Matchmaker Jeremy Bjornberg searched high and low for a main event to anchor the Driller/SEG show on March 3 at the Hyatt in downtown Minneapolis.

The exciting matchup for which he had been hoping finally came to fruition late last week. Now the deal is signed, sealed and delivered, and Minnesota MMA fans will get to see one of the state's best 145-pounders take on one of the best from Canada.

Minnesota Top Team's Courtney Buck has signed on to battle Canada's Matt "Kid Lightning" Veal in a matchup of top-end 145ers.

Buck (10-5) will look to bounce back after a loss to Melvin Blumer at the last Target Center show. The WEC is still ranked No. 4 in Minnesota at 145. He had been on a three-fight winning streak until the setback against Blumer.

Buck is still considered one of Minnesota's most feared strikers at 145.

Veal's 8-7 record might fool some, but it should be noted that he's the only fighter ever to defeat Melvin Blumer. He also took out Blumer's brother, Marvin, on a Savage Entertainment show.

Veal, who trains at Leading Edge in Thunder Bay, is no stranger to fighting in Minnesota. In addition to his bouts in Savage, Veal started his career as a regular for Jami Klair's Ultimate

Combat Sports. He fought four times for UCS, losing only to Pat Miletich-trained Brandon Adamson in Rochester.

Veal's ground game is outstanding; he submitted both Blumer brothers and six of his eight victories have come by way of submission.

Veal also will be looking to bounce back from a loss, though. He suffered a third-round setback to 5-2 Greg Welsh for the Evolution Fighting Championships belt in October.

After this fight, Veal will be considered for the Minnesota rankings at 145. He's based in Canada but has fought the majority of his fights in Minnesota or against Minnesota fighters.

"It's really going to be a pleasure watching two of the more exciting fighters in the area go to battle," Bjornberg said. "I have never seen Veal in person, but he's been asking to fight one of the best around since I can remember, be it (Mike) Richman, (Brandon) Girtz or Buck. I think the fans will love the way the show is gonna end."

The bulk of the fights for March 3 have been locked down, Bjornberg said.

March 3 is a big day for MNMMANEWS sensation Andre "The Diva" Tieva. He'll be making his pro debut that night against 2-3 Dan Wales. Tieva is ranked No. 7 in Minnesota at 135-and-below, and he went 5-0 as an amateur. Tieva's show "Diva's Dirt" is set to air again Wednesday on MNMMANEWS.com

Other pro fights set for March 3 include Erik Vo (3-5) vs. Tony Belvedere (13-5) at 125, Derek Varin (3-0) vs. Chris McCalister (3-1) at 155, Fred Freeman (2-0) vs. Brandon Buchholz (6-7) at 135 and Mike Plazola (14-8) vs. Dan Kiser (6-2).

Floyd Hodges, John Melina and Ben Locken also are expected to be in action.

On the amateur side of the card, John Castaneda will put his new amateur strap on the line against Mitch Field (3-0). Other matchups include David Goebel (0-0) vs. Antonio Dvorak (1-1) at heavyweight, Cam Gilliam (3-1) vs. Branden Bell (5-2) at 170 and Peter Riojas (2-0) vs. Marcel Andereson (3-2) at 155.

Driller/SEG also has a show Feb. 11 at Primetime Sports Bar in Burnsville. That show features a main event of Billy "The Kid" Christianson (5-1) against Ben "The Baker" Neumann (4-0) at 155 pounds. Christianson is ranked No. 10 at 155, while Neumann is No. 6.

Other pro fights for the Feb. 11 card include Lloyd McKinney (4-2) against Kurtis Ehrhorn (4-2) at 125, and Kenn Glenn (3-0) vs. Aaron Maldonado (5-2) at 145.

Amateur matchups include Nick Reece (1-0) vs. Corwin Nichols (1-0), Tom Krenzel (2-2) vs. Thomas Lytle (0-1), Joel Wales (2-3) vs. Jacob Ostrowski (2-1), Kelly Ehrhorn (0-2) vs. Randy Lene (3-2), Sam Khom (0-1) vs. Ehsan Karam (0-0), Manuel Sanchez (2-2) vs. Randal Rasmussen (1-1), Zaur Jalil (1-1) vs. Kevin Vang (3-0) and Eulisses Sanchez (0-1) vs. Michael Stadler (0-0).

Tickets for the Feb. 11 show in Burnsville are available at sterlingmn.com