NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with Mark Pavelich, the owner and president of the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC).

MFC will be holding its first show in the province of Ontario, Canada, this Friday, April 8. MFC 29 will take place at Caesars Windsor and be telecast live on HDNet Fights.

Headlining this card are two title fights. MFC light heavyweight champion Ryan Jimmo (14-1) will face Zak Cummings (13-2), while MFC welterweight champion Douglas Lima (17-4) will fight Terry Martin (21-8).

We spoke with the always-outspoken Mark Pavelich by phone on Wednesday about the significance of this show as MFC continues to grow as a promotion. He explained why MFC has been so successful, and why he expects many of the new MMA events cropping up in Ontario not to last. He offered his thoughts on the buyout by Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, of Strikeforce, and how that deal is likely to end up. We discussed how the Ontario Athletics Commission is only permitting the use of a cage, and not a ring, in mixed martial arts. We also discussed the relationship between boxing and MMA, and much more.

We also offer a weekend preview of the major combat sports events around the world.

In wrestling, the U.S. Open takes place April 8 and 9 in Cleveland, Ohio, with a live webcast on TheMat.com.

Boxing is headlined by the Hozumi Hasegawa-Jhonny Gonzalez featherweight title fight on April 8 in Kobe, Japan, and the Marcos Maidana-Erik Morales fight on April 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Besides the important MFC card, this is another busy weekend in MMA. On Saturday, April 9, Bellator 40 comes from the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma, and will be telecast live in the U.S. on MTV2. On that card, Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren fights Nick "The Goat" Thomson in a non-title fight, Jay Hieron fights Brent Weedman in a welterweight tournament semifinal, and Michael Chandler fights Lloyd Woodard in a lightweight tournament semifinal. Ringside 10 also takes place Saturday, April 9, from the Bell Centre in Montreal, headlined by a Patrick Côté-Kalib Starnes fight. And Strikeforce returns to Showtime with welterweight champion Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri, Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine in a light heavyweight bout, and Shinya Aoki vs. Lyle Beerbohm in a lightweight bout.

In addition, we open by noting the open letter sent by two-time World Absolute Champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros about the need to combat steroids and doping in BJJ.

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