Nanaimo fight fans get their first chance in a long time to see their hometown favourite.
Nick (The Juggernaut) Hinchliffe will headline the Battlefield Fight League 15 event April 27 at the Port Theatre.
Hinchliffe (18-8) hasn’t fought in Nanaimo in three and a half years.
“He’s been very active, fought all over Canada, but not in his hometown so it should be a big night for him and the fans,” said Jay Golshani, event promoter.
The former V.I. Raiders fullback will face Bastien Huveneers (9-3) in a 180-pound catchweight bout. If Hinchliffe wins, he will get a title shot in his 170-pound division. The two faced one another about a year and a half ago, a fight that the Belgian-born, Vancouver-based Huveneers won in a five-round split decision.
“It was a close fight; everybody had a different opinion on who won the fight,” Golshani said.
John Punt, Hinchliffe’s trainer at Nanaimo Impact MMA, said the decision against Huveneers could have gone either way.
“We did eventually hope for a rematch so we’re happy about that,” said Punt.
Since this month’s rematch will be three rounds instead of five, Golshani predicts that it might be more action-packed.
“There’s less time, so they’re going to be going full force,” he said. “The last fight it was pretty much standup, they were trading the whole fight.”
The semi main-event will be capoeria fighter Marcus Aurelio versus undefeated Matt Dwyer. The other Nanaimo Impact MMA athlete on the card at the moment is amateur Eli Wyse.
The 10-match card starts at 5:30 p.m. For ticket information, please click here.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
