Lucian Phillips practicing a heel hook submission. (Submitted photo: North Wake MMA/Cody Horne)

By Nick Nielsen

2 Fight in Nova Scotia, 1 in Lethbridge

Prince Albert athletes ready for combat this weekend

Sep 20, 2024 | 3:00 PM

Saturday is set to be a busy day for the North Wake Martial Arts Club.

That’s because their athletes are spread out across the country supporting Ryan Rohovich and Lucian Phillips while they fight in Pictou County, Nova Scotia; and Patrick Turner gets set for his return to professional fighting in Lethbridge.

Starting with Lucian Phillips, he is the head coach at North Wake. He’s competing in a no gi grappling fight against Jason Rorison in the main event of the Coldstream Clear and FLA Grappling: Tap or Tag event in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Phillips has been preparing for this fight for some time,

“He’s one of the head coaches of the Pictou jujitsu school here in here. So other than that, I don’t know anything about him. He’s another black belt, he’s been training in Jiu Jitsu for over 20 years.”

There is no striking in the event, so you won’t see any punches, kicks, knees, or elbows. What you will see is throws and takedowns, with the winner being decided by submission. If a no one is tapped out in the first four minutes of the fight, judges will be keeping track of points in the final four minutes and if a winner is still not decided in the ring, the judges will decide at the end of the eight minute fight.

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Also fighting in Pictou this Saturday in a main event is Ryan ‘The Lion’ Rohovich taking on Cam Nelson out of the Renzo Gracie Gym in Prince Edward Island in a regular MMA fight the public would be more familiar with. Rohovich comes in as the elder fighter by a full 11 years over his opponent and, according to Tapology.com, holds a record of five wins, six losses in his career. Rohovich’s last fight was in June of this year where Rohovich lost via split decision, which means the fight went the full distance and only two out of the three judges agreed on the winner.

Ryan Rohovich practicing his striking at North Wake MMA. (Submitted photo: North Wake MMA/Cody Horne)

Rohovich knows that he’s not going to be popular when he steps into the cage taking on someone who is basically a local in Pictou, but he’s excited to step in anyway.

“It’s going to be a big fight. Main event and these hometown guys, so everyone out here is going to be be here cheering and cheering him on. So it is going to be a big fight. It’s exciting.”

Getting his start in MMA over 11 years ago, Rohovich started as a combination kickboxer and jiujitsu grappler. He said he specializes in jiujitsu, and that specialty came in handy during one of his most recent fights when he had already lost the first two rounds and was losing the third when he managed to pull off a triangle choke for the finish with 35 seconds left in the fight.

“I was really sick the night before and I was hospitalized, and so the next day when I did fight, I was maybe 30-40%, so I wasn’t myself. The guy he was beating me up on the ground for the majority of the three rounds I had a couple moments on the feet and stuff like that. If it went to decision I would not have won that fight. I was getting pounded on the ground quite a bit and I just saw my moment and I went for it and I was able to capitalize and finish him.”

As for his fight on Saturday, Rohovich is excited. He’s fighting Cameron Nelson who comes in with a professional record of 2-1, with his last fight being a loss via split decision in November of 2023.

“I do know he’s an up and coming prospect out here, he’s big, strong, athletic. So it’s going to be a good fight. It’s not going be easy, it’s definitely going to be a challenge, but it’s definitely something I’m up for and I’m ready to go out there and get the W.”

Patrick Turner throws a jab during his training. (Submitted photo: North Wake MMA/Cody Horne)

Finally, moving on to Patrick Turner, he’ll be fighting in a middleweight bout (195lbs) against Terell Jonasson from Athabasca, Alberta at Rumble in the Cage 68 in Lethbridge, Alberta. For Turner, he comes in with an amateur record of 1-2 according to Tapology.com, and this will be his first sanctioned fight since January of 2017 where he lost via unanimous decision to Rayne Wells.

According to head coach Phillips, it’s difficult not being there to support Turner for the fight in person, but because of the great community of athletes at North Wake he knows that Turner will have the right people in his corner.

“He used to fight MMA quite a while ago and then he just started training with us at the gym maybe six months ago. He’s had some experience, he was 5-0 as an amateur when he was fighting and he started training with us again and he wanted to give it another shot, so he took a fight in Lethbridge, obviously we can’t be there, we’re across the country but he does have support from other guys at the gym there with him.”

All three fights are availble to watch online. For Patrick Turner’s fight in Lethbridge, visit Rumble in the Cage’s website. As for the other two, they are both available on Fight League Atlantic’s website. For Lucian Phillips’ grappling match, click ‘Buy PPV Tap or Tag’, and for Ryan Rohovich, click ‘Buy PPV FLA 16’.