The Peninsula Fighting Championship is back, but it’s not back at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.
The event has been moved to the Peninsula Center Mall in Soldotna. The first PFC event at the mall will be Sept. 4 and 5.
In July, the city of Soldotna chose 6 or 5 Times Productions as the sole promoter for mixed martial arts promotions at the sports complex for one year, with the option to extend for another year.
Mat Plant, promoter for PFC, said the last sports complex event put on by PFC was in February and drew a crowd of 1,100.
But after that, the PFC couldn’t get back in the sports complex until the city’s selection process was resolved.
“We came out of a dark place, but the community embraced us,” Plant said. “More sponsors and businesses have stepped up and helped us than ever before.”
Plant said the mall has been very helpful. He said part of the suspense with this event is seeing how the area will be set up for fighting.
“We’re shooting for around 400, so there will be limited tickets available,” Plant said. “We’ll have the run of the whole mall. There won’t be any bad seats in the house.”
In keeping with that suspense, Stephanie Clay, who puts together the fights for PFC, would not reveal the fight card.
She said there should be about six fights.
There will be fighters from the Anchorage Fighting Championship, and a women’s matchup featuring a local fighter and an Anchorage fighter.
“The suspense is coming to see who’s fighting for us, and coming to see what changes we’ve made in order to adapt to this venue,” Clay said.
Sept. 4 at the mall will be free to attend, with the event starting at 8 p.m. There will be a few exhibition fights, Brazilian jiujitsu exhibitions, a beer garden and a wall of guns done by Sportsman’s Warehouse.
Plant said the wall of guns raises money for vocational education scholarships. Tickets are sold for $10, and for every 100th ticket sold, the name of a gun winner is drawn.
The Sept. 5 fights start at 7 p.m. There also will be a beer garden and wall of guns Saturday. Some of the mall businesses will stay open, including Ginger’s Restaurant.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. There also are standing-room-only tickets available for $10.
Advance tickets are available at Cook’s Corner in Sterling. Clay said big groups can also message her at the Peninsula Fighting Championship Facebook page to get tickets in advance.
“I’m very confident we’ll fit 400, and I’m confident we’ll sell that out,” Plant said.
