Edmonton’s Ryan (The Real Deal) Ford put no doubt in people’s minds Friday night that he deserves a shot at the MFC’s vacant 170-pound title.

Ford (6-0) dominated veteran C.J. Fernandes (14-7-3) through most of the opening round before forcing his opponent to tap out on a third rear naked choke attempt at 2:23 in the main event of MFC 16: Anger Management at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alta.

Ford came out with the support of the hometown crowd and his energy was evident early on as he pushed the pace and got the first takedown 10 seconds after the opening bell. The Canadian welterweight, whom some have criticized as being a one-dimensional standup fighter, displayed his jiu-jitsu skills as the fighters grappled near the ropes.

Ford managed to get the back of an equally athletic Fernandes, who trains out of The H.I.T. Squad, former UFC champion Matt Hughes' gym in Granite City, Ill., on a few occasions and twice had him in what appeared to be a deep choke only to have the American escape the submission attempt.

But a third time was the charm for Ford, who secured a victory by rear naked choke for the second straight fight. Ford beat UFC veteran Pete Spratt at MFC 15 in February.

Ford will now take on a yet unnamed opponent for the organization’s welterweight belt at MFC 17: Hostile Takeover on July 25.

In the co-main event, L.A.’s Chase Gormley (6-0) beat Eric (Big E) Pele by unanimous decision in a heavyweight battle between MFC newcomers. Gormley employed superior wrestling skills to take each round according to the judges, even as a good portion of the fight, which was expected to involve some heavy hitting, took place from the clinch standing up.

Yet it was Gormley who was able to dictate the pace from the standup. While Pele (11-5) actually had a slightly higher percentage of his strikes make contact, Gormley was able to limit Pele’s number of attempts and land more than double the number of shots. Both fighters suffered cuts in the slow fight which drew a smatter of boos from the crowd as the two big Americans failed to excite.

Gormley, an NAIA all-American wrestler, had stepped in to take the fight after both Gary Goodridge and Wayne Cole were forced to withdraw. While his deal was for one fight he said beforehand he hopes to be able to work out a longer term contract after he wins.

Pele appeared on the 2005-06 reality TV show “Inked,'' which focused on the Hart and Huntington Tattoo Company where he worked in Las Vegas. His six-foot-two canvas is a little smaller these days. Once as big as 450 pounds, Pele now fights at 265.

Overall, it was a long night of action at the River Cree Resort and Casino in suburban Edmonton, as half of the fights on the eight-bout main card went the distance and, apart from Ford’s win, all went multiple rounds. The other half of the main card finished by way of choke, and Evan Sanguin, fighting on the undercard, was the only fighter on the night to earn a knockout. Sanguin is trained by UFC fighter Jason MacDonald of Red Deer, Alta., who also cornered for Ford.

Pro Camp fighter Ryan (The Kid) McGillivray, who weighed in four pounds over the limit of 170 for the second straight fight and was docked 25 per cent of his purse, lost a split decision to Victoria’s Gavin Neil, while fellow Edmontonian Jason (The Show) Kuchera (3-1) suffered the first loss of his professional career to Oklahoma’s Aron Lofton.

Lofton used a guillotine choke to submit a bloody Kuchera, who was in tough after suffering an ugly gash above the mouth in the first round that was leaking blood, at 4:55 of the second round Kuchera. The American seemed to have the Edmontonian in a rear naked choke earlier when the referee paused the fight to have Kuchera's cut examined and Lofton lost his advantage when the action was halted and then restarted. Kuchera's lip looked like someone had taken a box cutter to it.

“Damn that was rough,'' said Lofton.

“He's a tough dude. He's in front of his home crowd. He didn't want to quit.''

Welterweight Mike Sorensen (3-1) of Fort McMurray, Alta., choked out Jeremy (Manslaughter) Martin at 1:06 of the second round to spoil the pro debut of the fighter from St. John's. Sorensen survived a bloody nose to dispatch his opponent via guillotine choke. Martin was also fined one-quarter of his purse as the only other fighter who failed to make weight.

American middleweight Chris Comozzi (8-1) won a lopsided decision over Dwayne Lewis of Fort McMurray, Alta. Lewis (4-4) took his lumps in the fight, his torso showing ugly welts from Comozzi's knees.

American lightweight Ben Henderson (5-1) choked out fellow American Mike Maestas (5-2) at 4:11 of the third round after carving the side of his head open with a flurry of elbows and American welterweight Matt Veach (7-0) outwrestled Halifax's Matt MacGrath (5-1) to win by decision.