Veteran excited by middleweight debut at Vindication

IThe new David Heath is a lot like the old David Heath.
 
There’s just less of him.
 
Formerly a light heavyweight - and a slightly undersized one at that - Heath is revamping himself in the guise of a middleweight, and he’ll get his first opportunity to test himself in a main-card televised bout at MFC 25: Vindication.
 
Heath (14-6) will take on “King” Solomon Hutcherson (11-6) in a featured clash live on HDNet Fights on Friday, May 7 at the Northlands Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.
 
But while the weight has disappeared, Heath’s sense of humor hasn’t. A couple of interviews back, Heath joked about his new-found love of feta cheese. This time around, the virtues of asparagus are discussed. When talk turns to his upcoming encounter with Hutcherson, Heath teases about the arsenal of attack he’ll display - one which includes flying knees and spinning back heel kicks.
 
Certainly being one of the most affable fighters around has made Heath a popular figure in the MFC, but so too has his willingness to engage head-on with opponents. He squared off with former champion Emanuel Newton in a tough struggle, stared down former champion Roger Hollett and caught him in the middle of the ring with a submission, slugged it out with Travis Galbraith to a controversial decision, and battled toe-to-toe with Mike Nickels in the MFC’s 2009 Fight of the Year.
 
Heath was slated to appear at MFC 24 back in February but his scheduled fight with Dwayne Lewis was shelved when the Tulsa, Oklahoma, native suffered a torn bicep tendon in training. While the injury didn’t require surgery, there was a fair bit of time taken up by rehab, though Heath has come back ready to go in his new weight class.
 
“I haven’t been at 185 since I was a junior in high school,” kidded Heath. “I think my striking is better than most people’s even at 205 but at 185 it’s going to be even better. I’ve wanted to make this move for over a year. This is definitely the way to go for me. I was excited about matching up with Dwayne again but this is a much better fight for me. I don’t have to go in there being the little guy in the ring anymore.
 
“I’m excited to see how I feel. It’s felt different in training but better already. I feel more mobile. I think I would have out-quicked him anyhow but now there’s not going to be a big size difference.”
 
So a matchup that Heath personally called out for is going to come to fruition, and Heath is doing plenty of homework to give himself every chance of passing the test with a straight-A performance.
 
“I’ve watched a lot of film and seen his tendencies. I’ve probably watched more film earlier on than at any time before,” noted Heath.
 
“I don’t think it’s going to be about what game plan I have for him, it’s more about what I think his game plan will be for me. I’ve trained with Duke Roufus before and I think I know what they’ll plan to do against me. I’ve sort of revised my game plan and we‘ll see how it goes but Solomon is a difficult guy to plan against.”