Ringside MMA 12 will take place on Friday, October 21 from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The main event will feature a welterweight showdown between UFC veterans Paul Daley and Luigi Fioravanti. The rest of the card will spotlight some of Canada's best, young prospects in Mike Ricci, Alex Garcia, and Michel Gagnon. Tune in for the action at 7:30 PM ET at GFL.tv. The event costs $9.99, please click here to order.Welterweight: Paul Daley (28-11-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (22-10): British bruiser and UFC veteran Paul Daley returns to action following a win over Jordan Radev in September to battle fellow UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti on Friday night in the main event of the evening. Daley previously lost to Tyron Woodley and Nick Diaz under the Strikeforce banner, amassing a 1-2 record over his last three appearances.
Fioravanti has also fallen on hard times, dropping decisions to Joe Doerksen and Andrei Semenov in his last two bouts. He had previously won five straight, defeating notables Arthur Guseinov and Mike Guerin. Daley should provide a much stiffer test than any of his past opponents over the course of the last couple of years, making this a highly important crossroads bout for the veteran.
Fioravanti has lived and died by his striking prowess, so it may come as no surprise that the consensus opinion here is that he'll be destroyed by the devastating salvos of Daley. It isn't an overconfident prediction by any means either. Daley possesses jaw-dropping power, and his takedown defense, while still technically unsound, is enough to stop Fioravanti's advances if he shall choose to implement that type of gameplan. Daley makes him pay, finishing Fioravanti within the first two rounds. Daley via TKO.
Lightweight (Title Bout): Mike Ricci (6-1) vs. Daron Cruickshank (8-2): Prospects collide when 25-year-old Tristar Gym team member Mike Ricci meets 26-year-old Indiana-native Daron Cruickshank in a lightweight title showdown. Ricci is the more prominent of the two, debuting with Bellator in April of 2010 and getting knocked unconscious by Pat Curran in only three minutes and one second. After a year-long layoff, he returned to the cage at Ringside 10, knocking out Jesse Ronson in quick fashion.
Cruickshank is fairly unknown. He's never vaulted himself up the ladder to relevancy because he's faltered against better competition. Both Luis Palomino and Bobby Green served as his kryptonite in prior engagements, but he's still a young prospect with the opportunity to knock off a heralded rookie in Ricci.
Both men possess stopping power, and that should make this an unpredictable fight on the feet. Ricci possesses a better camp that Cruickshank does, giving him the added bonus of training with high-level fighters who have experience at the apex of the sport. He's also beat solid prospects Jordan Mein and Jesse Ronson, leading me to believe he finds a way to stop Cruickshank. Ricci via TKO.
More after the fold...
Welterweight: Alex Garcia (6-1) vs. Matt MacGrath (10-6): Tristar's Alex Garcia nearly topped the charts on the 2011 World MMA Scouting Report, chiming in at #2 last year on BloodyElbow.com's prospect rankings. A loss to UFC veteran Seth Baczynski in April calmed some of the hype around him, but he remains a promising talent who could make a major impact in the future.
MacGrath's record might indicate this is an easy win for Garcia, but of those six losses on MacGrath's record -- five came against UFC-caliber talent. A victory over Dean Amasinger in April should be a sign that he's a serious challenge for Garcia.
I'm a bit biased since I'm the editor of the 2011 World MMA Scouting Report, but I can remain objective in my analysis. Garcia's brute strength, solid striking, and devastating ground and pound will wear on MacGrath if it doesn't knock him out. Unless MacGrath makes this a war of attrition, I think he succumbs to strikes inside the time limit. Garcia via TKO.
Bantamweight: David Harris (6-1) vs. Michel Gagnon (7-1): Gagnon was ranked #10 on the 2011 World MMA Scouting Report in February, utilizing his background in Greco-Roman wrestling to make a strong bid for a late placement on our list. Most fans have never heard of Harris, but he beat #6 ranked Scouting Report bantamweight Adrian Wooley, once a Canadian national team wrestler, in August. That makes this an intriguing fight as he possesses the same style, a constant takedown game. I'll go with what I know in Gagnon, but Harris could play spoiler. Gagnon via submission.
Rest of the Card
Lightweight: Kevin Morin (5-3) vs. Jason Saggo (5-1)
Featherweight: Brett Portieous (2-2) vs. Tommy Cote (2-2)
Welterweight: Chris Franck (1-1) vs. Francis Charbonneau (1-1)
Bantamweight: Maxime Fecteau (2-2) vs. Keven Tremblay (1-1)
Lightweight: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (0-0) vs. Guy Poulin (1-0)
Heavyweight: Vladimir Starcencov (0-0) vs. Craig Hudson (0-0)