Lawrence-native mixed martial arts fighter Zak Bucia is looking for back-to-back wins as he takes the ring tonight against Rudy Bears in the main event of Shamrock FC at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City, Missouri.

Bucia, a 2004 Lawrence High graduate, enters the fight with a record of 12-5, while Bears is 14-13.

“He’s a salty veteran, and I have to be really careful because he’s got power in his hands, and he’s got an OK ground game,” Bucia said. “I just have to watch out for everything and make sure I’m not slipping in any real direction. He’s got a little bit of everything.”

Since defeating Mauricio Alonzo on May 3 in San Francisco, Bucia’s training has been going well, he said, but it has not been easy for him to find time to work out recently. Bucia is a co-owner of Omni Method gym at 721 E. Ninth Street and has been working on finalizing a partnership with Silverback Enterprises.

“We’re going to be operating under the name Silverback here now since we teamed up with the local business, and we’re all going to be one big thing,” Bucia said. “We’re going to have a lot of strong, strong guys coming out of here.”

Shamrock FC is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., but Bucia does not expect the main event to begin until around 10 p.m.