Thursday, 14 January 2010

Wilson Gouveia's Move to MFC is a "Big Deal"
By Chad Edward, MFC Staff - Jan 14, 2010

American Top Team's Wilson Gouveia (12-7) has inked a big return to mixed martial arts.  Monday he signed a multi-fight deal with Maximum Fighting Championship and will fight Canadian star "Big Deal" Ryan Jimmo (12-1) at MFC 25: Vindication at the Winspear Centre/Enmax Hall in Edmonton, Alberta April 9.

 Wednesday, Gouveia told MaximumFighting.com, "I'm excited!  I have friends that fight for MFC and they all tell me good things."

 The event will broadcast live on HDNet and feature a soon to be announced major title fight.

 The matchup marks Gouveia's return to 205 pounds after a disastrous stint fighting at middleweight.  The Brazilian lost consecutive stoppages to Nate "The Great" Marquardt (29-8-2) and Alan "The Talent" Belcher (15-6) at 185 pounds, missed weight by three pounds before a victory over fellow MFC fighter "The Athlete" Jason MacDonald (22-13), and won his middleweight debut over Ryan Jensen (14-6).

 Gouveia moved to middleweight because he thought he'd be one of the bigger guys in that division, but never wore 185 pounds confidently.  He looked gaunt at weigh-ins and fought with diminished ferociousness.

 "It was too much sacrifice and too hard, man," said Gouveia about his time at middleweight.  "I'm a professional.  I do this for a living and I love it, but I don't like to miss weight, you know?  And, I would pass out in the sauna and guys would drag me out and say, 'You have to stop this.' It was just too much sacrifice and too hard on my body."

 At light heavyweight, however, Gouveia bulldozed through four consecutive stoppage victories over "Soldier" Wes Combs (14-4), Kimbo Slice-killer "Silverback" Seth Petruzelli (11-4), "Fury" Carmelo Marrero (10-4), and "Punisher" Jason Lambert (23-11).

 "I hope the fans will see that I'm a better, more exciting fighter at 205 pounds," said Gouveia.

 But, Gouveia will have a big challenge in "Big Deal" Ryan Jimmo, who is on a 12-fight winning streak dating back to April 2007.  Jimmo returned to MFC in May 2009 and has racked up three decision victories over Mychal Clark (6-9) and veteran fighters "The Beastman" Marvin Eastman (16-12-1) and "The Hardcore Kid" Emanuel Newton (12-6-1).

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