Novaes slides into showdown with Southern at MFC 36

Brazilian star signs four-fight deal that launches at Reality Check

Submission ace Jonatas “Peixe Frito” Novaes has been selected by the Maximum Fighting Championship to join its lightweight ranks and he immediately jumps into a spot on the upcoming MFC 36: Reality Check lineup.

Novaes (10-4) replaces David Castillo for a tilt against Kurt Southern (10-3) at MFC 36 which takes on Friday, February 15. Castillo has been sidelined by a serious neck injury discovered during medicals.

Both the Novaes-Southern matchup and the recently altered middleweight tussle between Clay Davidson (filling in for the injured Luke Harris) and Jason Zentgraf will be featured bouts on the MFC 36: Reality Check main card which will air live on AXS TV Fights from the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

“I’ve been training hard and I had a feeling that something good was going to happen for me,” said Novaes. “To get the opportunity to fight in the MFC and on AXS TV and against a good opponent like Kurt, I’m very excited about everything.

“This is a great opportunity for me and I’m very happy. I’m going to train even harder now and make something big happen.”

Novaes (Twitter: @jonatasnovaes) enters the MFC having won five of his last six fights and is coming off the first knockout of his career – a 51-second destruction of Drew Fickett back in June. That victory boosted Novaes to 75th in the world rankings compiled by Fight Matrix (http://www.fightmatrix.com/mma-ranks/lightweight/2/).

The 31-year-old, who is originally from Conceicao da Barra, Brazil, boasts seven career wins via submission, and seven of his 10 wins have come inside the first round.

A decorated jiu-jitsu practitioner, Novaes, who now lives in Chicago and has agreed a four-fight deal with the MFC, has earned a plethora of titles in various grappling tournaments highlighted by championships at the Pan-American and American Nationals as well as major meets in Brazil, Las Vegas, Toronto, Dallas, and Chicago.

“I’m a jiu-jitsu guy because that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life but in MMA I’m a complete fighter,” noted Novaes. “You saw that in my fight against Fickett when I knocked him out with a head kick. I’ve worked on my stand-up, my wrestling, everything to make me a complete fighter.”

A native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Southern (Twitter: @kurtsouthern) rides a three-fight win streak into the matchup – a run highlighted by a first-round submission victory over MFC lightweight title hopeful Mukai Maromo.

Southern’s current streak – the third three-fight run of his career – includes wins over Jorge Britto and Brad Cardinal, and he has picked up notable career victories over Martin Grandmont, Evan Sanguin, and Kevin Manderson.

Tickets for MFC 36: Reality Check are on sale now and available via www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling the MFC Ticket Hotline at (780) 504-2024.