LEWISTON — Saturday night’s main event at New England Fights XVII is a simple demonstration of supply and demand.
Local mixed martial arts enthusiasts have demanded a fight between Bruce Boyington and Jamie Harrison, and the region’s dominant fight promotion is happy to provide.
The NEF lightweight title showdown between Boyington (10-7) and Harrison (5-1) is the main event of a 20-bout card at Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Opening bell time is 7 p.m.
Boyington has been on a tear in the cage over the past two years, culminating in the Brewer fighter’s two impressive wins over Auburn’s Jesse Erickson in 2014.
He landed the vacant lightweight belt with the first triumph and carved up Erickson for a resounding victory in the rematch, his lone title defense to date.
“I respect Jamie very much,” Boyington said in an NEF press release. “He is tough and presents challenges, and I’ve had my sights on him for a long time, studying him and knowing we would cross paths eventually. Lucky for me, I’m a hell of a wrestler. I see what’s coming.”
Harrison, a Windham native fighting out of Orange Park, Fla., has achieved his cage notoriety with a punishing ground-and-pound attack.
His shot at the title came to fruition on the same November card as Boyington’s successful defense against Erickson, when he took out Tollison Lewis.
“Bruce is on a hot streak and so am I,” Harrison said. “The title belt around my waist has been a long time coming, and it will be (sweet) to do it in front of all my family, friends and fans. This fight will have a lot of fireworks. You will not want to look away for a second.”
The other featured professional bout on the docket is a welterweight scrap between Jarod Lawton (4-1) of Augusta and Dennis Olson (12-7) of Nashua, N.H.
Lawton’s lone loss in his meteoric NEF rise was a stoppage due to cuts in a fight he was dominating at Darrius Heyliger’s expense.
A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Lawton expects his familiarity that his familiarity with the surroundings will offset Olson’s substantial edge in experience.
“I am ready to take this step up in competition against Olson,” Lawson said. “NEF is my home. This guy is coming to my home, my fans’ home.”
Lawton also has the confidence of having defeated two of Olson’s stablemates from Team Triumph.
Olson, who owns wins over fighters with UFC and Bellator credentials, should be the toughest test to date.
“I respect every one of my opponents’ ability to throw a punch of snag a choke,” Olson said. “However, the level of competition I have seen leads me to believe that there is nothing Lawton can use to surprise me or catch me off guard.”
Two crowd favorites end extended respites in pro action.
Erickson (3-4) returns to the NEF hexagon after his two wars against Boyington for a lightweight match with Mark Deford (0-3).
And after using the word that has forced thousands of fighters to backpedal —retirement — John Raio (2-6) of Topsham is back in the fray. He’ll take on Derek Shorey (1-1) as their career rivalry becomes a trilogy. Each won one of the first two installments.
The first women’s professional MMA bout in Maine also takes center stage, with Kaline Medieros (3-4) taking on Calie Cutler (3-0) in that historic encounter.
There is another women’s bout of significance on the slate. Boyington’s fiancée, Randi Beth Knowles, battles Alex Walker in the MMA debut for both women. It marks one of the few times in the history of the sport that a couple has competed on the same card.
In two amateur fights of local significance, Ryan Glover (1-0) of Mexico is paired up with Jason Field (0-0) at heavyweight, and 135-pound Sheldon Bang (1-2) of Auburn battles Mike Crespo (2-1).
Tickets are available at thecolisee.com or by calling 783-2009, ext. 525.
koakes@sunjournal.com
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