MMA: Nick Hinchliffe and Kalib Starnes set for title fight after wins at Victoria's AFC 2

In what may have been the perfect set-up for a middleweight title match, Surrey B.C.-based UFC veteran Kalib Starnes rolled through Alberta's Marcus Hicks Saturday in the main event of Armageddon 2: Aftershock, right after Victoria's Nick Hinchliffe had dropped Maple Ridge's Dan MacIver in a long standing grudge match.

Starnes, who had such contempt for his opponent that he had already booked his next fight for later in the month in Hawaii, took the fight even though Hicks missed the agreed 190 lb catchweight by over 10 lbs.

Starnes weighed in fully-clothed, presented Hicks with a piece of cheesecake at the weigh-ins, and then came to ringside to the tune of The Muffin Man on the night of the fight.

The five-time UFC fighter and star of The Ultimate Fighter made short work of Hicks, who has a reputation for occasional brilliance, no fear, and consistently taking on more than he can handle in the cage.

Starnes took Hicks down early in the first round, engaged in some minor ground and pound, and sunk in a rear naked choke when the Albertan gave up his back, earning the win in under 90 seconds.

The fight immediately before the main event was a beauty, settling a long-standing feud between two of western Canada's most promising mixed martial artists.

Nick Hinchliffe had his journey to the UFC derailed when Dan MacIver got a submission by strikes over him at their first meeting at the King of the Cage in 2008. The loss set the Victorian back both personally and careerwise, as he was being scouted for a possible Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at the time.

But Hinchliffe took his revenge, giving MacIver his first loss and derailing his own UFC fast-track in the process with a devastating knockout blow early in the second round Saturday.

Hinchliffe had dominated a free-swinging MacIver in the first, getting full mount and controlling the Lower Mainlander on the ground. MacIver, as always, was just one punch away from ending it for a good part of the round, even when being beat on, but Hinchliffe beat him at his own game in the second, leveling the big ginger with a huge right hook that left MacIver out cold, crumpled against the cage.

After both fights, Starnes and Hinchliffe talked up the idea of a title match to establish AFC's first middleweight champ - a fight that would be worth taking the ferry for, without question.

In other fights, a pair of former Canadian Football League journeymen took another step on their MMA adventures with quick wins. Former Winnipeg blue Bomber Justin Shaw beat Bella Coola's Nathan Williamson so hard the doctor stopped it inside the first minute, while former Toronto Argonaut Derek Medler hit North Vancouver's Dave Logan with a guillotine choke inside fifty seconds of the first round for the win.

Shaw will be turning out for the B.C. Lions training camp, according to TopMMANews.com, so his football career isn't over just yet.

"I may have to take a break, but I am willing to fight whoever AFC wants when I can figure out my schedule,” he told James Locke.

In yet another quick finish, Xtreme Couture fighter Phil Freidman took early UFC fighter Jason Fairn out of the game by rear naked choke inside 50 seconds, while Zuma MMA's Diego Wilson, who trains with Strikeforce champ Sarah Kaufman, earned his debut win with a rear naked choke over Whitehorse's Ryan Leef inside two minutes.

A timing error brought controversy to one of the undercard fights when the buzzer sounded 80 seconds early as Nick Dreidger was dropping heinous ground and pound on Patrick Besarra. Special ref UFC fighter Mac Danzig noticed the error and restarted the fight from the former positions before stopping it a minute later for a TKO.

The remainder of the undercard:

Josh “The Beefstorm” Spong bt. Tim Jeffreys by TKO (punches) in rnd 1 - 135lbs.

Josh Bohnen bt. Chris Jones by decision - 160lbs.

Tristan Connolly bt. Jimmy Phan by submission (rear naked choke) in rnd 1 - 155lbs.

Karl Bergen bt. Cody Heatherington by TKO (knees) in rnd 1 - 170lbs.

AFC 2: Aftershock will be played in two Sundays, reportedly, on The Fight Network.