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Mike Maurer Signs MMA Contract By Kelsey Mowatt
Maurer will fight his debut in the light-heavyweight division against Kelowna fighter Darran Apels, whose only MMA experience is a KO victory over Jim Dobson at MFC 8 in September. Maurer, who recently won the Grey Cup Canadian MVP award, for his performance as the games most outstanding Canadian player in the Canadian Football League's Championship game in November, is bringing a lot of mainstream attention to mixed martial arts in Canada with this latest announcement. "I realize it's getting a lot more hype than usual," Maurer told FCF. "I think it's good for MMA, people who usually only watch football will come in and check it out. Hopefully they become big fans. I've been under the spotlight plenty of times in football, so I'm comfortable with it." Despite the growth in popularity for MMA in North America over the last couple of years, Maurer has been finding that there is still a great deal of ignorance and misinformation surrounding the sport. "I've had a lot of questions asking about the safety of the sport, what if I get injured etc," said the 30-year-old Maurer. "I've just been telling the reporters that I have just as much chance getting injured, or even less so, than some of my teammates that will go skiing or play a game of basketball this off-season." The Canadian Football League usually does not prevent players from pursuing other jobs and employment opportunities in the off-season, primarily due to the fact, that most CFL players require another source of income. "It goes unsaid in our league that we already can do what we want in the six-month off-season." Maurer said. "There was a little bit of concern though when I told the Eskimos. I had a good talk with head coach Danny Maciocia, and after talking to him about it for half and hour or so, he was fine with it." Maurer was attempting to secure some amateur MMA fights for this off-season when MFC promoter Mark Pavelich called him first. "I was watching the Grey Cup and the commentators mentioned that Mike was interested in fighting," Pavelich said. "The very next day I got a hold of him, talked to him about his training and everything. I knew there would be a lot of interest with Mike fighting, absolutely, but I also found out through talking to him he knew a lot about MMA. It was good to see a guy with that kind of passion for the sport. He'll come up here and train with Jason Macdonald and Victor Valimaki for awhile, it sounds like he's already got a good base." Maurer wrestled competitively for three years at the University level, and continues to train with the University of Regina wrestling team when he can. Maurer has also been training with Joe Doerksen affiliate Jeff Wiley in Regina, Saskatchewan over the last several off-seasons, where he has been honing his Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing skills. "I don't know a lot about him. "Maurer said in commenting on his upcoming opponent. "I know he's more of a stand-up guy, he's tall, and he has a victory by knockout. I'll probably see how I do with him standing, but I imagine what will happen is I'll take him down and work from there. I like to be in control, I'm pretty aggressive, I guess because of the wrestling I like to work from the top." Maurer is looking forward to the March 10th fight, when he will finally get an opportunity to perform in his other favorite pastime. "It's not just a hobby for me; I've followed MMA for sometime now. I want to be able to pursue fighting full time when my football career is done. I just have to get some fights in now, get some experience; it's time to do it." Currently the card is yet to be finalized, however, Victor Valimaki taking on Travis Galbraith and Kevin Dolan against Kevin Weaver, have already been signed. Jason Macdonald will also be fighting on the card, and promoter Mark Pavelich told FCF that he will likely be fighting a middleweight off The Ultimate Fighter Season 1, most likely Alex Schoenauer. |
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