Buddie Dixon is a Calgary based fighter, who is set to take on UFC Legend Dan “The Beast” Severn.  Dixon, an up-and-coming heavyweight from the Stoney First Nation, will face mixed martial arts legend Dan Severn in the co-main event of Thursday’s King of the Cage — Thunderstruck II event at the Deerfoot Inn Casino.

Severn is — among other things — a UFC Hall-of-Famer, a former WWE and NWA star and the owner of a black belt in three different martial arts disciplines. He made his Octagon debut at UFC 4 in 1994 and was crowned the UFC Superfight Champion a year and a half later with a victory over Ken Shamrock, the first of his three titles in the now world-famous fight league. Severn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame five years ago.

And Dixon? He’s a father of three — his youngest son, Anthony, is six months old — and is trying to balance his fledgling fighting career with petroleum engineering courses at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Severn who is now 51 holds an all time record of 91-16-7, which adds up to 114 professional fights.  Dixon on the other hand is 5-2.

“Who would pass up a great opportunity to fight a great man like Dan Severn? With his accolades and everything, it’s quite an honour just to be in the same ring as the guy,” Dixon said. “He was one of the guys in there with the bare fists when it first started. I remember watching him as a little guy and watching (Royce) Gracie and Shamrock and all those guys.”

While Severn will undoubtedly be the star attraction, Dixon, a 6-foot-1, 265-pounder who trains with Calgary’s Dynamic Martial Arts, expects there’ll be some fans on his side, too.

“It’s up in my neck of the woods, as well, and I have a lot of fans and friends and family coming,” Dixon said. “But I’m also a fan of Mr. Severn, so if I wasn’t fighting him, I’d probably be cheering for him. If I knew somebody who was fighting him, I’d probably cheer for him, because he’s a legend.”