All 22 fighters on the card for the Maximum Fighting Championship’s MFC 17: Hostile Takeover are set to hit the scale Thursday night.

The official weigh-ins for MFC 17 will take place at Centre Bar inside the River Cree Resort and Casino beginning at 6 p.m. All fans, fighter camps, training partners, and sponsors are invited to come out and watch the event but for those who aren’t able to make it, the entire video of the weigh-in will be up and ready to view on www.maximumfighting.com at 8 p.m. MT.

MFC 17 is headlined by the first-ever showdown for the organization’s welterweight title as Ryan Ford meets Pat Healy for the 170-pound crown and they’ll go face-to-face before the MFC’s 10th straight sold-out crowd - a packed house at The Venue at River Cree. The fight card will also air live across the United States, Canada and Mexico on HDNet Fights beginning at 8:30 MT Friday night. At ringside will be HDNet and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

The card also features three key lightweight fights as those involved - Ricardo Tirloni vs. Ben Henderson, Jason Maxwell vs. Donald Sanchez, and Ryan Machan vs. Ryan Heck - all want to be in the running for the vacant MFC lightweight title. Plus Hostile Takeover will showcase a middleweight bout between veteran Ron Faircloth and former U.S. Marine Levi Avera along with a light heavyweight contest pitting Aron Lofton against Dwayne Lewis.

A total of 11 fights will take place on Friday night.

Fedor Emelianenko ($300,000) def. Tim Sylvia ($800,000)
Andrei Arlovski ($750,000) def. Ben Rothwell ($250,000)
Josh Barnett ($300,000) def. Pedro Rizzo ($70,000)
Mark Hominick ($10,000) def. Savant Young ($7,000)
Renato Sobral ($90,000) def. Mike Whitehead ($50,000)
Matt Lindland ($300,000) def. Fabio Nascimento ($20,000)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira ($50,000) def. Edwin Dewees ($15,000)
Mike Pyle ($20,000) def. J.J. Ambrose ($5,000)
Ray Lizama ($3,000) def. Justin Levens ($6,000)
Vitor Belfort ($140,000) def. Terry Martin ($30,000)
Paul Buentello ($80,000) def. Gary Goodridge ($25,000)

Total Disclosed Payroll: $3,332,100

Daisuke Nakamura def. Andy Ologun – Submission (Armbar)
Shinya Aoki def. Caol Uno – Unanimous Decision
Eddie Alvarez def. Tatsuya Kawajiri – TKO (Punches)
Joachim Hansen def. Kultar Gill – Submission (Armbar)
Joseph Benavidez def. Junya Kudo – Submission (Guillotine)
Kuniyoshi Hironaka def. Notoki Miyazawa – TKO (Cut)
Hideo Tokoro def. Takeshi Yamazaki – Unanimous Decision
Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Katsuyori Shibata – Submission (Gi Choke)
Alistair Overeem def. Mark Hunt – Submission (Keylock)
Joachim Hansen def. Shinya Aoki – TKO (Punches)

IFL star Chris Horodecki training with coach and mentor Shawn Tompkins. Photo property of Xtreme Couture.

In a recent interview with The Fight Network, IFL lightweight star Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki discussed a variety of subjects including his rumored bout with former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi and his current status with the Internation Fight League.

Chris Horodecki: Um, there’s a possible fight right now between myself and Gomi down in Japan, come August. My management team’s talking with a lot of different organizations and I don’t really know how far that’s going through. You know, I’d fight Gomi for sure, in a heart beat. We’re just gonna wait and see right now.

News regarding a possible bout between Horodecki and Gomi first surfaced a few weeks ago at MMAWeekly.com. Since then we’ve received reports that Horodecki’s management team has been in contact with the American Fight League. The AFL has been busy in recent months scooping up top female fighter Tara LaRosa, Jeff Bedard, and WWE star Bobby Lashley.

With all of that being said, Horodecki stressed the point that he is still a product of the IFL and is currently sitting back and taking a wait and see approach with the struggling promotion.

Chris Horodecki: Absolutely, you know, I’m still under contract and I’m still their athlete. Right now they’re just opening up the talent pool a little bit, letting their fighters get some work while they’re trying to re-build the organization. My relationship’s fine, I’m just waiting to see what’s going to happen and I hope everything clears out and goes well.

Finally, Horodecki closed out the interview by talking about his new gym, Adrenaline Training Centre, which will become the new home of Team Tompkins in London, Ontario. Horodecki is taking part in the new endeavour with teammates Mark “The Machine” Hominick and Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout.

Reminder: UFC Fight Night 14 is airing live on Rogers Sportsnet.

Anderson Silva def. James Irvin - KO
Brandon Vera def. Reese Andy - Unanimous Decision
Frankie Edgar def. Hermes Franca - Unanimous Decision
Kevin Burns def. Anthony Johnson - TKO
C.B. Dollaway def. Jesse Taylor - Submission (Peruvian Necktie)
Tim Credeur def. Cale Yarbrough – TKO (Punch)
Rory Markham def. Brodie Farber – KO (Head Kick)
Nate Loughran def. Johnny Rees – Submission (Triangle Choke)
Brad Blackburn def. James Giboo – TKO (Strikes)
Shannon Gugerty def. Dale Hartt – Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

Josh Barnett def. Pedro Rizzo - KO (Punch)
Renato Sobral def. Mike Whitehead - Unanimous Decision
Matt Lindland def. Fabio Negao - Unanimous Decision
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Edwin Dewees - TKO (Strikes)
Mike Pyle def. J.J. Ambrose - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Vitor Belfort def. Terry Martin - KO (Punch)
Paul Buentello def. Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge - Unanimous Decision

Mask, Punkass, and SkysKrape return to Versus July 30th, 2008 with the premier of season two of TapouT. Check your local listings or http://www.versus.com for more details.

Fedor Emelianenko (230) vs. Tim Sylvia (263)
Josh Barnett (256) vs. Pedro Rizzo (242)
Andre Arlovski (241) vs. Ben Rothwell (264)
Matt Lindland (185) vs. Fabio Negao (185)
Renato “Babalu” Sobral (201) vs. Mike Whitehead (206)
Vitor Belfort (185) vs. Terry Martin (185.5)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (205) vs. Edwin Dewees (205)
Trenell “Savant” Young (145) vs. Mark Hominick (144)
Justin Levens (189) vs. Ray Lazama (186)
Mike Pyle (171) vs. J.J. Ambrose (170)

Sherdog.com is reporting that PRIDE veteran Aleksander Emelianenko failed to secure the proper medicals and has been denied licensing by the California State Athletic Commission. Sherdog.com is also reporting that Canadian and UFC veteran Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge will step in for Emelianenko and face Buentello as a last minute replacement.

Televised Card:

Anderson Silva (206) vs. James Irvin (207.5)
Brandon Vera (204) vs. Reese Andy (206)
Frankie Edgar (155) vs. Hermes Franca (155)
Jake O’Brien (236) vs. Cain Velasquez (236)
Anthony Johnson (170) vs. Kevin Burns (171)
Jesse Taylor (184) vs. C.B. Dollaway (186)

Preliminary Bouts:

Rory Markham (170) vs. Brodie Farber (171)
Nate Loughran (183) vs. Johnny Rees (183)
Brad Blackburn (170) vs. James Giboo (170)
Dale Hartt (156) vs. Shannon Gugerty (156)
Tim Credeur (185) vs. Cale Yarbrough (186)

New York – VERSUS, the network that celebrates real competition, will debut the second season of the hit reality series TapouT on Thursday, July 24, on VERSUS on Demand and on Wednesday, July 30, at 10 p.m. ET on VERSUS. The second season includes 10 one-hour episodes that follow Mask, Punkass and Skyskrape—the crew behind the premier mixed martial arts clothing and gear line TapouT—on their cross country travels in search of the next MMA superstar. TapouT is produced by Pilgrim Films, of American Chopper and Dirty Jobs fame.

Traveling around the country in a tricked out tour bus, the crew is on the hunt to discover a fighter who has what it takes to represent the TapouT label; but before these up-and-comers fight their way out of the cage, they have to fight their way in with the TapouT crew. The crew bonds with their fighter as they test out his personality and, in between the usual TapouT mayhem, makes sure their new protégé gets the proper training before the big fight. In each episode, it’s all on the line as each fighter gets one shot to impress the crew and show off his skills in the cage.

“Since its debut a year ago, more than 40 million viewers have tuned in to see TapouT and we’re optimistic that the second season will have even greater success,” said Marc Fein, Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and Business Operations for the VERSUS. “This hugely popular original reality series, in conjunction with the monumental growth we’ve seen with our live World Extreme Cagefighting telecasts, solidifies VERSUS as one of the premier television destinations in the MMA category.”

In the season two premiere, the TapouT crew travels to San Luis Obispo, Calif. to ‘The PIT’ to see one of John Hackleman’s up-and-coming MMA fighters, Scott Lighty. Scott is accompanied by his best friend and training partner, Glover Teixeira and the crew quickly realizes the potential Glover has, and decides to sponsor both Scott and Glover who are fighting on the same card. UFC legend Chuck Liddell, who is both Scott and Glover’s trainer, makes a special guest appearance.

“MMA has exploded, and our Crew has been there since the beginning finding and supporting fighters,” said TapouT Founder Mask. “TapouT shows viewers what goes down on the road and lets fans be a part of the action. There are unbelievable fighters with incredible stories, as well as TapouT friends old and new, including MMA superstar Chuck Liddell and UFC President Dana White.”

New episodes of TapouT featuring the bad boys of MMA will premiere on VERSUS each Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET from July 30 through September 24. The full-length episodes will be available on VERSUS on Demand the Thursday prior to the network debut. For more information, including complete episode descriptions and complete schedule information, visit VERSUS.com.

VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 73 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can’t find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

An independently operated and owned mixed martial arts lifestyle company, TapouT boasts a sought-after clothing line for MMA enthusiasts, sponsors the best MMA Fighters (Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva), and stars in a hit TV reality show on VERSUS. Their passion for the sport has turned into a full-on underground culture, as owners Mask, Punkass and Skyskrape extend the growing popularity of MMA through their presence at the most extreme events, supporting fighters and offering the hottest, edgiest apparel for men and women. TapouT most recently was named the first-ever exclusive apparel sponsor for season seven of “The Ultimate Fighter,” on Spike TV. Their distinctive logo graces everything from hats, tees and car windows, to their special limited edition 2007 Toyota Tundra TapouT truck. The TapouT logo has become so noteworthy that its most devoted fans are tattooing it on their bodies, demonstrating the ultimate in commitment.