Marianna Kheyfets Faces Heather Clark At XFC 16: "High Stakes"Top prospect Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets steps back into the XFC cage at Xtreme Fighting Championships 16: “High Stakes” on February 10, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 26-year-old battles Jackson’s MMA standout Heather “Hurricane” Clark. XFC officials announced the bout today.

Kheyfets has yet to taste defeat in her mixed martial arts career and has risen up the 125-pound ranks with four victories since making her pro debut 17 months ago. Clark brings an impressive four-fight winning streak into her XFC debut and sports a brutal ten-second knockout victory on her résumé.

Kheyfets (4-0-0) debuted for the XFC after winning a tryout with the promotion last year. In her first fight, she faced a more experienced opponent in Kim Couture, but dominated much of the brief bout before submitting Couture with a triangle choke. She won once more for XFC before the end of 2010 and kept busy with a submission victory under the Reality Fighting banner this past May. When XFC returned in October, Kheyfets was featured prominently on the card in a bout with veteran Molly Helsel. Kheyfets’s rapidly-improving Muay Thai skills allowed her to stay one step ahead of Helsel on the feet and she defended well when the fight hit the mat to earn a Unanimous Decision victory.

Clark (4-1-0) is unbeaten since dropping a decision in her April 2010 pro debut. She has earned finishes in each of her four fights since and most notably knocked out April Coutino with a single punch in just ten seconds this past January. Most recently, Clark submitted Rumble on the River champion Sarah “Too Sweet” Alpar at Freestyle Cage Fighting 49 in October. She had expected to clash with Chelsea “The Italian Princess” Colarelli earlier this month, but the bout was scrapped after Colarelli suffered an injury. Clark now looks to crack the top ten at 125 pounds with a win over Kheyfets, who has become one of XFC’s top stars.

Xtreme Fighting Championships 16: “High Stakes” takes place on February 10, 2012 at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium-Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The event airs live on HDNet and the bout between Kheyfets and Clark will be featured on the televised main card.

 

  1. Looks like Heather has good offensive stand up, defense is not great.
    Seems very strong on the ground.
    Heather look pretty big for a SuperFlyweight.
    Kheyfets has to keep it standing, very tough fight for her.
    Nice to see XFC outside of Tampa.
    Great match up.