By Scott Roblin

Arnett, Riggs, Curtis capture titles at Fight Night 4

Sep 10, 2017 | 12:00 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – After months of planning and a few fights that have been a long time coming, ‘Fight Night 4’ finally kicked off at the Canalta Centre on Saturday evening.

Six professional fights and two amateur fights headlined the card, which finally included the showdown between ‘Brutal’ Johnny Bedford and Jesse ‘Big Cat’ Arnett.

Bedford and Arnett were scheduled to battle in Fight Night 2 over a year ago, but the fight was called off after Bedford rolled his ankle while stepping out of his fight promoter’s vehicle.

The bantamweight title was also up for grabs, however Bedford missed his weight cut by five pounds meaning Arnett was the lone competitor eligible to win the belt.

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Much of the main event was kept off the mat, with Bedford and Arnett exchanging jabs and body shots with very little ground work.

A number of timeouts were called by Bedford over the course of the fight claiming to be hit in the eye by Arnett, much to the chagrin of the crowd.

It was a very close contest, but Calgary’s Arnett came out on top over the American Bedford by a split-decision (48-46, 48-47, 47-47).

Due to making weight the day before, Arnett captured the vacant bantamweight championship.

Arnett said it was a thrilling match, made even better by the energy provided by the crowd at the Canalta Centre.

“I always throw my heart over the bar every single time,” said Arnett. “I don’t think you’ve ever seen Jesse ‘The Big Cat’ Arnett in a boring fight. I’m prideful of that, and I take pride in that.”

In the light-heavyweight division, UFC veteran Joe ‘Diesel’ Riggs squared off against Shonie Carter on short notice after Mike Hill pulled out of the fight earlier in the week.

It was almost the second straight Medicine Hat fight called off for Riggs, after his opponent at Fight Night 3 earlier this year also dropped out.

Riggs went to work early with his ground and pound strategy, dominating Carter en-route to a TKO late in the second round to capture the light-heavyweight belt.

Now 34-year-old, the American said he’s making the most out of his final few months in the octagon.

“I have less than a year left, so I want to get as many wins as I can, finish on a good note,” said Riggs. “I just made the Hall of Fame, so when I have fights that pull out it irritates me. So, the fact that I got a fight means a lot.”

The third title fight on Saturday featured a battle between Peter Grajcar and Chris Curtis in the welterweight division.

Montreal’s Grajcar was the champion of the main event at Fight Night 3, but was not able to cut enough weight and kept the welterweight championship vacant.

Curtis was able to get the upper hand and capture the belt with a unanimous decision over Grajcar, in what was called one of the best matches in Fight Night history.

In the other professional fights, Chris Kelades defeated Keegan Oliver by unanimous decision, Drayton Angus knocked out Lee Hagel within the opening 15 seconds, and Nick Ghaeni submitted Cody Purtell by rear naked choke in the second round.

Meanwhile, Will Grieves defeated Clint Usselman and Usman Khattak knocked out Kurt White in the amateur rankings.