Liveblog: Ring of Combat Part 1

MMA Journalist is cageside for Ring of Combat 23 here at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City. The card is set at 14 bouts and it's reportedly a sold-out show, so already the night is shaping up nicely. As Dan Miragliotta and Kevin Mullhall are off to officiate the UFC in London tomorrow, Ohio-based ref Mark Matheny has been brought in, and he's been instructed by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that all bouts on the main card are to the death. So, yeah, tonight should definitely be interesting. In attendance are East Coast MMA alumni Pete "Drago" Sell and Kurt Pellegrino, Jay Silva (wearing a Gold Team Fighters shirt - I guess as a consolation prize for that decision that he was robbed of two weeks ago), Long Island bad boy Chris Schlesinger and the usual collection of Jersey Shore ruffians and bandits (Tom Gallicchio, Steve DeAngelis, Kevin Roddy, Lester Caslow). Lyman Good is here, too, and apparently his Bellator FC fight may be in the second week of April - and it could be held locally. The cafeteria features fried chicken that looks like it was cooked three days ago, boiled potatoes, some potentially deadly pasta and mixed vegetables.