EDMONTON — Garret Nybakken keeps his Unified MMA Lightweight Championship belt atop his mantle in a place of honour.

But the belt, the proud Edmonton product says, is much more to him than a decoration.

“It’s a standard for me to uphold. It’s a challenge for me to defend it. It means no excuses and definitely no slacking in training,” says Nybakken, who defends his title in a grudge rematch with Aaron Bosiak at Unified MMA 29 on December 16 in Edmonton.

Nybakken has won four straight, including three by first-round stoppage. After submitting his rival Bosiak for the crown in the summer, Nybakken has been getting extra training sessions in to keep his belt for when he and Bosiak meet again.

Nybakken isn’t sure whether he’ll submit Bosiak or knock him out, he says with a laugh, but he insists one thing is certain for December 16 in Edmonton.

“There’s not a chance in hell Aaron is taking this belt away from me. Nobody is taking this belt away from me,” Nybakken says.

“Train hard,” he adds when asked if he has any advice for Bosiak, “and you better be able to back your mouth up in there, because I know I will.”

All tables and VIP tickets are currently sold out for Unified MMA 29 on December 16 in Edmonton. General admission tickets are available at www.UnifiedMMA.ca/tickets.

Unified MMA 29 will be headlined by three championship bouts on December 16 in Edmonton.

In the main event, Canada’s top heavyweight Tanner Boser will defend his Unified MMA Heavyweight Championship against Texas striker Marcus Sursa.

Boser, 11-2, holds wins over two UFC vets and is coming off back-to-back title wins in Edmonton. Sursa, meanwhile, is a hard-hitting Blackhouse MMA fighter who’s racked up 16 wins as a professional heavyweight, not including pro kickboxing bouts with GLORY.

In the other co-main event bout, Teddy Ash takes on Brendan Kornberger for the vacant Unified MMA Middleweight Championship.

Ash, a hard-hitting Fort McMurray product, is gunning for his third straight, first-round finish, while Richmond, B.C.’s Kornberger tries to notch his sixth stoppage victory.

In Mike Scarcello’s ninth trip to the Unified MMA cage, the surging lightweight will take on his toughest assignment yet, Prince Edward Island’s Lenny Wheeler, who’s finished three of his past four opponents in less than a minute.

Montreal-born Edmonton fighter Menad Abella will look to remain undefeated, and improve to 4-0, versus three-time Unified MMA vet Dustin Greentree, who is 2-1 as a pro after a standout 4-0 amateur career.

In preliminary card action, heavyweight prospect Christian Larson tries to continue his undefeated warpath against Josh Heinz, who has three wins by first-round stoppage.

In a rematch that’s been nearly 18 months in the making, Jake Poitras looks to avenge his 2015 knockout loss to Jordan Bittner.

To open up the action, Saskatoon fighters Blair Turnquist and Cory Chambers will make their Unified MMA debuts versus Phil Engeroff and Gurjeet Bilkhu, respectively.

All tables and VIP tickets are currently sold out for Unified MMA 29 on December 16 in Edmonton. General admission tickets are available at www.UnifiedMMA.ca/tickets.