MFC 40 features trio of title fights with Alvey, Birchak, Gallicchio-Southern

Maximum Fighting Championship will return in May with a card featuring three title fights.

“MFC 40: Crowned Kings” will take place May 9 at the promotion’s regular home at Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The main card will air live on AXS TV.

Two of the title fights are yet to be set with opponents for bantamweight champion Anthony Birchak (11-1) and middleweight champ Sam Alvey (21-5), and the third is a rematch between Tom Gallicchio (18-8) and Kurt Southern (13-5) for the vacant lightweight belt. The bout order will again be determined by a fan vote. Fans can vote for their top matchup for the main event with the #PunchTheVote hashtag on social media.

Anthony Birchak, MFC’s first bantamweight champion, will defend his title for the first time. The Arizona-based fighter is on a five-fight winning streak, including two wins under the MFC banner. He won his promotional debut with a decision over Ryan Benoit this past May. And in October at MFC 38, he stopped Tito Jones in the second-round with a rear-naked choke to win the bantamweight belt.

The first time MFC ran its Punch the Vote campaign, Birchak found himself in the MFC 38 main event. Nine of his 11 career wins have come by stoppage, with six by submission.

Alvey, a Bellator veteran, has won back-to-back MFC fights since losing his promotional debut to Elvis Mutapcic at MFC 36. This past May, he stopped Jay Silva with punches in the third round. And Jason South at MFC 38, he picked up a fifth-round TKO to win the middleweight belt with just four seconds left in the fight. The Wisconsin native trains at the famed Team Quest in California.

At MFC 39 this past month, the New Jersey-based Gallicchio submitted Southern in the second round with a rear-naked choke. The win should have put the lightweight belt around his waist. But because he missed weight the day before, the fight was a non-title bout for him. (Had Southern won, he would’ve been crowned the champ, however.) A commission rule in Alberta doesn’t allow fighters any additional time to make weight for title fights.

Now he’ll have another shot to get the title – provided he makes weight, of course – in a rematch with Southern. Gallicchio has won two straight fights, which has him back on track after a rough stretch of three losses in four fights.

Southern had back-to-back wins with first-round finishes in MFC before the loss to Gallicchio. all told, the Saskatchewan native has 10 stoppages in his 13 career wins.

For the latest on MFC 40, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Anthony Birchak)