New England Fights has announced a 17-fight card for its final mixed martial arts show of the year, NEF XI, scheduled for Nov. 9 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.
The card will feature two Maine state title fights, with Paul Gorman (9-8) of Portland defending his bantamweight crown against Tateki “Tech” Matsuda (8-4) of Boston and John Ortolani (7-7) of Billerica, Mass., meeting Tony Christodoulou (9-4) for the vacant lightweight title.
Gorman, who trains out of the Academy of Mixed Martial Arts in Portland, won his title last November with a second-round submission of Adam Toussaint at NEF V in Lewiston.
Matsuda is a veteran of both Bellator MMA and the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” and currently is the third-ranked bantamweight in the Northeast.
Ortolani originally was set to fight Brewer’s Jon Lemke last month for the NEF 155-pound crown, but Lemke pulled out of the bout just hours before weigh-ins.
NEF officials offered to forfeit the belt to Ortolani, but the Team Triumph fighter and professional lacrosse player opted for another chance to win the championship in the cage.
The Ortolani-Christodoulou bout will be a rematch of a July 2010 clash in Milford, N.H., that was stopped in the second round due to a cut suffered by Christodoulou.
Since that bout Christodoulou has won his last nine out of 10 fights, including the last four in a row.
Other pro bouts on the card include a heavyweight clash matching Josh “Stay Down” Watson (7-3) against Ryan Hodge (5-8); Bruce “Pretty Boy” Boyington (3-5) of Young’s MMA in Bangor against Josh Parker (4-7); and Jesse “The Viking” Erickson (1-1) against Ryan Cowette (0-2). Popular Gardiner native John “First Class” Raio (1-4) will also be in action on the pro card.
The amateur side of the fight card currently includes 11 bouts, headlined by a 145-pound contest between top-ranked featherweight Vovka “KGB” Clay (5-2) and lightweight standout Dom Cofone (4-2). A women’s fight will also be featured between Portland’s Maria Rios (3-1) and Shannon Harney (2-2).
Other amateur bouts will match 3-0 C.J. Ewer of Young’s MMA against Wayne Ahlquist of Lakes Region Vale Tudo, independent Jacob Cameron (0-3) against John Gardner (0-1) of First Class MMA, Pat Reardon (4-1) of Young’s MMA against Jeremy Tyler (2-1) of Marcus Davis’ Team Irish in Brewer, Nate Charles (1-6) of Balanced Ground MMA against Corey Hinkley (2-0) of CMBJJ, independent Caleb Hall (3-0) against Aaron Lacey (1-0) of Young’s MMA, Jimmy Jackson (1-1) of Young’s MMA against Caleb Costello (0-2) of Team Irish, Carl Langston (2-1) of Balanced Ground MMA against Mike Pietersen (0-0) of Young’s MMA, Trevor Hebert (1-1) of First Class MMA against Kevin Barrett (1-2) of Young’s MMA, and independent Mike Brown (2-0) against Norman Fox (1-0) of MMA Athletix.
Also scheduled to appear are Mike Vangelist (0-0) of AMMA, Jason Bell (0-1) of IABJJ and Elias Leland (3-1) of AMMA, but their opponents have not been determined.
