Spring is in the air, the fighters are in the gym, the posters are up, and tickets are on sale. It’s that time of year again when Trail’s best mixed-martial-arts and muay-thai fighters hit the ring for this year’s exciting edition of AM Ford’s Fight Night.
The bell rings for Ford fight night’s “Demolition” Apr. 14 at the Cominco Arena with another intense card on tap.
Organizers are planning 15 tilts in total, with four main events and three titles up for grabs highlighting this year’s fights.
“It’s the first time we’ve put three titles on the line, so it’s going to be awesome, we’ve got some really good fights,” said organizer and Pride Gym trainer Glen Kalesniko.
Brad Causey, 9 and 1, goes toe-to-toe with Jesse Ronson, Stefan Fricta fights Jason Gorney, number-three ranked world amateur fighter Morgan River Jones of Trail takes on undefeated Texan, Jade Dehaas and the always exciting Jordan Knippelberg moves up a weight class to fight veteran Brandon McArthur.
Knippelberg moves up from lightweight and will fight in the welterweight class for the first time in his 12-fight career.
“I put on about 20 pounds, so I’m a lot heavier and a lot stronger,” said Knippelbert. “155 was getting way too hard to make so I moved up to 170 on this fight.”
His opponent is a veteran of 23 fights, and has fought the likes of Causey, Jesse Bongfeldt and Cody McKenzie.
“He’s pretty tough . . . but I feel pretty confident in my hands and we’ll see what happens. You never really know until you get in there but I’m really, really excited. It’s going to be a good test for 170, a good fight for my 170 debut,” added Knippelberg.
Causey is coming off a successful Cage Rage 5 outing, as is Jones, who remains undefeated at 5 and 0 and moved up in the World Amateur Rankings from fourth to third spot.
“It’s going to be a great fight card, our top four will be awesome fights, some real high level with River being where she’s ranked and her opponent is highly ranked too,” said Kalesniko.
“And of course Brad, it’s going to be awesome, and with the three titles, it should make it a lot more interesting.”
Ringside tickets go for $125, VIP tickets $80, $50 for floor seats and $30 general seating or pick them up at the door for $10 more.
Tickets are on sale Pride Gym, Performance Fitness, AM Ford, Wolf’s Den, Gericks Cycle, Element, Fruitvale Pharmacy and Tribute Board Shop.