A touted wrestler with amazing athleticism, even at the ripe-old-age of 40, McKee was a well respected veteran that had started to turn the corner of a “boring”, “predictable”, lay-and-pray style of fighting, and rattled off back-to-back finishes before his inception into the worlds biggest mixed martial arts promotion.

So what did Antonio do in his organizational debut? Everything that the UFC was worried that he would do, stall the clock and try to squeeze out a decision based on indecisiveness and in-ring incompetence. For his efforts, after losing a split-decision to Jacob Volkmann at UFC 125, he was released by the organization following his one-fight stint, however has returned to his familiar stomping grounds of the Maximum Fighting Championships.

The MFC have recently announced that their champion, McKee who apparently didn’t vacate the title since signing with the Zuffa branded company earlier last year, will now defend his lightweight strap in his return fight with the organization when he takes on resurgent veteran Drew Fickett.

Fickett, a fellow UFC veteran who went 4-3 in the organization with a submission victory over Josh Koscheck during that stretch, has recently dropped down to the lightweight division after nearly his entire career has been spent in the 170-pound weight class. Since his drop, he has looked phenomenal in recent performances, specifically in his most recent participation in Shine Fights inaugural lightweight grand prix tournament where Fickett, who had previously lost 5 of his last 7 fights, came back strong submitting all three of his opponents in the tournament: PRIDE veteran Charles Bennett, Dennis Bermudez, and former WEC contender Carlo Prater.

A win for Drew would be especially detrimental in his continued career resurgence, where his life has taken a turn for the better after reportedly battling drug and alcohol problems for the past couple of years before sobering up and reinventing himself as a 155-pound fighter.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of the new lightweight fight? Will McKee’s stifling wrestling style be too much for Drew to handle, or will the submission specialist be able to pull another rabbit out of his bag of tricks? Sound off in the comment section below.

When it all comes down to it, a card should be judged on the strength of its fights and not the problems it had going into the fights. What we got was an eight-man tournament filled with emotion, intensity, crazy happenings and shocking victories. It all started when Drew Fickett fought the very-tough Charles Bennett, scoring a dominating guillotine choke after an intense 3:34 of action. Then Shannon Gugerty fought (and lost to) Dennis Bermudez in an intense two-round war that at one point saw both men go careening out of the ring and onto the announcer’s table.

Not to be outdone, James Warfield and Kyle Baker fought three tough rounds that saw both men score significant shots, with Baker winning the fight despite having a noticeable gash on his head. The highlight of the night had to have been Warfield attempting a flying knee only to go sailing out of the ring. In another tough three-round war, Rich Crunkilton defeated Carlo Prater via Split Decision in a fight where (you guessed it) both men took a tumble through the ropes and landed outside of the ring.

In the first semi-final bout, Drew Fickett impressed once again. After goading Dennis Bermudez into a ground war, Fickett quickly secured back mount and locked in a Rear Naked Choke at 2:02 of round one. The second semi-final round featured Carlo Prater taking on Charlie Brown. The two men scheduled to fight in the semi-finals, Rich Crunkilton and Kyle Baker, both had to pull out due to injury. Brown had won a reserve bout earlier in the evening, but it would be Prater pulling off the surprise comeback, winning it two rounds to none and advancing to the finals in a Cinderella story that would ultimately and unfortunately be cut short.

Drew Fickett made it three-for-three in the finals of the Lightweight Grand Prix, immediately taking down and going to work on an obviously-drained Carlo Prater. After securing full mount, Fickett worked toward another Rear Naked Choke, and finally sunk it in at 2:02 of round one. An overjoyed Fickett celebrated in the ring and complimented his opponent, and ended the night by promising that he was “back”. A teary-eyed Carlo Prater congratulated Fickett and seemed eager to return to Shine Fights despite the tough loss.

So there you have it: I actually really enjoyed this show. It was a crazy night of fights, and while it was by no means the best MMA event I’ve seen this year, I think it warrants “sleeper hit” status. Shine Fights still isn’t off the hook in my book, but I’ll give credit where credit is due: they put on a very solid event. And as I’ve said previously, I’ve got nothing negative to say about the fighters themselves. In fact, I’ll go one step farther: all these guys need a whole lot more praise than I could ever provide for going out there and competing in such a tough tournament format and giving us some really good fights.

I don’t know where Shine Fights goes from here, to tell you the truth. This event proved that they can book a good show. It proves that they can make the most out of the talent they have available. It remains to be seen if they can overcome the avalanche of opposition they seem to be facing at every turn. But if this is the last we’ll ever hear of Shine Fights…they certainly went out with a bang. At the very least, you’ve got to give them that.

And what about you, fans and friends? What did you think about the Lightweight Grand Prix? And where does Shine Fights go from here?

Courtesy of MMAMania.com, here’s how the fights break down. A former Strikeforce and UFC veteran, and a veteran of fifty professional MMA fights, Drew Fickett will take on the notorious Charles Bennett, who is also a world-traveled MMA veteran but is far more famous (more like infamous) for his outlandish behavior that has gotten him in trouble with the law several times throughout his career. This was the first fight announced for the Lightweight Grand Prix.

The next fight also sees a battle of veterans, as Rich Crunkilton takes on Carlo Prater. Crunkilton is best known as a WEC fighter, and at one point challenged for the WEC Lightweight Championship. He’ll be facing a submission specialist that has also spent time in the WEC’s blue cage, although Prater wasn’t nearly as successful in the #1 promotion for the lighter weight classes, having gone 0-2 in the WEC with both losses by stoppage.

The third fight sees James Warfield taking on Kyle Baker. Warfield is a seven-year veteran that has won every single one of his fights by stoppage, while Baker made his debut in 2007 and has six TKO’s to his credit. Neither man has ever been to the main stage in their careers, but both are known to finish their fights in dramatic fashion.

The final opening-round attraction will be a match-up pitting Shannon Gugerty against Dennis Bermudez. A five-fight UFC veteran, Gugerty was last seen losing via submission to Clay Guida of all people. Gugerty was 10-2 before stepping inside the Octagon, but ended up going 2-3 in the world’s premiere MMA organization. He’ll likely have a good test in front of him, as Bermudez is an undefeated 6-0 MMA newcomer, with four wins via stoppage.

All in all, I think this is actually a pretty solid-looking tournament. It’s not the best Lightweight talent in the world, but there are a few good names sprinkled here and there, and even if this is yet another case of “slim pickings” in a world where all the best Lightweight talent is on lockdown in the larger promotions, I think this tournament could give us some very fun fights.

In regards to the fighters themselves, I think that it’ll be one of the veterans that will most likely win this Lightweight Grand Prix. I think “Krazy Horse” is legitimately insane as a person and incredibly hit-or-miss as a professional Mixed Martial Artists, but he always entertains and, love him or hate him, you can’t say that about too many fighters nowadays. Shannon Gugerty has a lot of experience when it comes to facing real best-in-the-world competition, so I think he has the potential to go far as well. Drew Fickett may have just barely broken a five-fight losing streak, but his fifty pro MMA fights give him a wealth of experience, and he’s still won far more fights than he’s lost.

So there you have it, fans and friends: against all odds, it seems as if this Lightweight Grand Prix will still go underway. And even if it doesn’t turn out to be all that successful (which is highly likely), it will at least be a fun night of fights.

And what about you, fans and friends? Even with all the drama, do you still plan to see this event? And what do you think of the opening-round fights?

In an effort to appeal to it’s fan’s, the upstart promotion held a ballot for fans to have control of which first round match ups they would like to see in the upcoming Lightweight Grand Prix tournament.

The 8-man tournament will take place all in one night at the Patriot Center, in Fairfax, Virginia. Other tournament participants include former WEC lightweight contender Richard Crunkilton, former WEC title challenger Carlo Prater, well traveled veteran James Warfield, UFC veteran Marcus Aurelio (who owns a submission victory over former Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi), and Hector Munoz–no relation to Mark Munoz.

Undefeated lightweight Josh Shockley was to participate in the Grand Prix as well, completing the 8-man tournament, however fell out due to injury. Shine Fight’s has since replaced Josh with Strikeforce veteran and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Conor Heun. News came from the promotions official twitter account.

Fickett ventures into his first time at lightweight come tournament time, and after a long stretch of outlandish acts–such as showing drunk to weigh-ins in a proposed match up with THE proverbial journeyman, Shannon Ritch (Ritch is reported to hold over 100 fights under his belt as a professional).

Bennett is no stranger to controversy as well. The Pride/KOTC veteran has been arrested on countless occasions, and boasts a supposed locker room knockout over former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva–though you’ll hear differently on the incident from “The Axe Murderer”.

The first two rounds of the Grand Prix will consist of two five-minute rounds. Should the fight result in a draw after the first two rounds, a sudden victory third round will occur, with a three-minute allowance instead of the usual five, due to the tournament format.

The finale, which again will culminate at the end of the night, will consist of three five-minute rounds–the norm for most MMA competition. Conceivably, a fighter can compete in as much as 41 minutes of action on September 10, should the winner go to a decision in the course of three fights overall.

So, my MMA peeps, anyone else excited for Shine Fights? Albeit, their still going through their money struggles, a Grand Prix of this magnitude is reminiscent of the old Pride days, where some of the most electrifying moments in the sports history has culminated. While none of the competitors here don top-10 status, all prove to be formidable fighters and will all deliver come Sept. 10.

“Drew Fickettwill never fight in the MFC,” Pavelich said.

Fickett was contracted to fight Ford in Edmonton 25 July, but agreed on a day’s notice to fill-in for “Diesel” Joe Riggs (27-10) Friday in San Jose after Riggs was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission.

Pavelich said, “We were shocked to learn Drew agreed on one day’s notice to fight as a middleweight in another organization’s event this past Friday.  When I contacted this other organization, its owner immediately cancelled Drew’s fight when informed that he was under contract to fight on the MFC show and as part of Mr. Fickett’s contract he was not allowed to take another fight up to five weeks before the MFC show.”

Fickett told MMA Rated that, “Some jerk-off wanna-be like promoter, some tough guy, like calls us and he’s like pullin’ the frickin’ contract card on me.  I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t care.  I just want to fight.’  This guy’s like, ‘Oh, you M-F this, you M-F that, frickin’ son-of-a-bitch.  I’m going to fly down there and I’m going to kill you.’”

Fickett published online a profanity-laced voicemail that Pavelich – said jerk-off wanna-be like promoter – left for Fickett’s manager.

“I admit to being very upset, angry and frustrated not only by Drew’s action but also by not being able to reach his manager and the tone of that voicemail reflected my feelings,” Pavelich explained.  “For Drew to post the private voice mail – which was not left on his phone – was just ridiculous and petty.”

The soap opera mirrors an incident earlier this month when Fickett postponed an EliteXC title fight versus Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked welterweight Jake Shields(20-4-1) because of a knee injury, only to fight “Steuss Killer” Jeff Horlacher (5-12) in Arizona 7 June while on the DL.

Fickett accused Shields of further delaying the fight until August, forcing Fickett to take “a very low risk fight” for a $2,500 pay day.

“Before I fought, I even e-mailed [Shields] to let him know, ‘Hey, man, I’ve got to take this low risk fight to make some money,’” Fickett explained.  “So, now all the sudden [Shields is] better, and he’s not injured until August, and he’s fighting Nick Thompson for his little fake-ass little belt.”

Fickett was replaced by EliteXC with ninth-ranked “Goat” Nick Thompson (36-9-1).

“We now completely understand why that despite his excellent record so many organizations will not work with Drew and we have a pretty clear indication why he has been banned by the UFC,” Pavelich pointed out.

Fickett is a fighter, in personality and profession, but his personality has got in the way of his profession twice recently, amounting to a single $2,500 purse and a reputation that will turn promoters away.

For Ford, Fighters.com’s original Fighter of the Month, Pavelich said, “I will also move immediately into replacing Drew Fickett with a top-level fighter to contend for the MFC welterweight title.”

MFC 17 features a title fight between Fighters.com’s original Fighter of the Month “The Real Deal” Ryan Ford (6-0) and UFC veteran Drew Fickett (34-5). The welterweight title is currently vacant.

Edmonton-native Ford will look to extend his win streak. He submitted his last opponent CJ Fernandes (14-7-3) with a rear naked choke in 2:32 at MFC 16.

Fickett is also riding a win streak. He has five consecutive victories, four of them by submission.

Brad Zazulak (3-0) is also on the card, to fight Ron Faircloth (28-14). Zazulak in his last fight TKO’d veteran “Mr. International” Shonie Carter (41-17-7).

Many had no doubt that St. Pierre was the best at 170-pounds, but it was important for St. Pierre to win the top spot with revenge on “The Terror” Matt Serra (9-5) at UFC 83.

The truth is that Serra looked no worse in defeat to “Rush” than future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes (42-6) did in December.  Serra drops to the fourth spot.

Hughes and Serra have a date to dance before the end of ’08, but Hughes has been drafted into the UFC 85 main event to replace an injured “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-5) on the 02 Arena marquee.

In London, Hughes faces sixth-ranked pup “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (14-3), who’s on a St. Pierre-ish steamroll through the division with stoppages of “The Heat” Karo Parisyan (18-5), “Lights Out” Chris Lytle (25-15-5), Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5), and Tony DeSouza (10-4).

“Kos” Josh Koscheck (10-2), who moves up a spot on Serra’s stoppage loss, will get a swing at Lytle in July, a true test of the third-ranked wrestlers grit and chin.

Jake Shields (20-4-1) has had his EliteXC title fight with Drew Fickett (33-5) rescheduled again, this time to July.  Shields loses ground in the rankings as his 2006 unanimous decision over WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit (22-4) falls from his two-year record.

In June, “The Goat” Nick Thompson (35-9-1) returns to Sengoku versus an as-yet unnamed opponent, but told Fighters.com, “For the right amount of pay, I’ll fight Fedor or Jesus himself.”

At the end of May in Vegas, Japan’s “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2) will debut in the UFC versus “War Machine Jon Koppenhaver (5-1) after an impressive run in his homeland.

“Zenko” debuts on Fighters.com’s top ten after “The Heat” Karo Parisyan (18-5) drops off because his two-year record lost a 2006 stoppage of Thompson.

May Welterweight Rankings

1. “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (16-2)

Since “Terror” struck at UFC 69, “Rush” has had to scrape pieces of Koscheck, Hughes, and Serra off the bottom of his feet on his steamroll back to the UFC belt many believe the 27-year old will wear for a generation.

2. Jon Fitch (17-2)

While louder fighters have claimed title contendership, Fitch has quietly earned it with a stoppage of Alves and decision over Sanchez, plus UDs over tough Chris Wilson and Kuniyoshi Hironaka.  The wrestler is probably next in line for a UFC title shot.

3. “Kos” Josh Koscheck (10-2)

After revenge over Sanchez, Koscheck was overwhelmed with a St. Pierre bouncing back from a loss. Like St. Pierre, “Kos” has all the physical tools to be a champion and absorbs new skills like a sponge. Time and continued top competition will tell.

4. “The Terror” Matt Serra (9-5)

After knocking out the 170-pound division’s heir apparent, St. Pierre, Serra was outclassed in their April ’08 rematch.  However, Serra looked no worse in defeat than St. Pierre’s two previous victims, Koscheck and Hughes.

5. Matt Hughes (42-6)

Since getting KO’d by St. Pierre for the first time since ’01, Hughes hasn’t fought the same in a throw-away decision over Christ Lytle and another stoppage by St. Pierre. One wonders if he’s getting the same quality of training since leaving MFS.

6. “Pitbull” Thiago Alves (14-3)

Alves has dealt 3 big stoppages to Karo Parisyan, Chris Lytle, and Kuniyoshi  Hironaka to plant himself firmly in the welterweight top ten, and only an ’06 TKO to Fitch keeps him from Fighters.com’s top five. This juggernaut will run into Hughes in June.

7. “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (18-2)

All the hype can’t replace a loss in the Octagon, and, in Sanchez’s case, two losses to Fitch and Koschek.  An ’06 decision over Karo Parisyan in one of the fights of that year proves he has the talent, but does he have the focus?

8. Jake Shields (20-4-1)

Shields may be the world’s top welterweight, but a lack of competition outside the UFC keeps him from breaking through.  Still, he’s stopped all opponents in the last two years except in a unanimous decision over WEC champ Carlos Condit.

9. “The Goat” Nick Thompson (35-9-1)

“The Goat” has bucked eleven straight challengers, ten by stoppage, since leaving the UFC after a TKO by Parisyan; and, though no top tenners, it’s a list including Chris Wilson, Ansar Chalangov, Eddie Alvarez, and Fabricio Monteiro, all tough welterweights.

10. “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2)

“Zenko” debuts in the UFC versus Jon Koppenhaver in May without an “L” in two years, all wins by stoppage. With overseas wins over Katsuya Inoue and Akira Kikuchi, Yoshida hopes to fare better than fellow Nipponese Kuniyoshi Hironaka.

Fickett injured his knee while training for the fight.

The fight was originally scheduled for 29 March in San Jose; but, Shields bailed on that date with an injured back.

Fickett remained on the card and tapped “The Korean Icepick” Jae Suk Lim (9-4) in a guillotine choke in 1:14.

The Shields/Fickett match-up is likely to be rescheduled to 26 July’s CBS broadcast event.

Fickett was signed to challenge Shields on tonight’s Showtime-televised card; but, Shields injured his back heaving a sledgehammer during training.

Fickett drew Lim after Shields’s partner, Diaz, was denied a license by the California State Athletic Board.

The title fight has reportedly been rescheduled for 14 June in Hawaii.

The absence of Shields and Diaz, popular Nor Cal warriors,  agitated thousands of hungry fight aficionados at HP Pavilion.

They packed in to feast on a middleweight mixed martial arts title fight between Strikeforce champion Frank Shamrock (24-9-1) and Cung Le (6-0), heroes from opposite sides of the Capital of Silicon Valley.

What they were fed was two-and-a-half rounds of brisk San Shou sparring and two-and-a-half minutes of MMA.

Le remained undefeated when Shamrock quit with a broken arm after the third round, relinquishing his belt to the Vietnamese kung-fu stylist.

 ”He kept blocking,” Le explained,  ”so I kept aiming at that part of the wrist.”

With local street cred on the table, both fighters answered the opening bell cautious of the other’s prowess.

Shamrock circled in a crouching stance while pumping a lazy jab in Le’s general direction, while Le waltzed warily from a safe range.

When the hammer did fall, beginning with a Shamrock kick to Le’s midsection countered by a Le left hand, it was in single-strike spurts followed by congratulatory high fives.

They grinned at each one-off as the crowd chanted “Boring!”

Shamrock closed round one with a knee busting Le’s lip, but lost the round in range of Le’s snapping kicks.

Le opened the second frame knocking Shamrock’s mouthpiece out with a left high kick.

As Le learned Shamrock wasn’t interested in taking him to the mat, he became more comfortable launching left and right middle kicks to setup punches to Shamrock’s head, catching Shamrock with a right hook towards the round’s final bell.

Le topped Shamrock in round two as well.

Midway through the third round, a fight broke out and the champion and challenger traded flurries against the cage.

A hard left kick to Shamrock’s core backed the champion into the fence and Le followed with a spinning back fist as Shamrock advanced.

Shamrock walked through the worst of Le’s attack and pounded punches in a flurry marked by a right fist that staggered Le against the cage.

Le countered with another lightning strike body kick followed by a flurry of hooks as the bell signaled an end to the round and, as Shamrock chose not to answer the fourth round’s bell, the end of the fight.

“This is a dream come true,” Le said after the fight.  “Coming from Vietnam under gunfire and now world champion, I love it.”

In undercard action, top ten lightweight “El Niño” Gilbert Melendez (14-1) shook-up and opened the anticipated can of whoop ass on last minute opponent Gabe Lemley (11-7).

Referee Herb Dean showed mercy on the seemingly awe-struck Iowan and called an end to Melendez’s G’n'P onslaught at 2:18 of the second round.

Melendez returned like a typhoon from a loss to “The Endless Warrior” Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1) in Japan, the first of “El Niño’s” career.

Strikeforce newbie Wayne Cole (11-6) surprised “MAK” Mike Kyle (9-7-1) in an armbar 45-seconds after the opening bell.

Kyle, win-less since 2005, was rusty from a two-year absence from professional competition.

In a sloppy, but entertaining 4:45 minute punch-up, middleweight Joey Villasenor (25-6) of Jackson’s Submission Fighting popped late replacement Ryan Jensen (11-4) with a right hand, knocking the former UFC fighter out in his third consecutive first-round stoppage loss (all against tough competition).

Team Oyama welterweight Tiki Ghosn‘s (10-7) takedown defence kept his scrap with young Luke Stewart (5-1) where Ghosn could pick at Stewart’s stand-up.  The veteran nickle-and-dimed his way to a unanimous decision of 29-28 twice and 30-27.

Stewart picks up his first “L” after five stoppage wins, all in Strikeforce affairs.

Team USA grappler Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) broke bantamweight Strikeforce regular Anthony Figueroa’s (4-2) two-fight win streak by sweeping from half guard into a guillotine choke, enticing the tap at 1:27 of the first frame.

Undefeated Jesse Jones (2-0) exposed Jesse Gillespie (1-1), transitioning in back control from a rear naked choke to G’n'P for a 35-second TKO.

Lightweight Billy Evangelista (6-0) knocked out Marlon Sims (3-3) at :39 of the third round to end the night.

The fight was scheduled for 29 March in San Jose.

According to the report, Shields has suffered an undisclosed injury.

There was no indication of a replacement to fight Fickett on the card.