Pavelich said, “This is going to be a phenomenal title fight.  It’s the combination of Ford’s athleticism and deep-seeded aggression against Jordan’s crafty skills and instincts.”

Ford, Fighters.com’s original Fighter of the Month, won six straight in just over a year, most recently submitting CJ Fernandes (14-7-3) with a first-round rear naked choke in May.

Jordan has won his last four fights, including a unanimous decision over Ryan Williams (5-3) at Adrenaline MMA’s debut event last month.

Jordan replaces Drew Fickett (34-5), who was pulled from the card for breaching his contract.

After a paced and cautious first round for both fighters, “Bartimus” began working kicks in the second, first a solid body shot, then snapping at Cox’s leg.

During the final flurried exchange, Palaszewski wheeled a wide left hook to Cox’s body, backing Cox into range for the right high kick finisher.

Palaszewski literally lept out of the cage upon the stoppage “W”.

In the main event, Michael Russow (10-1) manhandled late replacement for “Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-8),  Jason Guida (17-16), tapping Clay’s big brother in a standing neck crank against the fence at 2:13 of round one.

“I hope he’s OK,” Russow related after the stoppage.

Hometown hero Rory Markham (14-4) said, “Let’s get serious.  That guy just jumped over me!” after “Silent Assassin” Jay Ellis (5-19) launched a flying knee at the opening bell, indeed, flying right over Markham.  “So, I decided I was going to keep it on the ground.”

Markham pounced on Ellis; but, Ellis swept to Markham’s guard, which Markham climbed into a triangle tapout at 57 seconds of round one.

H.I.T. Squad lightweight Clay French (16-2) pulled rank on “Sergeant” Jameel Massouh in a second round rear naked choke submission at 3:18.

French took Massouh to the mat at will and, when French began posturing out of the rubber guard Massouh originally used to neutralize French’s G’n'P, he bullied Massouh to his stomach and sank the choke.

Middleweight Terry Martin (17-4) took three kicks to the groin before the referee disqualified Daiju Takase (7-12-1).

“The last one hit me right in the cup,” Martin admitted after the fight, “but…damn!”

Takase slammed his mouthpiece to the mat at the second round disqualification.

“Meat Cleaver” Forrest Petz (14-5) survived a first round knockdown by “Mandingo” Brian Gassaway (28-18-2) to win a unanimous decision by 29-28 three times in his first post-UFC fight.

“Mandingo” floored Petz with left in the first, but was unable to finish before the end of the round.

Gassaway was gassed in the second and third rounds and Petz began landing more in the sporadic flurries and dominating the mat with G’n'P.

Team Curran welterweight Mike Stumpf (10-1) TKO’d Dom O’Grady (4-1) at 3:53 of round one.

O’Grady controlled round one with technical kickboxing, keeping Stumpf at distance with a jab and snapping leg kick.

Two minutes into the second round, Stumpf lunged forward in a flurry, dropping O’Grady with a left hook.

O’Grady turtled up beneath Stumpf; but, Stumpf took O’Grady’s back and rolled him over.  O’Grady slickly flipped and twisted into Stumpf’s guard, quickly closing to a leg triangle as O’Grady yanked free.

O’Grady dropped again amidst another flurry from Stumpf.  This time, Stumpf pounced and windmilled punches for the referee stoppage.

Light heavyweight Aaron Rosa (11-2) obliterated “Killing Fields” Ron Fields (24-26-1) with a big right at :34 of round two for a KO victory.

Rosa and Fields had wrestled most of round one; and, but for the cage stopping Fields’s momentum, Fields nearly locked in an armbar on Rosa.

Kentucky boy Joe Jordan (42-12-2) schooled the kid, lightweight Ryan Williams (5-3), for a unanimous decision.

Jordan set-up downstairs with heavy body shots, then climbed to Williams’s head, leaving a welt on the left side of Williams’s face and a cut on the right.

Whether due to the body shots or bright lights, Williams was lethargic and never really got off in the fight.

Featherweight Joe Pearson (26-10-1) dispensed with the stand-up toot sweet after getting tagged with a John Hosman (7-4-1) southpaw overhand right.

Pearson clinched up, tripped Hosman into his guard, and wriggled under Hosman’s G’n'P before catching the less experienced fighter in a leg triangle in the first round.

Light heavyweight Louis Taylor (3-0) was able to bookend a gassed out second round with a first round of counter punching and third round of G’n'P to win a unanimous decision over Adam Maciejewski (6-5) by scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27.

Maciejewski left the first round with cuts under both eyes from Taylor’s quick, if wild, hands.

Taylor wore himself out tagging Maciejewski and took round two off before tripping Maciejewski in round three and piecing together enough looping shots to win the decision.

Fighters.com scored the fight 29-28 for Taylor.

The most damaging strike landed to Hector Urbina(12-4) by David Kleczkowski (5-4) was a first round thumb to the eye.

That just pissed off Urbina, who tagged the herky-jerky Kleczkowski with a jab, left cross, well…you name it.

No one will question Kleczkowski’s granite chin though.

He survived to 1:19 of the second round before the referee ended the beating with Urbina pounding Kleczkowski against the mat.

Heavyweight “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-10) barrelled into center cage to begin his fight with “Herc” Antoine Hayes (7-5), tagging “Herc” with straight rights.

Then, the “Truck” down shifted to Hayes’s pace; and, “Herc” secured a standing North/South, kneeing Schall relentlessly in the second round.

By the third round, Schall was out of gas and Hayes ground’n'pounded to a UD by 29-28 three times.

Welterweight Tom Belt (4-1) mounted and pounded out Marcus Levesseur (5-2) at 4:10 of round one.

Late main event replacement for “Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-8), former middleweight Jason Guida (17-5) weighed-in at 241.5 pounds, and it didn’t look like he found heavyweight girth in the gym (unless “The Gym” is the name of a pizzeria in Little Italy.)

Guida’s opponent, Chicago police officer Michael Russow (9-1) looked svelte at 243.2 pounds.

Middleweights Terry Martin (16-4) and bleached blond Daiju Takase (7-11-1) made their weight class at 185.2 and 185.8 pounds repectively.

IFL veteran Rory Markham‘s (13-4) opponent, Jay Ellis (5-18), will give up nearly twenty pounds to Markham in their 180-pound catch weight match-up.  Markham weighed 180.1 pounds and Ellis weighed 161.6 pounds.

Fighters.com’s third-ranked heavyweight “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) attended with his girlfriend, who didn’t weigh-in but stood about 5’1″ next to 6’7″ Sylvia, and chided “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-9), shouting, “Meat Trick!” as Schall weighed in.

Other weights from Friday:

“Meat Cleaver” Forrest Petz (13-5) 173.4 pounds versus Brian Gassaway (28-17-2) 174.1 pounds.

Tom Belt (3-1) 170.3 pounds versus Marcus Levesser (5-1), who did not weight in.
 
Jeffrey Cox (9-5) 154.4 pounds versus “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski (28-11) 155.7 pounds.
 
“Sergeant” Jemeel Massouh (16-3) 155.4 pounds versus Clay French (15-2) 155.4 pounds.

“Herc” Antoine Hayes (6-5) 265 pounds vs. “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-9) 258.6 pounds.

Aaron Rosa (10-2) 205.6 pounds versus “Killing Fields” Ron Fields (24-25-1) 204.8 pounds.
 
Hector Urbina (11-4) 185.6 pounds versus David Kleczkowski (5-3) 186.5 pounds.

Dom O’Grady (4-0) 169.8 pounds versus Mike Stumpf (9-1) 173.4 pounds.
 
Joe Jordan (41-12-2) 170.2 pounds versus Ryan Williams (5-2) 170 pounds.
 
Louis Taylor (2-0) 202.2 pounds versus Adam Maciejewski (6-4) 205.6 pounds.
 
Joe Pearson (25-10-1) 134.6 pounds versus John Hosman (7-3-1) 135 pounds.

As reported by Fighters.com, the main event matches grappler “The Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-7) versus wrestler Michael Russow (9-1) in a mat struggle.

“The Snowman” will fight Russow just two weeks after taking on Fighters.com’s third-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assasin” Josh Barnett (21-5) at Sengoku II in Tokyo.

UFC fighter turned boxer Terry Martin (16-4) will fight Japanese middleweight Daiju Takase (7-11-1) before his hometown crowd.

Martin comes off UFC losses to “Crippler” Chris Leben (18-4) and “Beastman” Marvin Eastman (15-7-1), but won his boxing debut 12 April with a knockout of Ricardo Upchurch (0-2 in boxing).

Lightweight jiu-jitsu player Alberto Crane (8-2), who lost both of his UFC fights, will bounce back matched against King of the Cage vet Clay French (15-2).

IFL lightweight standout “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski (28-11), who’s taken three tough losses consecutively, will rebound in his hometown versus Jeffrey Cox (9-5), who lost his UFC debut to “Pitbull” Manvel Gamburyan (8-2) last month in Denver.

Also on the card to be held at the Sears Centre:

“The Freak” Tony Fryklund (14-9) v Brian Gassaway (28-17-2)
Taiwan Howard (4-1) v Rory Markham (13-3)
James Giboo (11-2) v Mark Miller (8-3)
“Herc” Antoine Hayes (6-5) v “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-9)
Rob Kimmons (20-3) v Hector Urbina (11-4)
Aaron Rosa (10-2) v “Killing Fields” Ron Fields (22-25-1)
Dom O’Grady (4-0) v Mike Stumpf (9-1)
Joe Jordan (39-12-2) v Ryan Williams (5-2)
Christian Reynosa (6-2) v John Hosman (7-3-1)