06/07/2026
The first MMA card in Rumford, Maine! Come support (1-0) Sam Charles (MMA) and (0-0) Juan Zambrano (kickboxing debut)! Contact them for tickets!
โ๐๐๐ 67โ ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฟ; ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐-๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐พ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Rumford, Maine (June 7, 2026) โ New England Fights (โNEFโ) presents its next event โNEF 67: Brawl at Town Hallโ on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at the Rumford Falls Auditorium in Rumford, Maine. The event will feature both mixed-martial-arts (MMA) and kickboxing bouts. Tickets are on sale now at www.nefights.com/tickets/.
With a rich history of combat sports events dating back to at least 1906 (based on available records), Rumford regularly hosted boxing cards โ at times on a weekly basis โ for much of the first half of the 20th century. The return of combat sports to Rumford is a significant moment for the community. More than half a century has elapsed since the town last hosted a combat sports event, making NEF 67 one of the most historically significant fight cards ever held in the River Valley.
โIโve promoted events all over New England, but this one means something different,โ said NEF co-owner Matt Peterson. โRumford is my hometown. These are my roots. To bring combat sports back here after more than 50 years, in a community that has produced so many outstanding athletes, is something Iโve wanted to do for a very long time.โ
Athletic success is woven into the fabric of the River Valley. Few communities in Maine can match the Rumford, Mexico, and Dirigo traditions of athletic achievement. The region has produced championship football teams, dozens of individual and team wrestling state championships, and some of the most accomplished combat sports athletes to compete in the NEF cage. The return of fight night to Rumford represents a natural extension of a community that has spent decades developing hard-nosed competitors.
River Valley competitors have claimed NEF championships and challenged for titles throughout the promotion's history. Ryan Burgess (3-3) can count himself among that class. A native of Mexico, Maine, Burgess was a three-time Maine State Champion wrestling for Mountain Valley High School in Rumford. He brought that success with him to the cage where he captured the NEF Amateur MMA Flyweight Championship in 2015.
Burgess will now have the opportunity to put that title belt back on his mantle as NEF has announced the main event of โNEF 67โ as Burgess against Hussin Al-Saadi (5-2) for the vacant 125-pound championship. Al-Saadi is one of the most feared flyweights in New England at the moment and has already captured gold this year in New Hampshire. He represents The Choi Institute based in Portland, Maine. Burgess competes as a member of Team Lawton and holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).
โI canโt think of a greater fight to headline the first MMA event ever sanctioned in the town of Rumford,โ said Burgess when reached for comment. โAfter watching Hussinโs last title fight, I knew Matt Peterson had found the right guy. I jumped on the opportunity without hesitation. To reclaim gold in my hometown, in front of my friends and family, I couldnโt have dreamed of a better scenario. Itโs been 11 years since I took the division by storm and claimed gold in just the second fight of my career.
โThis will be Hussinโs third attempt to touch gold in the NEF cage. Unfortunately for him, heโs coming into my backyard and leaving empty-handed. Two game opponents are going to lay it all on the line in a historic fight at a historic event. New England, stay on noticeโyou are about to witness exactly what Rumford is made of.โ
"I am ready for whatever fight my opponent shows up with," stated Al-Saadi. "I feel I am a better mixed-martial-artist right now than ever before, and I am coming to take more gold inshallah."
Additionally, Dirigo High School assistant wrestling coach Bryce Whittemore (0-0) is scheduled to make his amateur debut at โNEF 67.โ A lifelong wrestler, Whittemore is a four-time Maine State Finalist in wrestling and a three-time Maine State Champion, having won state titles in 2015, 2016, and 2017 while wrestling for Dirigo. He was the Maine All-State Runner-up in 2017. While in high school, he twice qualified for the New England Championships.
NEF further announced that Preston Garland (1-0) will return to action on the โNEF 67โ card. The 18-year-old state wrestling champion is coming off a second-round submission victory in his amateur debut last month at โNEF 66.โ
โNEF 67โ takes place on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at the Rumford Falls Auditorium in Rumford, Maine. Doors will open at 6 pm with the first fight taking place at 7 pm. Tickets are on sale now at www.nefights.com/tickets/.
