Friday, January 25, 2008

Who the Heck Are Zach Makovsky, Wilson Reis and Charlie Brenneman?

Tonight's ShoXC event in Atlantic City may have some star power attached to it thanks to Eddie Alvarez, Paul Daley and Sammy Morgan, but there's no doubt some of the names on the undercard will leave fans scratching their heads. Who the heck are Zach Makovsky, Wilson Reis and Charlie Brenneman? Who on earth is James Jones? What has Matt Makowski done to deserve a fight on one of ProElite's shows? Folks, MMA Journalist goes to almost every MMA event in New Jersey and takes copious notes just to be able to answer these questions! -Zach Makovsky: A Combat in the Cage champ with rock-solid wrestling mixed with Muay Thai, this Fight Factory representative has wins over two BJJ black belts. How did he do it? With nonstop aggression. -Wilson Reis: Reis is a BJJ black belt with a nearly flawless top-game. The big question mark here, though, is if he'll be able to put Makovsky on his back. -Charlie Brenneman: A Ring of Combat champ with unstoppable takedowns and relentless ground-and-pound. That's all you really need to know. -James "Binky" Jones: Another Ring of Combat champ, Binky's all about submitting opponents from the guard. Obviously, he's pretty good at it. -Mark Getto: Getto's a former Extreme Challenge Northeast champ, and he sports wrestling mixed with submissions. His 3-1 record is pretty deceptive, as he's fought some of the toughest fighters in the Garden State (for example, his first MMA bout was against Frankie Edgar). -Sergio Vignare: A Ricardo Almeida-trained grappler, Vignare isn't afraid to throw some leather when the fists start flying (hence his knockout win over Brett Linebarger and his knockout loss to Greg Soto). -Drew Puzon: Another Ricardo Almeida-trained grappler, Puzon's got some skills on the ground. However, his weak spot seems to be strong wrestlers. Um, uh-oh. -Matt Makowski: Look up "Matt Makowski" in the dictionary and you'll see "razor-sharp Muay Thai" listed as the definition. Which shouldn't be enough to win MMA fights, but Makowski had little trouble defeating a Renzo Gracie-trained black belt with it.