To say Rick Pfeifer and Corey Gower are hungry for a victory would be an understatement.

Pfeifer (5-5) and Gower (6-6) will look to put an end to their respective losing streaks when they meet at Havoc FC 13 Friday night in Red Deer, Alta., with the winner also being rewarded with the bantamweight title.

Pfeifer, 32, said while the title would be a nice bonus, he’s just really looking to show what he’s capable of doing in the cage, but hasn’t shown his last few fights.

“This is my second opportunity at a belt, but I came out on the losing end of my first shot. This is a chance to redeem myself,” said Pfeifer in an interview.

“I just want to put on a show, fight my best fight, show everyone what I know I can do and walk out of there with my head held high and a belt around my waist.”

Pfeifer, fighting out of Red Deer, Alta., enters this bout on a four-fight losing streak, and knows he will have to be at his best in order to break the streak.

He said Gower is a well-rounded opponent who’s been in the cage with a lot of quality fighters.

“I don’t think he has any real weaknesses,” said Pfeifer.

“He’s pretty solid on the feet and pretty solid on the gound, so I’m just going to have to outwork him.”

Out of his 10 professional fights, Pfeifer has yet to go the distance, with the heavy majority of his wins and losses coming by submission.

With the strength of both he and Gower’s games being jiu-jitsu, Pfeifer said he doesn’t see this fight making it to the scorecards either.

“We both have pretty strong submission games, and I don’t want to say my submission defence is weak, but in the past that’s where we both seem to be losing our fights,” said Pfeifer.

“I have a feeling one of us is going to get caught in a submission, and hopefully it’s not me.”

Championship Form

Much like Pfeifer, Gower, 32, said he’s also looking to add to his four-career finishes with a strong performance Friday night.

But while finishing a fight is always the goal, Gower said he feels he would have the upper hand if the contest made its way into the championship rounds.

“I’d definitely like to try to finish it early, if I could, but I also feel I’d have the advantage if it goes to the later rounds,” said Gower in an interview.

“I’ve noticed he has cardio issues and I’ve seen him gas a couple times before round two, so if that’s the case in our fight, it’ll be basically my win if I can take it into the later rounds.”

While Pfeifer has had previous experience in a title fight, this will be Gower’s first chance at championship gold in his career.

Gower, fighting out of Duncan, B.C., said he’s fought high-calibre opponents throughout his career and is finally getting a well-deserved shot at becoming a champion.

“It’s been a goal of mine for a long time. I’ve actually fought and beaten world champions before, but never got to actually fight for a title,” said Gower.

“It’s going to be a good test for me to show my skills in there for sure.”

Gower enters Friday’s contest on a three-fight losing streak, falling to tough tests in Noah Ali, George Garcia and Michael Hay in that time.

Gower believes he’s superior to Pfeifer in all areas, and will leave Red Deer with a victory one way or another.

“I’m going to get my hand raised, and I don’t see it going the distance,” said Gower.

“It’s going to be me laying hands on him or me choking him out.”

Pfeifer’s Shoutouts

“I’d just like to thank all my training partners at Arashi Do Red Deer, and a special shoutout to Behrang Yousefi for all his help this camp.”

Gower’s Shoutouts

“I’d like to thank Mitch Clarke, Josh Spong, Blackbox MMA and Complete Fitness and Martial Arts. I’d also like to thank my sponsors Ray Little Realty Shobocon (Geoff Baker), and Smyle CBD.”