside his native Canada.

Anchored at an American Top Team affiliate in Atlanta, Lima earned a split nod over Cortez Coleman at a Sportfight X show in March. He cut his teeth inside the King of the Cage, Rage in the Cage and Ring of Fire promotions. More than half of his 14 career victories have come by submission.

MFC 26 will also feature middleweight clashes pitting Tom Watson against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 semi-finalist Jesse Taylor and David Heath against Solomon Hutcherson, along with light heavyweight duels pairing American Top Team’s Wilson Gouveia with Dwayne Lewis and Razak Al-Hassan with Mike Nickels.

MFC Lightweight Championship
Antonio McKee vs. Luciano Azevedo

Ryan Ford vs. Douglas Lima
Tom Watson vs. Jesse Taylor
Wilson Gouveia vs. Dwayne Lewis
David Heath vs. Solomon Hutcherson
Razak Al-Hassan vs. Mike Nickels