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Laverne Clark signs 3 fight deal with the MFC, and fights Ryan Ford
KO Dynasty and Former UFC fighter Laverne Clark signs 3 fight deal with the MFC, and fights Ryan Ford.
Winner of this fight will more than likely fight for the MFC 170 Belt against Pat Healy.
Maximum Fighting Championship broadened the field of welterweight fighters vying for current champion
Pat Healy's belt with the announcement today that the promotion has signed LaVerne Clark to a
three-fight deal. Clark (25-16-1) will make his promotional debut against welterweight rising star
Ryan "The Real Deal" Ford (6-1) at MFC 18: Famous on Friday, September 26 at the River Cree Resort
and Casino in Enoch, Alberta.
A longtime fixture of Miletich Fighting Systems, Clark has over 40 fights to his name. Clark's catalog
of former opponents reads like a list of past and present UFC stars including such names as Matt
Hughes, Frank Trigg, Mac Danzig, Jorge Rivera, Chris Lytle, Dave Menne and Shonie Carter among others.
7-3 in his last ten outings, the 35-year-old Davenport, Iowa native has proven that he poses an equal
threat on the ground as he does standing. 12 of his 25 career wins were tallied as a result of
strikes with seven by way of submission and the remainder coming by decision.
Despite having over 11 years of MMA experience, Clark takes exception to being labeled a "veteran"
due to the connotations surrounding the name.
"Call me 'experienced', don't call me a 'veteran'. When people call someone a veteran it means they're
old and at the end of their career. I'm not old and I'm far from being at the end of my career,"
Clark explains. "I'm getting ready to fight Ryan Ford and if I lose people are going to say I'm
passing the torch to him. I'm not passing my torch to anyone - I'm just relighting it. This is my
comeback."
MFC vice president Dave Pavelich says that Clark has a similar style and attitude as the brash
25-year-old Canadian counterpart, which will make the match up between the two that much more
explosive.
"These guys are very similar in style in that they both like to stand and bang. LaVerne has been
around and he's not the type of guy that will be intimidated by Ford. That's what we needed. With
the exception of Pat Healey, we had a hard time finding someone to fight Ryan who wasn't
intimidated by him," Pavelich says. "Ryan Ford wins fights by intimidating and overpowering his
opponents and LaVerne Clark isn't going to let that happen. Both of these guys grew up in the hood
where attitude and confidence get you far so neither guy is going to fall for any mind games. This
fight is going to be a brawl."
Clark says if Ford plans on using a win over him as a ticket to a shot at Healy's belt, that would
be a huge rookie mistake, noting that, at 35 this could be his last kick at the can in terms of
rejuvenating his MMA career.
"I'm going to win the MFC belt and get back on track. I have three fights with them to showcase what
I'm capable of and that's what I'm going to do. I've always been a believer that if you work hard,
the money will follow. I've been working hard and now is my time to get rewarded," Clark says. "I
fought a lot of big name fighters in my career but for years I just relied on my natural talent
and strength. Now I have actual [MMA] skills from training with guys like Pat [Miletich] and Matt
[Hughes] for years, so I'm a lot better than I was back then. Ryan Ford is going to be in trouble
September 26."
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