Elgin mixed martial artist Tommy Speer is set to return to the cage. Speer has accepted a fight against Ryan Ford in Edmonton, Canada on March 19.

The fight will be the main event and is being promoted by “The Fight Club” organization, one of Canada’s top promotions. Ford is Canadian and is considered the star of that organization. The fight is for TFC’s welterweight championship and is scheduled for five rounds.

It will be Speer’s first fight since Oct. 3, when he defeated Travis Perzynski in Rochester.

Speer, who has a career record of 13-4, is anxious to return to the cage.

“Yeah, I just found out about the fight, so I’ll start training immediately,” Speer said. “This is more than enough time to get ready. I think this will definitely be a challenge, but I’m going to enjoy it.”

Ford is 11-2 and holds a victory over UFC veteran Pete Spratt. He fought for Maximum Fighting Championships in Canada during the first part of his career and was featured on HDNet.

“I’ve seen plenty of video on him. He’s explosive and athletic,” Speer said. “I might be a little bigger than him, but not much. It looks like he has a wrestling background, and he’s definitely a hard hitter. He swings hard, but he’s wild and I don’t see a lot of technique behind it.”

The war of words already has begun between Ford and Speer, mainly from Ford’s end. Ford chided Speer in an article that appeared in the Vancouver Sun, saying Speer backed out of a previous fight against him.

“He signed a contract then two weeks later comes back and pulls out,” Ford told the Vancouver Sun.

But Speer never signed a contract, and in fact, he said he never agreed to the fight at all. Speer said the fight was offered to him, but because it was on short notice, he declined.

But that didn’t slow down Ford.

“To me, Tommy Speer, he ain’t a real fighter and maybe one day we'll catch up and settle that little beef,” Ford said.

Speer said he’s not big on trash talk, but he’s certainly not a fan of Ford.

“He talks a lot, and that’s fine,” Speer said. “I don’t like him very much; he’s got a big mouth. I think he said I’m nothing but a farmer or something like that. We’ll see.”

Speer said he was initially skeptical about the fight because Ford is from Canada and the judges will be Canadian.

“I definitely won’t have the judges on my side,” Speer said. “But after talking to my manager, we figured that since this is a five-round fight and that we both hit so hard, we just don’t see this going to a decision anyway. I might have a few fans up there, but I’m sure they’d like to see me lose.”

Speer isn’t sure where he will do the bulk of his training for this fight. He’s content training with Mario Roberto in Rochester, but Speer said he also might explore other options at the urging of his manager.

“For the first time my manager had a talk with me about commitment,” Speer said. “We had a long talk, and he feels I can beat Ford if I put everything I have into it. I think he’s right. There are plenty of training options out there. Now I just need to get all the facts and make a decision."

Speer said he may travel to Seattle to train with Matt Hume.

“I’m ready to get back to training. I’m in decent shape, but I’ll really start pushing it about six weeks out from the fight,” Speer said. “I’m excited. I’m ready to get back at it.”