The Top Welterweights in the Northeast

In no particular order, the best 170-pounders in the NY/NJ area are: -Eddie Alvarez- A former MFC star and BodogFIGHT champ, and now a jewel in the EliteXC/ShoXC crown, Alvarez is a slugger who's one hell of a crowd-pleaser. He's allegedly moving down to lightweight, but all of his bouts have been at welterweight, hence his spot here. -Delson Heleno- Heleno's an IFL star and an ace grappler, and is what you get when you give a Brazilian special forces jungle assassin a work VISA. -Charlie Brenneman- Don't like getting ground-and-pounded into oblivion? Then don't get in the ring with Brenneman, who used his unstoppable takedowns and fists to win the ROC "Beasts of the Northeast" tournament. -Greg Soto- A wrestler-turned-jiu-jitsu man, Soto rose up the ranks like a rocket, but has been sidelined with injuries since KO'ing Sergio Vinagre at a BCX show. Hopefully, he'll return 100% and kick more butt. -Tom Gallicchio- Scrappy. That's the word that best describes Gallicchio, who's parleyed his wrestling background into an MMA game that's seen him batter oponents before submitting them. Honorable mention: the always-dangerous Doug Gordon, Beasts of the Northeast runner-up Mark Berraciol, ROC "Tournament of Champions" finalist Phillipe Nover, and promising up-and-comer Matt Makowski.