Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Get ready fight fans for even more local MMA action.

This week, Institute of Combat owner John “Juan” Thompson announced details of a new fight night at Cher-Ae Heights Casino coming this fall.

The North Coast Combat League, as it will be known, will feature MMA fights and kick boxing, similar to the Bear River fights, which have been a huge success and selling out for several years.

The difference, according to Thompson, is that the new fight night will be fully sanctioned.

“We’re bringing in the appropriate sanctioning bodies to oversee everything,” Thompson said. “It will be a fully sanctioned event.”

On Saturday, Thompson put the word out that he is looking for local amateur MMA fighters and kick-boxers who are interested in competing, and he is hoping that this will be the first of regular fight nights at the Trinidad casino.

“That’s the plan,” he said. “We want to have multiple shows throughout the year.”

The news comes in the same week that IOC fighter Cass Bell signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator.

Thompson also announced that another IOC fighter, Tyson Miller, will be turning pro in a couple of weeks after his final amateur fight in San Francisco.

Miller is 3-0 as an amateur and considered one of the top young up-and-coming MMA talents in the area.