New Era Fighting 1 Preview

New Era Fighting presents an intriguing and multifaceted card on Friday, September 20. It goes at Centre Pierre-Charbonneau in Montreal, Quebec. The event features a Boxing exhibition in the name of charity that pits a 300 plus pound strongman against a former UFC middleweight title challenger. Beyond that top of the marquee prizefight, the event features a compelling mixture of top-level MMA and Boxing with some notable Quebec favorites bolstering the card. LM2’s Dylan Bowker caught up with New Era matchmaker/ Director of Logistics Vincent Morin for this New Era Fighting 1 Preview.

New Era Fighting 1 Preview

Patrick Cote vs Hugo Girard

The top of the marquee prize fight has many pundits unsure of what they’re about to witness. One man will bring 330 pounds of pure muscle in the squared circle on Friday night. Girard needs special gloves made for his huge hands as the promotion’s equipment provider doesn’t have stock gloves readily available for Hugo. Morin said, “This one is kind of a special one because it’s an exhibition. It’s for raising money for kids with disabilities. It’s between the former World’s Strongest Man in 2002 against Patrick The Predator Cote who has 21 fights in the UFC. So this one should be a barnburner.”

This is a fight that has tremendous local and provincial focus but also has made some waves on an international level. Morin said, “In the French community in Quebec, he’s like a hero (Girard). He’s a legend here. Patrick, he did one pro boxing fight too. Both guys are genuinely good guys. Both guys are known in the French community. Patrick Cote is known all over the world. It’s for charity.” The ball doesn’t stop here with MMA fighters crossing over into the sweet science.

Boxing on New Era 1

The Boxing portion of the card will also feature a former TKO heavyweight champion going from MMA to Boxing. Adam Dyczka has been kind of quiet on the MMA scene since losing his TKO belt but makes his return to the ring instead of the cage. Morin said, “Adam started work in boxing here. He wanted to try boxing. We decided to make him turn pro in boxing. All his fights were always KOs (in MMA). So he was mostly a striker. He’s still going to fight in MMA too but we wanted to see what he can do in Boxing. It’s a four-round fight but I don’t think we’re going to see the fourth round in this one.”

Also, a 160 lb Canadian title will be up for grabs between Francis Lafreniere & Frank Bruno Cotroni. Morin provided some good insight for this tilt. He said, “This one’s fun because it’s a rematch. The first time, he dropped Lafreniere. Seven years later, it’s even more compelling. On the Canadian side at 160lbs they’re the top local guys.”

There’s a lot of undercard features that Morin was passionate to talk about at length:

Yan Pellerin also has a heavy degree of involvement with New Era. Both on a promoter level and as a competitor. Morin said, “Yan’s going to be fighting. We didn’t secure an opponent in MMA. He’s going to fight in Boxing.”

MMA on New Era 1

One of the mixed-martial-arts bouts for this event pits Corinne Laframbois (3-3) against Dee Begley (0-0) at 125 lbs. The flyweight bout lends itself to a fun styles clash on paper. Morin said, “Laframbois before being an MMA fighter, she was a jiu-jitsu champion. She was winning every tournament she attended. She medaled everywhere. Against Dee Begley, she’s a kickboxing champion. She medaled at WAKO, the biggest kickboxing championship in the world. She’s 7-3 in Amateur MMA. It’s going to be a fight between a striker and a grappler. Dee Begley is coming from the same gym as Conor McGregor.”

Michael Dufort who was initially slated to fight Adam Hazelton will now be facing a Mexican fighter with almost ten pro fights. All fights, whether MMA or Boxing, will be contested in a ring. The future ahead for New Era will include much of the same in terms of cross combat matchmaking. Morin stated, “The best for us right now is to do a mixed card of five boxing bouts and five MMA bouts. We have two different crowds. For us, it’s a winning situation. Maybe we’ll add kickboxing. I don’t know.”