New Zealand welterweight Matt Vaile has picked up a knee infection that has forced him out of this weekend’s XFC 29 card, leaving the promotion looking for a late minute replacement to face Brogan Anderson.
Stepping up to main event status will be undefeated prospect Issac Hardman as he takes on Kiwi Pumau Campbell.
“Hardman and Campbell are worthy of main event status alone and are eager to make the most of the opportunity come Saturday”, promoter Matt Walton told Fight News Australia.
“We are eagerly trying to find an opponent for Anderson and will talk with anyone interested in the match-up, right up to Saturday,” he added.
The event takes place this Saturday, February 18th with the promotion making the move across town to the Logan Metro Centre for the first time.
Hardman is undefeated in his professional MMA career with a 5-0 record. The Integrated MMA and Nitro boxing trained fighter was voted the 2016 Australian breakthrough fighter of the year and will look to continue where he left off in 2016. He steps up for what will likely be the toughest test of his professional career.
Standing across the cage will be hard hitting Pumau Campbell, whom despite his 4-5 record, has proved a tough fight for anyone that has faced him. Campbell secured an impressive KO in his XFC debut back in 2014 however has lost his last two outings to experienced fighters Damien Brown and Sung Hwa Han. He bounced back with a win at Brace 43 in October and now will be looking at starting his 2017 campaign with a bang.
In an interesting flyweight battle, Paul Loga will be hoping to leap into flyweight contention when he faces Tim Moore. It’s a big step-up for Loga who comes into the contest with a 2-1 MMA record. A multiple title holder, Moore makes his XFC debut and comes into the contest having lost just once in his last five outings. That came to Japanese veteran Yusaku Nakamura over in the Philippines.
Also on the card, Bevan O’Malley will look to extend his unbeaten streak to four fights when he faces off against Kiwi Taneira Terry and Glen Pettigrew takes on Joel Kendricks in a welterweight bout.
The card which has a mixture of amateur and professional fights kicks off on Saturday at 7pm.
Fight Card (Pro):
- Issac Hardman vs. Pumau Campbell
- Paul Loga vs. Tim Moore
- Bevan O’Malley vs. Taneira Terry
- Glen Pettigrew vs. Joel Kendricks
- Joel Fahey vs. Craig Callaghan
- Eben Cox vs. Shem Murdoch
- Michael McDaniel vs. Hiki Paikea
Fight Card (Amateur):
- Mathew Moore vs. John Martin Fraser
- Sam Lawson vs. Alex Hong
- Latham Stevens vs. Darren Habben
- Rob Ohlander vs. John Armstrong
- Aaron Tau vs. Travis Wharton
- Mitch Morrison vs. Jami Sporne
- Talor Wetere vs. David Russell
- Jay Odell vs. Mike Fourie
