Chokehold on success

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This article was published 03/06/2010 (5820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Joe Doerksen is on the verge of something big.

He knows it and everyone in the house on Friday at the Canadian Fighting Championship 5 at the Winnipeg Convention Centre will know it, too.

The toughest kid to come out of New Bothwell and Ed and Tina Doerksen’s youngest son in a family of seven kids, Joe "El Dirte" Doerksen is already the top Manitoba born-and-raised mixed martial arts athlete and he’s still climbing.

 

Doerksen (45-12-0) is the main event at the Canadian Fighting Championship 5 at the Winnipeg Convention Centre where he’ll meet Shawn "Machine Gun" Marchand (8-5-0) in the CFC’s 30-foot Steel Circle cage. It’s in a match that has must-win written all over it by Doerksen’s own hand.

On May 8 at UFC 113 in Montreal, Doerksen was an emergency replacement in a match where he submitted Tom Lawlor with a rear naked chokehold in the second round. A massive underdog coming in, he left as the only Canadian on the card to win a match. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, the biggest show in the game, signed him to a contract. It is the biggest break of his 11-year MMA career.

Rumours are it’s a four-fight deal with big-time money, but he must win Friday night to secure it.

"They haven’t said it (that he’d be dropped) but they just said ‘you have to go win this fight,’" said Doerksen, 32, in an interview at the Canadian Mixed Martial Arts Centre in Winnipeg, one of the largest MMA facilities in Canada at 6,500 square feet.

"There’s a chance they’d keep me but I’d never take that chance. It’s never OK to lose a fight. Especially in Winnipeg. I live here. My friends and family, my fans, all the people who have supported me for 10 years are all going to be there. I’m not losing in front of those people. It’s not going to happen."

Friday night’s bout will be the third fight in 50 days and one of the few Winnipeg appearances for Doerksen, who is on a six-fight winning streak.

"I’ll look around the room and I probably have met everyone in it at least once. It’s kind of cool, I get to bring the show home to them," he said. "But when it comes time to fight, all I think about is punching him (Marchand) in the face. And that’s it. There is nothing else."

He’s had an amazing 57 MMA fights and has been hurt but never injured.

"I’ve been cut, had my nose broken a few times and I’m not as pretty as I was when I was 20," he laughed. "I have good trainers and I don’t always want to go out there and just trade punches like an idiot. Sometimes you’ve got to be smart, move your head, keep your hands up."

Giuseppe DeNatale, CFC president and Doerksen’s trainer for eight years, has worked with Doerksen on his striking ability and Muay Thai skills. Doerksen regularly works on strength and conditioning with McDole Performance Systems, which has brought his fitness to an elite level.

"Joe is truly one of the most experienced mixed martial arts fighters in Canada, there’s no fighters in Canada who have more fights or more wins than Joe Doerksen," said DeNatale, 37, the 2006 IKF World Heavyweight Muay Thai Champion and former North American kick boxing and Muay Thai champion. "I’m excited. He’s a hometown hero. He’s the first guy from Winnipeg and the Prairies to make it to the UFC. The UFC is honouring his contract with the CFC so this is just huge for us."

It’s also huge for Doerksen because this is the second time he’s had a shot in the UFC and a chance to be a star in a business that doesn’t extend too many second chances.

"I think this is my year. I feel physically and mentally stronger than ever," he said. "I’m 32, so I’ve got three-to-five really good years (left). I’d like to put a couple wins together in the UFC and work towards a title shot. You want to be the best in the world, at least once."

Doerksen, who has a 2-5 UFC record, last fought in a UFC event in April 2008 (UFC 83) where he lost a third straight bout and was dropped. Everything changed at UFC 113 when he seized the moment.

That’s something Doerksen has learned in over a decade of arm bars, kimuras and punches to the face — when an opportunity surfaces, you put a chokehold on it.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca

Rankings of province’s best

 

Manitoba’s pre-eminent MMA fighters and their rankings according to Top MMA News:

 

Rodrigo Munduruca: No. 2-ranked heavyweight who on May 10 in Rio de Janeiro became the Brazilian national Jiu Jitsu champion in the super heavyweight division.

Kryzsztof ‘The Polish Experiment’ Soszynski: No. 2-ranked light-heavyweight who competes for UFC and now trains out of California, is on the UFC 116 on July 3 card in a re-match with Stephan Bonner.

Joe Doerksen: No. 3-ranked middleweight who earned a UFC deal after his win at UFC 113.

 

 

CFC 5

 

Canadian Fighting Championship 5 will be held Friday at the Winnipeg Convention Centre — 6 p.m. doors open, 7 p.m. show begins

 

Preliminary card

 

Travis Gervais vs. Justin Bloomer (Lightweight, 155 pounds)

Agostino DeNatale vs. Kyle Anderson (Lightweight, 155 pounds)

Ronson Sabourin vs. Chris Myra (Bantamweight, 135 pounds)

Mark Durant vs. Jesse Ronson (Lightweight, 155 pounds)

Dwight Sutherland vs. Guillaume Fortier (Bantamweight, 135 pounds)

 

Main card

 

Dominick Blais vs. Matthew Spisak (Catchweight of 159 pounds)

Lance Cartwright vs. Steve Skinner (Light Heavyweight, 205 pounds)

Roland Delorme vs. Sean Quinn (Bantamweight, 135 pounds)

Eric Perez vs. Robin Black (Bantamweight, 135 pounds)

Joe Doerksen vs. Shawn Marchand (Middleweight, 185 pounds)

 

 

On tap

 

UFC 115: June 12, GM Place in Vancouver — Main: Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin

 

UFC 116: July 3, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas — Main: Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin

undercard: former Winnipegger Krzysztof ‘The Polish Experiment’ Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonner

 

 

Fan follies

 

After UFC 113 broadcast on May 8 at Montreal’s Bell Centre where Winnipeg’s Joe Doerksen submitted Tom Lawlor, tabulations of viewership showed Winnipeg as having the second-highest per capita buys of UFC pay-per-view broadcasts.

With devoted fans and new fans jumping on board, there’s lots to learn about this sport for everyone. Here are three common rule misconceptions that veteran fans, corner men and even fighters can have, courtesy of Jerin Valel, Manitoba Boxing Commission chief official:

 

1. Fighters cannot grab their opponents’ shorts — but they can grab their own as defence (i.e. grabbing your own shorts to help defend an Arm bar or Kimura submission attempt is fine).

2. Fighters cannot grab the cage (fingers going through cage), but they can place their flat hands against the cage like any flat surface. (i.e. fighters can not grab a hold of the cage and change a pivot point during a takedown, but can use the cage wall as a balance point with their flat hand to avoid a takedown attempt).

3. Fighters cannot call timeout. This option does not exist as fighters cannot control the clock during a fight.