John Alessio was victorious and in impressive fashion last month - choking
out Calgary's Andrew Buckland at MFC 21 and winning both submission and
assassination of the night honours - but it wasn't enough to please everyone.

There are some people that feel as though Alessio ducked the likes of
Derrick Noble and Jake Ellenberger in favour of fighting the less experienced Buckland at MFC 21.

Alessio is well aware of the chatter and obviously sees things differently.
"Derrick Noble was never brought up to me by my manager," said Alessio.
"Still, it's ridiculous, because I would fight Derrick Noble in a heartbeat.
No disrespect to him, but I think we're both two veterans in the game and
we'd put on a good fight.

"And, yes, Jake Ellenberger was brought up, but who is Jake Ellenberger? I
want to fight a big name and he's a tough dude with no name. Yeah, he's beat
some tough guys, but he hasn't really gotten any press or TV time. He's a
grinder and a tough kid, but for me to go back to my home town and fight him
- a relative nobody, especially in Canada - it just seemed like a stupid
fight."

With that said, the rumours and innuendo have still done well to draw the
ire of the Duncan, British Columbia native; and, who can blame him? Being
accused of "ducking" someone is essentially the same as being called a
coward.

"Look at my record and look at the guy's I've fought," said Alessio. "When I
was 19 years old, I went to the UFC and fought for the welterweight
championship against Pat Miletich. At 19 years old!

"I fought Egan Inoue, in Superbrawl, when I was 18 years old! I was 170
lbs., Inoue was 200 lbs., and I took that fight. I've fought Diego Sanchez,
Thiago Alves, Paul Daley, and, you know, the list goes on of guys that I've
fought and competed against."

"I haven't ducked anybody. If anything I've gone after the toughest
opponents and challenges possible."

According to Alessio, selecting an opponent is a delicate balancing act
between ensuring that he's found a tough opponent, but also one that will
help him put on the best show for the fans. That opponent was Buckland, not
Ellenberger, at MFC 21.

"I'm looking for tough fights that are going to excite the crowd. Jake
Ellenberger is a grinding wrestler that's going to try to take me down and
grapple with me all the time. I want to put on more of a striking show or a
submission match, than a boring wrestling match - I'm not into that."

And now that Alessio is once again back in the winning column, he's wants to
silence all of his critics by taking on the MFC's top welterweight dog.

 "I know that some people on the internet are still saying that I ducked
Ellenberger - and we can do it at some point - but right now I want to fight
his training partner who happens to have the belt - Pat Healy.

"If I'm going to fight Team Quest, I'm fighting the champion! I don't need
to fight Jake Ellenberger. He hasn't done anything in the MFC and he hasn't
been around that much."

However, that may all be a little premature. Alessio is currently without an
MFC contract - although that doesn't mean he's going anywhere - and he's
just 1-1 with the promotion.

"As of right now I'm a free agent, but I definitely don't want to go anywhere else," said Alessio. "I love the MFC. I love the fact that I can fight in Canada and in front of my home crowd. I think the HDNet people are incredible at what they do. Mark Pavelich is great and I've had nothing but good experiences with him. But I guess most of all, I just want that belt and that's what we're trying to work out right now.

"I want Pat Healy."

Be sure to catch the return of the MFC's #1 Son, Jason "The Athlete"
MacDonald, as he headlines MFC 22: Payoff from what is sure to be a sold-out
River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta. Tickets can be found by
visiting www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling 1-780-451-800