When you think about veterans in MMA a lot of names come to mind. But when you look at Johnathan Ivey’s record it reads as a who’s who of the sport after 12 years in the sport. With fights against Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Sean McCorkle, Ricco Rodriguez, Ben Rothwell, and Jeremy Horn it’s easy to see why ‘The Leglock Monster’ is one of the most respected veterans in Tennessee. On June 22nd Ivey will return home to Nashville, TN to face Devan Plaisance in front of family and friends on the undercard of XFC 18:Music City Mayhem.

After a disappointing showing at light heavyweight last year Ivey proved to the world that he was back in February when he submitted Joshua Franklin in the first round in his return to his natural weight class of heavyweight. “The Leglock Monster is back,” exclaimed Ivey. “I tried out 205 and it was just too tough of a cut so I’m going to be staying at heavyweight from now on. Mr. Prisco was nice enough to have me back to fight in my hometown and I’m really excited to get back in the XFC cage.”

But standing in Ivey’s way in Nashville is East Tennessee’s Devan Plaisance who will be making his debut at heavyweight for XFC 18. Plaisance has won 3 out of his last 4 and will look to pull the upset over a much more experienced Ivey. “I’ve watched some tape on Davan,” said Ivey. “He’s very tall and will have reach on me. He is very good on the ground and has a lot of wins by submissions. Stylistically it’s interesting because we are both considered ground guys but I don’t mind standing with anyone. I really want to put on a show for the fans in Nashville and leave the Municipal Auditorium with the win. It’s going to be a tough fight because anytime you compete for the XFC there are no easy ones.”

XFC President John Prisco is glad to have Ivey back and is interested to see how the fight shakes out. “Johnathan Ivey is one of those guys that every hardcore MMA fans knows. He doesn’t have the best record but he is famous for taking fights on short notice with no training camp. He’s been doing this 1998 and is still going strong. He fought for the XFC a few years ago and put on a show against Chris Barnett. I expect a very motivated Ivey to come out looking for the finish in Nashville. But on the other hand, Devan wants to be the spoiler and beat Ivey in his hometown and he has the skillset to get it done. Devan has run through just about everyone in East TN and is going up two weight classes to take this fight. It’ll be interesting to see how his body reacts should the fight go into the later rounds. Either way this is a fight with two very good technicians on the ground and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.”

In addition to Ivey vs. Plaisance, XFC 18 is loaded with rising stars from Tennessee on the undercard. Cory Robison vs Michael Graham, Nate Landwehr vs Billy Mullins, and Justin Pennington vs. Dave Hurst will round out the untelevised portion of the show.

XFC 18: Music City Mayhem is sponsored by ICRealtime Security Solutions and will air live on HDnet from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN June 22nd, 2012. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.com. To learn more about the XFC, please visit www.officialxfc.com, “Like” them on Facebook, and “follow” the promotion on Twitter (@officialxfc).