Three terrific champions currently hold MFC title belts around their waist.

Scott Junk holds the massive heavyweight title, Victor Valimaki who will defend his light heavyweight championship against Roger Hollett at MFC Lucky 13 and Patrick Cote – currently the longest-serving MFC champion with the middleweight crown.

Right now, none of the major MMA promotions in North America outside of the UFC have champions in all of their weight classes. As the MFC continues to assert itself as the fast-rising company in the fast-growing sport, the time has come to fill all the vacancies in the championship belt hotel.

With a complete lineup of champions, a new TV deal with Viewer’s Choice set to start and shows planned through 2008, the MFC would definitely be more than a few strides ahead of its nearest competition.

The title vacancy that can be filled the quickest is at lightweight provided that Ryan “The Kid” McGillivray can make the successful transition down from welterweight (don’t forget his MMA career started at middleweight). At 5-0 and with a pending matchup against the very tough Donald Sanchez, McGillivray has the inside track to the LW title.

If McGillivray’s transition is a little slow in coming, another lightweight contender has made a case for himself in Fabio Holanda. While his record is less than dazzling, he is certainly qualified to be considered a top contender.

The welterweight picture is a little cloudier since the best of the most-recent bunch in the MFC is Steve Bruno who has an inside track to a spot in the UFC. Since walking through Graydon Tannas in his MFC debut, Bruno picked up two wins in Korea, but he did make it very clear he would love to come back to the MFC for a title shot and he definitely didn’t mind playing the “bad guy” role as the invader from south of the border. If Bruno does go after the MFC belt, is there anyone out there willing to defend the Great White North?

Maybe it’s time for interested fighters to make their own case for the open titles. Why not let the MFC know that you want a belt? Why wait for a call? Show that you’re bold and pitch your own case that you deserve to be a champion. It’s obviously worth being an MFC champ – Patrick Cote re-emerged on the UFC scene after getting MFC belt; offers for Scott Junk continually come in; and Victor Valimaki got two cracks in the UFC and is awaiting his defence which will be the best main event in Canada this year.

Worthy contenders … send me your info, make your pitch. The time it takes to put together a little email bio could easily turn into a title shot.

TIME TO COME CLEAN: The sport of mixed martial arts has made such tremendous strides in the last 2-3 years, particularly in the world of mainstream media coverage. The UFC is the “in thing” with celebs of all sorts in the U.S. and here in Canada, the MFC has become No. 1 in large due to the acceptance of mainstream media and the coverage it provides our fight cards.

But what MMA – on both sides of the border – doesn’t need is a Bonds-like steroid scandal. Which means it is absolutely time that fighters come clean – in this case, get clean. The short term benefits of steroid use may be immediate and glory-filled but the long-term story for an individual fighter and the sport is deadly. Sean Sherk testing positive is one thing – yes, he’s a champion but not exactly a big-name one. The recent positive test for Royce Gracie is a fairly big stain on the sport. But erase Sherk and Gracie and put Randy Couture or Quinton Jackson in the picture. It suddenly becomes a KO blow.

The same can be said here in Canada. If a major face of the sport is proven to be positive, all the hard work is destroyed – and that’s not just his own work, it’s the work of fellow fighters and promoters too.

Unfortunately Canadian fighters have been given a grace period because there is presently no testing for steroids done in this country. Tests are done for illegal drugs and a few fighters (actually mostly boxers) have been wrist-slapped. But steroids go undetected. Why? Because none of the commissions (civic or provincial) in the country want to be the first to step up and test for fear that they’ll lose out on shows to other commissions where testing isn’t done.

For the time being, all I can say is that I hope the cream of the crop in Canada don’t fall into the steroid trap. It’s a near-impossible pit to dig out of and it only serves against the greater good – making the best fighters in Canada household names, filling venues for shows and gaining even positive coverage from the media.

MOVING SOUTH: The MFC’s plans to make inroads in the U.S. market will come to fruition in ’08. Possibilities range from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest all the way down to Florida. It’s the first step in a move to become the second-biggest player in the game

(after the UFC) in North America by 2010.

I’m sure that these plans will create a firestorm of barely readable comments in various forums, but I have an answer to all that. It’s pure, freshly picked sour grapes. And to those who believe other organizations have the lead, I’ll offer this back. The MFC can legitimately make these plans because the promotion makes money. It’s impossible to grow a promotion when it’s drowning in debt as so many perceived “leaders” are.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? I recently read a list of some of the best nicknames in MMA and Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald made the grade. Personally, I think “The Matrix” rates near top with an honourable mention to “Punk Haole” for originality. But “The Dentist” and “The Irish Hand Grenade” are the clear-cut leaders … Speaking of JMac, watch for him doing color commentary on the MFC 12 High Stakes release when it hits pay-per-view shortly.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Recently crowned MFC heavyweight champion Scott Junk should be up for a title defence within the next few months. Where that fight will take place is up in the air (Edmonton? Hawaii?). And also to be decided is his opponent. If Tim Hague wants to leave the small time behind and come to the big show then he would be a logical contender, but what many don’t know is that he was offered the title shot twice before against Junk and turned it down … Just wondering: does a “big” crowd count if you can walk through the host casino and be handed as many tickets as you want for free?