KO Boxing Promotions Enters MMA Ring

KO Boxing Promotions is expanding into the mixed martial arts ring and will serve up a 370-pound Butterbean as its Christmas offering to fans.

Gigantic pro fighter Eric "Butterbean" Esch is slated as the main event for The Fight Club's first ever card, Dec. 28 at the Shaw Conference Centre.

He'll battle Edmonton resident Nick Penner, a former Canadian Muay Thai kickboxing champ who is four inches taller at six-foot-three, but carries less girth with 265 pounds on his frame.

The showdown alone will carry a purse of upwards of $20,000 according to Glen Carriere, who heads KO Boxing and is making the push into MMA.

He believes the money earmarked for the headline fight alone will dwarf the money available to the entire roster of fighters at their competitors' events.

"We've seen a lot of the athletes fighting for $100 or $200 a fight," said Carriere. "A change we'll make is we'll pay more to help make this a serious sport.

"We're going to be paying more than double what a lot of these (competitors) are paying, so that they can prepare properly as professional athletes."

The company will rely on FightSport MMA for match-making duties and a steady supply of fighters.

So far, they've also scheduled Jonathan Goulet of Victoriaville, Que., and Jason McKay of Halifax for a welterweight bout on the same card. They'll compete for the first ever Canadian MMA title, which is sanctioned by the Canadian Professional Boxing Federation.

That bout is expected to supply the fight of the night, though the MMA debut of popular Edmonton boxer Tony "Bad Boy" Badea should also draw interest. Badea, now 33, lost a Commonwealth title fight in 2001.

"This is about bringing professionalism to this sport," said Luke Harris, a member of FightSport MMA.

"The way to do it is to bring in some of the best fighters in Canada," added Harris.

"This will be a very big card, if not the best event in Canada."

Harris fought recently in a King of the Cage (KOTC) event in Calgary. He won and collected his $200 appearance fee and the $200 prize, but immediately lost $120 to the Calgary Combative Sports Commission.

His opponent would've walked away with less than $100 in his pocket, which was likely applied to the necessary pre-fight medical tests.

He wants to see the sport continue to grow and believes the next step is the better prize money promised by the Fight Club. It will contend with the likes of the KOTC, Maximum Fighting Championship and Hardcore Fighting Championship just in Edmonton alone.

"Bring on all the competition you want and maybe we'll bring the whole level of MMA up in Edmonton," said Carriere.

As for Butterbean, the man of the bald head and exceptionally wide body, he can apparently hold his own. He sports a 10-3-1 record in MMA and is ranked the No. 5 super-heavyweight in the world.

However, two of his losses came against Japanese competitors measuring 155 pounds Genki Sudo and 185 pounds Ikuhisa Minowa. Both put submission holds on him.

Penner provides a much bigger target and is a striker with Muay Thai skills who Harris believes has a good chance at winning.

"He's the guy at the gym you can't even hold the pads for (during striking)," said Harris. "You can put him up against anyone."

Source: www.canada.com