Three title defenses headline FightQuest

Sunday’s FightQuest 59, the latest show put on at the Knights of Columbus by the amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) company, saw another early sellout and another hit with the 600 fans in attendance.

“Twelve fights, three of them for championships, it was amazing,” said FightQuest co-promoter Stephane Vigneault.

FightQuest Bantamweight champion Alexy Cloutier successfully defended his championship against Reda Driff, winning by unanimous decision after three rounds.

The other two championships changed hands: Sami Elmasry became the new Super Welterweight champion by defeating Moïse Lissala by unanimous decision, and Keegan Chiasson defeated Vince Nikiforov by submission, making Nikiforov tap out to the kimura lock in the second round in what Vigneault - and FightQuest - called the match of the night.

Chiasson winning the title against Nikiforov was a good way for him to get payback, Vigneault said, after he lost their previous matchup at FightQuest 57 via the knockout.

“After that, he won in Ontario, then he won his next big fight at FightQuest 58, so we put them against each other for the title because we saw him really evolve. He upgraded his level a lot,” said Vigneault of Chiasson.

Also on the card was one fighter from Kahnawake, Tiaohsera’te Johnson, making his second appearance in the promotion.

“I definitely noticed a different feeling this time, as compared to my first time with FightQuest,” said Johnson.

At first, he felt nervous, but as he got into the cage to face his opponent, Etienne Dubois, he felt a lot better than he did prior to his first fight.

“I felt a lot more relaxed and confident,” said Johnson.

Both he and Dubois were 0-1 going into their match.

“Both me and my opponent, we had something to prove to ourselves, and this was likely going to be my hardest fight yet,” said Johnson.

Unfortunately for him, he made some big mistakes against Dubois that resulted in the fight ending in a relatively quick loss for him by tap-out to a rear-naked choke at 1:50 in round one.

“At some point, after a handful of short kicking exchanges, he managed to time and land a good head-kick on me, which disoriented me. I made the mistake of losing my composure and shooting for a sloppy takedown, which led to an easy sweep and control for my opponent,” said Johnson.

“After being controlled and damaged, I decided to try and roll through it, but he did a good job following me on the ground and keeping control before eventually sinking in the choke.”

He said his main lesson will be staying focused and not letting himself become panicked when in the cage and things are not going his way, to avoid making more big mistakes.

That will come from more experience and more practice, he said.

“I will need to get more intensive training sessions, where people are throwing hard shots at me in a controlled environment, as I will get more used to it and thus be more calm during the real fight,” said Johnson.

Next up will be FightQuest 60, happening on March 14, 2026.

For Vigneault, being in the mixed martial arts world for almost 20 years has been a lot of work, but it’s been worth it.

“It’s good for the guys to compete in a safe place, where there is a doctor, an ambulance, rules, a good referee, and judges. Our show is known as the most professional show in the amateur circuit,” said Vigneault.

“If we don’t do it, someone else will try to do it, and they will do it wrong. We do it right. I’ll do it until I really can’t do it anymore.”

Of course, Vigneault and the other promoter of FightQuest, Peter Thomas, can’t do it alone.

“We have had a good team for many, many years. It’s becoming easier after each show, and after 59 it’s pretty easy. It’s the same recipe, but you keep trying to improve and make it better for the guys,” said Vigneault.

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