HispanicBusiness

Step up or step out.

That is Northeast MMA president Chris Coyne's motto when it comes to his growing business. And Coyne promises Northeast MMA will step up with its largest show to date when Cage Fight 9 kicks off Nov. 25 from the Lackawanna College Student Union.

"This is our largest to date," Coyne said. "It's not going to be the largest ever. The largest will be the next one and the next one."

Cage Fight 9 marks the return of mixed martial arts to the former Catholic Youth Center for the first time since Cage Fight 4 in March 2010. Coyne says this production will be bigger.

"Moving back enables us to put on a better show," he said. "It will be more fan friendly with a better viewing experience. We are not putting on a 'fight', we are putting on a 'show'. We'll have ramps, smoke and lights. We're just looking to foster the environment."

But this card is not all smoke and mirrors. The card currently has six professional bouts with the main event featuring former Bellator fighter Gemiyale Adkins against Kris McCray, who was runner-up on "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz" reality series on Spike in 2010 and formerly fought with UFC.

"Bringing in big names really stamps our name on the map," Coyne said. "Adkins and McCray aren't going to come fight in a gym. They have fought in front of thousands of people and they come to fight in front of big crowds."

West Scranton's Dave Morgan returns for his sixth Cage Fight series fight and his third as a professional. Morgan will be looking to bounce back from suffering his first loss on Oct. 8 when he takes on Evan Velez of New York.

Cage Fight 9 will also feature nine amateur bouts headlined by a Cage Fight 170 title fight between Wilkes-Barre's Gary Peters and Dave Spadell Jr. of Hazleton.

"(Peters and Spadell) are ready to take the next step," Coyne said. "We have guys taking the next step from amateur to professional. We have pros who have a little experience and we have guys with a lot of experience. On this card, we have two kids making their amateur debuts against each other and we have former UFC and Bellator guys. The skill level is different but the action will still be there."