The New England Fights mixed martial arts promotion will be crowning a new champion in the lightweight ranks during NEF 28 this weekend in Lewiston.

Two Bangor based fighters will step into the cage for the right to be the fourth NEF lightweight champion at the 155 pound limit.  “The” Ryan Sanders of Young’s  MMA in Bangor will be facing off against Jon Lemke of Titan Athletics in Brewer in a rematch of their fight this past November.

Both Sanders and Lemke won their last time out as they competed in the semi-final  tournament for the belt, with the former besting John Ortolani in under a minute with a leg kick to the head, while Lemke won via a much talked about early stoppage after dropping Jesse Erickson with a punch in the first round.  As a result the two will square off in the main event of the NEF 28 card on Saturday night in the Colisee.

The last meeting between Sanders and Lemke saw the former win after a medical stoppage due to a head cut suffered on the side of the cage.  Judges ruled a unanimous decision in favor of Sanders, who is currently on a three fight win streak.

The former champions of the NEF belt include Desmond Green, Bruce Boyington, and most recently Devin Powell.  Green fought on the UFC 210 card last month in Buffalo, while Powell was signed to the UFC as well, and made his debut in January for the promotion.  Boyington is a mainstay for World Series of Fighting and last fought on New Year’s Eve at Madison Square Garden.

Other fighters on the card include Bangor’s Josh Harvey (3-0) taking on Derek Shorey of Dexter.  Shorey is fighting to raise money for his family after a fire destroyed their house earlier this month.  Both fighters were originally scheduled for other opponents, but injuries resulted in the match-up.

Fighters Aaron Lacey, Matt Probin, and Ricky Dexter of Young’s MMA were also slated for the card, but were unable to compete due to injuries during training.

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