Friday, June 12, 2009

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Liveblog: ROC 25 Part 6

Bill Scott-trained Marc Berrocal enters to square off against TSMMA's Radji Bryson-Barrett. They starts boxing immediately, and Berrocal feeds Bryson-Barrett a devastating overhand right for the KO just 13 seconds in. It's a bad knockout, too, and the TSMMA rep is slow to get back up. Solid win for Berrocal. Very solid win. Next up is Joe Abouata of Alex Wilkie's Gang of Scary Individuals (and I say that with the utmost respect) against Bellmore Kickboxing rep Gian Villante. This one is pretty one-sided, with Villante steamrolling over Abouata with aggression and punches on the ground. Ref Mullhall intervenes at 1:48 of the first round. Two more bouts to go. For the USKBA light-heavyweight belt, Advanced Martial Arts superstar Ricardo Romero squares off against Gabriel Gonzaga-student Karen Grigoryan. Round 1 sees Romero chasing Grigoryan around and the two winging bolos, but apparently this bores Romero, so in Round 2 he takes his opponent down and beats the hell out of him until the ref steps in. The official time of the TKO is 2:50 of the second round. Why Romero isn't fighting on the national stage is beyond me. The dude is ready. Last bout: Team Renzo's Rafael Natal vs. Team Vision/Walker MMA's Victor O'Donnell for the ROC middleweight title (Natal is actually defending it as champ). Who the heck is O'Donnell? He seems to be someone who can take a punch and deliver it back tenfold, as he survives Natal's heavy hands to rock and stumble the Renzo rep repeatedly. The bell for the first round rings, but the doctors don't like how the Brazilian is doing the funky chicken, so they stop it. O'Donnell is the new ROC middleweight champ. And that's it.

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Liveblog: ROC 25 Part 5

The next stop on the Jeff Lentz train is right here, right now, as the Rhino Fight Team killer enters the cage to take on the well-rounded and very dangerous Spa City BJJ rep Eddie Fyvie. Will Fyvie be the one to derail Lentz? The come out and start swinging, and Lentz begins wearing Fyvie down with punches and knees from the clinch. Fyvie shoots out of desperation and Lentz plasters him with a flying knee, and when the Spa City BJJ rep turtles, Lentz's punches are really just the icing on a cake he's already taken a huge bite out of. The official time of the KO is 2:02. Lentz is a monster, plain and simple. Team Serra/Longo star Al Iaquinta is set to face off against Maxercise/Daddis FC's Tim Sylvester. Iaquinta wastes no time in this one, as he starts blasting Sylvester repeatedly until his right hand meets Sylvester's chin and knocks him out. It's over in 13 seconds. Right now, the biggest lightweight match-up in the Northeast has to be Lentz vs. Iaquinta. Nothing else matters.

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Liveblog: ROC 25 Part 4

Kevin Horowitz of Rhino Fight Team and Anthony Abatelli of Team Serra/Longo are up. Round 1 plays out as a pretty decent donnybrook, with Abatelli gaining the upper hand with top position, Horowitz countering with a heelhook attempt, and the two trading punches, takedowns and ground and pound efforts. The seesaw continues its merry ride in Round 2, but Horowitz edges ahead with more offense when he's on top and on the bottom. Unfortunately, the Team Serra/Longo fighter's gas tank is on "E", and in the final round Horowitz pounds on him and threatens with two rear naked chokes, and when time runs out is in the mount raining down punches. There's no question Horowitz deserves the unanimous decision he's awarded. Mitch Whitesel of Wreck Room Athletics enters the cage to face Ricardo Almeida-trained Andrew Riddles. *Insert joke about solving riddles here.* Round 1 begins and they immediately hug against the cage, whispering sweet nothings into each others ears and talking about Paris. "Yes, my dear friend, we will always have Paris..." This goes on for the entire round, with referee Keith Peterson reluctant to break them apart for fear of a Title VII discrimination lawsuit. Round 2 is more of the same, but Riddles takes the lead with some ground and pound. Riddles' efforts to batter Whitesel are even more successful in the final round, and when time expires he takes the unanimous decision.

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Liveblog: ROC 25 Part 3

Jim Bova of the Anthracite Combat Club and Team Serra/Longo's Nabih Barakat are up as the first fight on the main card. Round 1 starts and Nabih lets Bova know immediately with a hellacious right cross that if the fight stays standing, the Serra/Longo rep is going to kick his ass. As a result, Bova does his best to keep it on the ground, nearly catching Nabih with a rear naked choke by the end of the first. Nabih has more success in Round 2 and they wage a crowd-pleasing back and forth battle, and Round 3 is so damn close that when time runs out one of the judges can be heard weeping. The split decision goes to Nabih. Great fight. It's time for Ryan LaFlare of Bellmore Kickboxing and Robert Cunane of LA Boxing to scrap. LaFlare's got a solid jiu-jitsu game, so we'll see how this one goes. Wow, okay, LaFlare takes him down pretty easily, suplexes him when he tries to stand, and when they do get back to their feet and Cunane starts swinging wildly, the Bellmore Kickboxing rep feeds him a right hook that knocks him the hell out at 1:19 of the first round.

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Liveblog: ROC 25 Part 2

It's time for Rhino Fight Team's Mike Prokop to face off against Team Pellegrino's Jay Isip. Isip comes to the cage to "Thriller" by Michael Jackson - a bold statement by the bleached-blond fighter. The two come out trading leather and Isip drops "Porkchop" with a right cross. He follows it up with a bodylock takedown, drops some fist from top position, and when the Rhino rep gets back to his feet Isip drops him with a pair of knees to the dome. Isip is large and in charge for Round 1; hopefully he can keep up the pressure for Round 2. He does! With unstoppable takedowns and a dogged ground and pound, Isip grinds out a well-deserved unanimous decision. The last of the prelim bouts is TSMMA's Louis Gaudinot against Maxercise/Daddis FC's Nick Cottone. Cottone was a Reality Fighting champ back in like 2002, and for the longest time was one the best "little guys" in the Garden State. Can he withstand the power of Gaudinot's bright green hair? It takes a while but Cottone manages to get Gaudinot down. He can't, however, do much to him thanks to the TSMMA rep's rubber guard, and when they're back on their feet it's clear Cottone wants no part of the stand-up game. Round 2 sees Cottone continue to try to smother his foe, and hug him to death whenever they're standing. The old school veteran earns the unanimous decision.

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Liveblog: ROC 25 Part 1

MMA Journalist is cageside for Ring of Combat 25, the lastest from promoter Lou Neglia. There are 15 bouts scheduled tonight - there were 16, but the Dave Church/John Salgado bout was scrapped because Church refused to fight. Rumor has it he's been booted from Team Pellegrino as a result. First up is TSMMA's Carlos Brooks against David Shapiro of L.V.I.R.K. Round 1 is all about Brooks taking Shapiro down and tenderizing him from within Shapiro's guard. Brooks picks up right where he left off when Round 2 commences, and when Shapiro does nothing but cover up, referee Donnie Carolei steps in. The official time of the TKO is 1:29 of the second round. Next up is Jose Viera of KTFO and Howard Longus of Alex Wilkie's Biker Gang and School for Gifted Youngsters. Utilizing superior wrestling, Viera avoids getting KTFO (tehe!) by taking Longus down, scrambling onto his back and sinking in the choke at 1:15 of the first round. AMA FC's Sean Santella and TSMMA's Jose Villanueva take to the cage. As Team Tiger Schulmann has fighters competing here and at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut tonight, old school veteran Dave Tirelli is playing the role of cornerman for TSMMA. I still have his blood splattered in one of my old notebooks from when I was ringside for his bout against Luke Cummo. Anyway, Santella draws first blood by immediately scoring a takedown, but Villanueva works back to his feet to press the AMA FC rep against the cage and pepper him with knees. Rinse and repeat. Round 2 has Santella score a takedown, Villanueva come really close with an armbar from the bottom, and then Villanueva work his way onto Santella's back and threaten with a rear naked choke until time runs out. The judges declare the bout a majority draw, but Villanueva should've gotten the nod.

Mitch the Intern's TUF 9 Recap: Episode 11

*Editor's note: Mitch the Intern is an NYU undergrad whose favorite Wednesday night pastime includes the TV in his dorm room, a green beanbag chair and two hits of acid. Enjoy.*

Second to last episode of the season, so let's review what we've learned thus far. The Queen of England talks ridiculously slow and shows little to no emotion. Consequently, there is zero heat between her and Team UK coach Michael Bisping, and two SpikeTV editors have hung themselves over their inability to fabricate even the slightest bit of drama.

Also, Jason Pierce hates everything and everyone, and has somehow managed to be on "The Ultimate Fighter" without fighting.

Also, Team America: World Police sucks.

Also, the Marquis de Johnson has made it to the welterweight finals. This feat carries with it the same level of prestige and accomplishment as medaling in the Special Olympics when you're not retarded.

Also, when it's all over and we've moved on to TUF 10, no one will remember anything or anyone about the cast of TUF 9. Not even the members of TUF 9 themselves will remember.

Tonight will feature the two lightweight semifinals, which pair Cameron Dollar-Dollar-Bill-Y'All against Andre the Weiner and Jason Dent against Ross the Incoherent. At Team America: World Police's training session, Cameron Dollar-Dollar-Bill-Y'All expresses a desire to stand and bang despite sucking on the feet and nursing some ouchie ribs. Big Tall French Guy advises him to not be so flamboyant, while the Queen of England says "just be yourself", only the words take two commercial breaks to come out. Cameron Dollar-Dollar-Bill-Y'All acknowledges both sets of counsel; he discards his pink tutu, but judiciously applies glitter to his cheeks. Compromise, right?

Back at the TUF House and Team UK remarks about Andre the Weiner's habit of sucking his thumb. On San Francisco's Castro Street, a chorus of hoots and hollers erupt in a bar, and the bar's patrons all do a shot and smack the ass of the man to their left. The camera zooms in on Andre the Weiner fellating his digit. Someone in that bar in San Francisco swoons and faints.

Then it's fight time, and Cameron Dollar-Dollar-Bill-Y'All comes out swinging. Andre the Weiner swings back, gets on top and slaps on a triangle choke. Cameron Dollar-Dollar-Bill-Y'All taps out, and we're all left wondering why, why, why did Team America: World Police suck so bad? This was definitely done on purpose.

Jason Dent appears to tell the folks at home that he's been playing it safe. That's it. That's all the build-up we get, because suddenly Jason Dent and Ross the Incoherent are fighting. Okay, maybe there's some sub-story arc about Ross the Incoherent seeing a speech therapist and learning that a half-digested biscuit (Britspeak for "cookie") stuck in his throat has been making him talk funny, but other than that, bang! Fight time!

And fight they do, as Jason Dent lets it all hang out to face his opponent head-on. The bout goes the distance with the two banging on each other and Ross the Incoherent getting the better of the exchanges, but the Brit does take some lumps. When time runs out there's no question the decision is Ross the Incoherent's; however, Jason Dent looked like he actually gave a crap, and Dana White appears to tell him he likes him now and that he can expect a card at Christmas time.

So that's it. No American made it to the lightweight finals because there was too much suckage going on or something, and we get to see Andre the Weiner and Ross the Incoherent battle over a title that means less and less every day. Yippee.

Next week: Frankie Loser versus the guy who knocked out his teeth and gave him gout and scurvy.