Buckland Vs. Loiseau

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A hometown hero on the verge of breaking into the big time. A former world champion fighting to get back to the top. A match to decide whose dream will become reality.

It sounds like a story from a Hollywood movie - but it won't be coming to your local theatre. Instead, on Friday, June 20 at the Max Bell Centre, you can watch it live as Calgary's own Andrew Buckland and former UFC title contender David "The Crow" Loiseau meet for the biggest fight in cow-town's mixed martial arts history.

As one of the feature matches at Raw Combat: Resurrection, the battle marks an important milestone for both fighters. For Buckland, it's a chance to test himself against truly top-shelf competition in front of his hometown Calgary crowd. For "The Crow", it's about proving that he's still one of the top 185-pound fighters in the world.

"There haven't been a lot of fighters to come out of Calgary," Buckland explains. "There aren't a lot of big camps here. From Edmonton, there's Jason MacDonald. From Lethbridge, there's Jason Day. In Calgary, there just aren't schools that have produced world-class fighters."

It's a statistic that Buckland plans on changing. With a record of 9-1, a win over Loiseau could thrust him onto the world stage for the chance to make Calgary's mark in the big leagues of MMA. For the home of an NHL hockey team and a CFL football team, having a world-class MMA fighter to call their own would be a welcome addition to their already rich sports heritage, to be held alongside the world-famous Calgary Stampede as an example of the rough and ready prairie town's hard work and determination.

If there was a fighter for the town to embrace as one of their own, Buckland is certainly it. Surrounded by oil fields and farmlands, Calgary is a city where people know all about working with their hands, and it would be difficult to find a finer embodiment of that blue-collar grit than the young 27-year-old.

"I have my own business," he says. "I'm a carpenter and a framer. I build houses so I work eight or nine hours a day, then I go train at night."

It's a daily routine that would kill most people inside of a week, but Buckland has been keeping the long hours ever since he started fighting - although he admits his career as a professional MMA fighter is still in its early stages.

"It's not very long," Buckland admits. "I've only been doing it for about three years. I went to a King of The Cage show, and watched it live and I thought 'I would destroy these guys' so then I just went in and started training and I had my first fight after a few months of training. I won that one, and I just kept on going from there.

With one win under his belt, the Calgary native went on to dominate a long list of opponents, including fellow Alberta native Dan "Torture" Chambers and Brazilian Lucas Rota. Today, a loss to American Dan Hornbuckle stands as the only blemish on his career - and if Buckland has his way, revenge might not be far around the corner.

First though, Buckland must deal with "The Crow" - a fight he agrees is a huge step up in competition from the opponents he has faced so far. "He's a veteran," he says. "He's obviously going to be talented. He's been in the game for a long time. But I've got a bigger heart and I've got more determination than he does. I think that's something that he's lost."

While Buckland's comments could be chalked up to pre-fight trash talk, he's not the only one who thinks that Loiseau has lost his edge since his days in the UFC, but "The Crow" isn't letting the critics get to him.

"I don't really care," he says. "I don't pay attention to all of that. I'm a veteran of this game. I fought the best guys on the biggest stage. I was the main event when I fought in Las Vegas in front of 20-thousand people."

"Now I'm on my way back. No matter what happens in my career, in life, i just roll with the punches, stay strong, stay focused. This is how I live. I just never quit. When you keep working hard, and you stay positive in life, things turn around for you."

For "The Crow", staying positive is critical. Just as a win over Buckland could propel him back to the big leagues, a loss to the Calgary youngster would be a devastating setback to a storied fighting career that began nearly a decade ago.

Like his training partner, Georges St. Pierre, "The Crow" exploded into the octagon with a list of Canadian MMA credentials and an impressive combination of technique and athleticism. But while St. Pierre was able to spin his talents into a UFC championship belt, Loiseau fell painfully short of his goal.

"I started fighting in 2000 and I became a Canadian champion with the UCC," he says. "I also became a TKO World Champion. I went to the UFC and I won my first fight. I lost my second, but I came back to put the wrong things right like the Crow always does and I became the number one contender for the UFC world championship."

Loiseau earned a shot at the belt by dominating UFC veteran Evan Tanner in 2005, cutting his opponents' face to ribbons with a vicious series of elbows.

"A lot of people forget something about this fight," he says. "Before I cut him, I hurt him. I hit him straight in the face from his guard. I did some nasty ground and pound. I body kicked him, head kicked him. There was a lot of damage that was done, you know."

"When you get cut, you go to the ref and say 'don't stop it, don't stop it.' Tanner didn't say anything. He just sat down. He was done. That had nothing to do with the cut. I beat him down. People think it was stopped on cuts. Pay attention to the fight, and look at his face. Look how much damage he takes before the ref stops it."

Leaving Evan Tanner bloody and battered in his wake, "The Crow" went on to face then middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 58: UFC vs. Canada. Competing in the main event in front of 20-thousand fans, the explosive fighter from Quebec seemed unable to mount an offense against the champion and suffered a 5-round unanimous decision loss.

"I had an off night," Loiseau explains, "I had a bad day at work but I never quit. A week after the fight, I started working out again."

Since fighting for the UFC world championship belt in 2006, "The Crow" has had a few more off nights, losing three of his last five matches - including a controversial split decision to Jason Day in Hardcore Fighting Championship: Destiny. While many fans say that "The Crow" should've been awarded that win, Loiseau looks back on the fight as a learning experience.

"It was a pretty good fight," Loiseau says. "Even Jason admitted that he lost the fight. When they raised his hand, he looked at me and said 'David, you just got robbed.' I was mad, but I was the one who left it up to the judges. The person to blame is me, not the judges. I didn't finish the job. I don't really care, though. Things happen for a reason."

After the disappointing loss to Day, the veteran from Montreal moved on to his next challenge: a match against British Columbia's Todd Gouwenberg at Hardcore Fighting Championship: Crow's Nest in March of 2008, where he won a unanimous decision.

"I just moved forward," he explains. "I proved to myself that I could perform like I performed back in the day. I just went out there and fought and enjoyed myself. It was pretty intense and it was me from the old days, throwing elbows, being versatile with takedowns, very spectacular kicks. It was a spectacular fight. I gave the fans what they paid for."

Now "The Crow" is ready to give Calgary fans another show, as he prepares for his match with Buckland.

"I'm preparing just as I would if I were fighting the UFC world champion. It's the same thing as if I were going against Anderson Silva. I'm training hard. I just got back from Denver, Colorado where I trained with Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt and Georges St. Pierre. Georges just left for Brazil, so now I'm training with my team here, Patrick Cote and Jonathan Goulet - so everything is all good."

While Loiseau works out in Montreal, Buckland is putting in his training time at two gyms in Calgary, and is drinking in the knowledge from his trainers.

"I train with Josh Russell at Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu," he says. "I've only been there for about three months and that's strictly a jiu-jitsu academy. I do all my groundwork there, and then I train at Dynamic Martial Arts under Vince Gentile and that's where I do all my stand-up and cardio."

Heading into the fight, Buckland admits that Loiseau will have the experience advantage, and a size advantage as well.

"He's going to be a lot bigger than me physically," he admits. "I walk around at pretty much 185 pounds so he's going to have the advantage of being bigger, but I'm a strong 185 so we'll see what happens. It should be interesting."

At least Buckland will have the hometown crowd behind him, right?

Not necessarily, he says.

"I like fighting here," Buckland explains. "It's good to have the support, but when he fought here last time, he had a lot of support too just from being recognized from fighting in the UFC. He had a huge ovation when he came out, so it's not like I'll have a huge advantage that way. A lot of people like that guy. He's one of the best fighters to ever come out of Canada."

Still, the tough carpenter says he's ready to put his hands to work on "The Crow".

"I asked for this fight," he says. "They didn't offer him. Mentally, I'm prepared because I'm going into a win-win situation. It's going to be a fun fight for me. I'm going in there and whatever happens, happens. There's no pressure, so it's a great situation for me. To beat him would be amazing - but just to fight him is a great opportunity. It's an honor to fight that guy."

So what's the strategy?

"I'm going for a fast knockout." Buckland explains. "I can't go in there and wait for him to do what he does. I have to push him. If I let him take control, that's bad. When he's on the defense, backing up, he fights worse."

Of course, Loiseau has no plans of backing up.

"I'm a veteran, a former champion and this is my job," he says. "I'm not getting caught up in the hype. He's from Calgary. I'm from Montreal. I don't care about that hype. I'm about getting the job done."

"I'm just going out there and performing," he continues. "I predict myself dominating, imposing my style. I'm not talking smack. He's a very game opponent. He comes in to fight but I'm ready to do my job and my job is to destroy him. Right now, I just eat, sleep, breathe Andrew Buckland and he should be scared of that."

David Loiseau and Andrew Buckland will clash at Raw Combat: Resurrection, Friday June 20 at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary, Alberta. Get tickets at ticketmaster. For more information, e-mail .