While Bellator occupies Eastern Canada on Friday night, Maximum Fighting Championships puts on a solid card for those out West to enjoy. As always, the event will air live on AXS TV and fans will have the chance to see a pair of title fights to close out the event. In the main event, Tom Gallicchio first hopes to make weight, and then defeat Kurt Southern for the second consecutive time in order to capture the vacant MFC lightweight title. Sam Alvey defends his middleweight title against knockout artist Wes Swofford in the co-main event, while a bantamweight title shot is on the line as Kevin Croom goes head-to-head with Jesse Brock. Injuries and cancelled fights have been a theme thus far in 2014, and MFC isn’t immune as Anthony Birchak was originally scheduled to defend his bantamweight crown, but was forced out of the bout. Aside from the title fights, this MFC card features some intriguing undercard encounters as well. UFC veteran Victor Valimaki makes his first appearance since February 2012, Andrew McInnes and Jonatas Novaes should put on an entertaining grappling match, and prospect Marcus Edwards looks for his third win in a row. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for MFC 40 today at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– MAIN CARD (AXS TV, 9pm ET) MFC Lightweight Title Kurt Southern -265 Tom Gallicchio +185 MFC Middleweight Title Sam Alvey -350 Wes Swofford +250 Kevin Croom -380 Jesse Brock +260 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: I actually quite like this card. The Southern/Gallicchio rematch is interesting (as is the line), Alvey has been putting on some solid fights lately (aside from his last one against Jason South) and Swofford should oblige, and some of the prospects on the early part of the card should provide fun performances. The majority of the first Kurt Southern/Tom Gallicchio fight was spent with Southern backing Gallicchio up and landing the better strikes on the feet. Unfortunately for Southern, the remainder of the fight was spent with Gallicchio getting takedowns, advancing position, and winning by submission. In this fight I would expect Southern — normally a solid wrestler — to be a bit more prepared for Gallicchio’s takedowns and replicate his success on the feet from the first bout. However, Gallicchio does have a solid sub game and all of Southern’s five losses have come by submission, so it only takes one takedown for him to blow this fight. Southern closed at -390 last time, which was shocking, and I expect that price to be cut in half by the time this line closes. Sam Alvey should have a bit easier time defending his belt than either main eventer has of capturing theirs. Wes Swofford is dangerous on the feet, but offers nothing other than that. Alvey has never been knocked out in his career and he has faced fighters who I think present more of a threat than Swofford. Alvey also has a big cardio edge here, and even if the early rounds are competitive he should take the championship rounds. He’s one of the few regional fighters who is consistent in his performances and could be worth parlaying. When Kevin Croom and Jesse Brock get in the cage, people won’t believe they’re in the same weight class, and that will probably play a big factor in how this bout plays out. Croom will likely use his size to get this fight to the mat and control. Brock has only ever been submitted by Donald Cerrone, and Croom’s submission game isn’t on that level, so I’m expecting a decision for the Missouri native.
