Weekend Rundown: McKee Wins ‘Retirement’ Match

Antonio McKee answered his critics.

The Maximum Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder stopped Luciano Azevedo on a first-round technical knockout and retained his 155-pound crown at MFC 26 “Retribution” on Friday at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The end came 3:11 into round one.

Long chided for a willingness to wrestle his way to decisions, McKee vowed to retire if he failed to finish Azevedo -- the only man to defeat current World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Jose Aldo. He had no problem doing so.

McKee, 40, scored with an early slam and went to work with ground-and-pound. Two elbow strikes left Azevedo with a gash on his forehead and halted the match a little more than three minutes into the first round. McKee, on an 11-fight winning streak, has not tasted defeat since he dropped a decision to UFC veteran Karo Parisyan in February 2003.

“Whoever the MFC puts in front of me next, I’ll whoop their ass, too,” McKee said. “I guess it’s not true. You can teach an old dog new tricks.”

Meanwhile, King of the Cage veteran Douglas Lima stunned top Canadian welterweight prospect Ryan Ford, as he submitted him with a second-round armbar. Ford met his demise 48 seconds into round two.

Based at an American Top Team affiliate in Atlanta, Lima delivered a takedown less than a minute into the second period and transitioned to the armbar for the finish. The defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak for the 28-year-old Ford, who had not been submitted in more than two years.

Other winners at MFC 26 were “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 semi-finalist Jesse Taylor (unanimous decision against Tom Watson), Dwayne Lewis (first-round TKO over Mike Nickels), UFC castaway David Heath (second-round knockout against Solomon Hutcherson) and surging Canadian lightweight Curtis Demarce (second-round submission over Tyson Steele).

‘Kid Hercules’ Stops Two-Fight Skid

UFC veteran Jesse Forbes put the brakes on a two-fight losing streak, as he stopped Anthony Smith on second-round punches in the Crowbar MMA “Fall Brawl” headliner on Saturday at the Urban Plains Center in Fargo, N.D. The end came 1:28 into round two.

Forbes, 0-3 inside the UFC’s Octagon, entered the match on the heels of back-to-back defeats to Nick Catone and Ryan Jensen. The 25-year-old was a semi-finalist on Season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series and now trains out of the Lions Den Scottsdale camp in Arizona.

Meanwhile, North Dakota-based heavyweight Zach Thumb won for the fourth time in five professional appearances, as he submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 cast member Zak Jensen with a kimura 88 seconds into round one. The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Jensen has lost three fights in a row.

Other winners at “Fall Brawl” included the unbeaten Pablo Garza (third-round TKO over Aaron Steele), Wand Fight Team product Michele Gutierrez (third-round TKO against Tammie Schneider) and Ring of Fire veteran Matt Delanoit (first-round submission over Jos Eichelberger). Garza will compete on the forthcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Desilets Steamrolls Valimaki at TFC 11

The Fight Club light heavyweight champion Martin Desilets needed a little more than half a minute to finish Victor Valimaki and retain his title in The Fight Club 11 “Full Force” main event on Friday at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. The rematch was over in just 37 seconds.

Desilets buried Valimaki -- whom he defeated by first-round technical knockout in their first encounter six months ago -- with a quick combination and forced the stoppage. A training partner of UFC veteran Jonathan Goulet, Desilets has won four consecutive fights, all of them first-round finishes.

Other winners at TFC 11 included Mitch Clarke (second-round submission against Josh Machan), Ryan McGillivray (second-round submission over Markhaile Wedderburn) and Ryan Machan (first-round TKO against James McCutcheon).

Quick Hits

Adriano Martins avenged a 2008 technical knockout defeat to Ronys Torres, as he earned a unanimous decision against the UFC veteran under the Amazon Show Combat banner on Thursday at the Amadeu Teixeira Arena in Manaus, Brazil. Pruned from the UFC roster following losses to Melvin Guillard and Jacob Volkmann, Torres has lost three in a row … Pride Fighting Championships veteran Luiz Azeredo submitted Brandon Adamson with a first-round rear-naked choke in the Urban Conflict Championships 3 “Renegades” main event on Friday at the National Guard Armory in Jersey City, N.J. Adamson waved the white flag 3:06 into round one … The well-traveled Gustavo Machado won for the eighth time in nine appearances, as he put away Matias Ezequiel Lemon with second-round punches at Fatality Arena 2 on Saturday at the Canto do Rio Sports Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Machado finished it 1:33 into round two … Ring of Combat veteran Roger Carroll submitted Aaron “Tex” Johnson with a first-round rear-naked choke in the Wild Bill’s Fight Night 30 headliner on Saturday at Wild Bill’s Atlanta in Duluth, Ga. Carroll has won three of his last four fights, losing only to unbeaten middleweight prospect Uriah Hall … Dustin Neace defeated Cory Mahon by third-round technical knockout to win the Legends of Fighting featherweight championship at Legends of Fighting 41 “Damage Incorporated” on Friday at the 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis. The end came 4:54 into round three … “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 semi-finalist Cameron Dollar struck Brett Roller into submission under the Bring the Thunder MMA banner on Saturday in Pueblo, Colo. Roller tapped out to strikes 2:17 into the first round, as Dollar posted his third consecutive victory.