ROSS HANSON STRIPPED OF GCC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP!
All good things come to an end in the case of the GCC Heavyweight Champion Ross Hanson the end has come abruptly as early morning on January 30th GCC officials made the call to strip the GCC heavyweight champion. The reason for the decision has been cited as ''an emergency personal leave of absence'' void of any particular details and Ross Hanson's coaches at Tundra MMA could not be reached for comment at the time of this article being published.
A NEW CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED
As a result of today's news heavyweights Aleskandr Baranov and Alejandro Rivera are still scheduled to fight at GFN 17 on February 12th and for the first time since GFN 8 a GCC championship will be defended on a Global Fight Night card. Both men have already engaged in heated trash talk back and forth on social media so the added caveat of a GCC heavyweight championship on the line has upped the stakes for both men ten fold.
Alejandro Rivera (5-2) recently lost his championship to Ross Hanson at GCC 13 back in October. His upcoming fight with Aleksandr Baranov will be his first fight since his loss and was reportedly obsessed with working his way back up to a rematch with Ross Hanson - with that prospect potentially placed on hold indefinitely, it'll be interesting to see how he responds to this news.
Aleksandr Baranov (5-1) has had momentum on his side as he is riding a 3 fight win streak into his title fight. His lone loss is also notably against the former champion and training partner, Ross Hanson. Baranov is expected to hold his cards close to his chest in regards to what his friend is currently going through but otherwise is unlikely to be wavered by the news as he's made it clear on multiple occasions that his sole intention is to win the GCC heavyweight championship.
Trouble in paradise?
Tundra MMA has suffered several setbacks in recent months. After initially starting their campaign strong (with something ridiculous like 11 straight victories!?), momentum is quickly dwindling down. The high profile departure of Ken Felder along with several fighters being dropped from their banners has seen the size of their gym shrink. Last night, Ariel Shadows lost her GCC bantamweight championship to Osira Themis VIA a 1st round knockout and now with the announcement that Ross Hanson has been stripped of the GCC heavyweight championship - Tundra MMA is truly being challenged as a gym for the first time since it's inception.
GCC 17 TITLE FIGHT ANNOUNCED
President Fazan Khan isn't quite done breaking news yet. In addition to the title fight at GFN 17 between Aleksandr Baranov and Alejandro Rivera the GCC is officially announcing that on February 26th in Milan, Italy - Sanit Klahan will defend the GCC lightweight championship against Fabiano Bonucci in the main event at GCC 17. Sanit Klahan shocked the world as a heavy underdog against former champion Rob Jones knocking him out for the first time in his career. The challenger Fabiano Bonucci has proven to be one of the most dangerous knockout artists in the lightweight division and the top prospect in the GCC heading into 2021.