Friday, June 11, 2010

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Liveblog: ROC 30 Part 6

TSMMA stand-up assassin Uriah Hall is up and he's facing some grappling specialist named Roger Carroll, who hails from Team Superior. How superior is Team Superior? Well, we're about to find out, and with the ROC middleweight up for grabs no less. Ugh, this one is just as savage as the Barboza/Guidici bout, with Carroll unable to match Hall's power, unable to take Hall down, and unable to do anything but wait to die. Instead of dying, though, Carroll taps out at 3:01 of the first round. Hall now sports a shiny piece of hardware around his waist. Last bout of the evening and it's Bellmore Kickboxing's Ryan LaFlare against AMA FC's Mike Medrano, LaFlare defending his welterweight championship title against someone short but powerful. This one is furious, frenetic and fast-paced as both men throw down with fervor (see what I did there?). Unfortunately, genetics make this contest an uphill battle for Medrano, whose height makes it easier for LaFlare to land strikes while avoiding the AMA FC rep's heavy hands. The end comes when LaFlare delivers a knee right to the bread basket and follows Medrano down with a barrage of leather. Referee Kevin Mullhall steps in at 4:07 of the first round, giving LaFlare the TKO win. And that's a wrap.

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Liveblog: ROC 30 Part 5

Probably the most important bout of the night (in the grand scheme of things) is about to begin, with Pellegrino MMA bantamweight Steve DeAngelis squaring off against TSMMA's Nick Pace. This one's for the belt, and the winner should be considered the best 135-pounder in the Northeast. The opening has DeAngelis shucking Pace's head down and working towards a D'Arce. But the TSMMA rep escapes and gets DeAngelis down, and after a scramble slips on a tight D'Arce of his own. The tap out comes at 3:03 of Round 1, and Pace is now a ROC champ. That's a big win over a quality opponent. Next up is Marcello Guidici of Team Renzo vs. Edson Barboza of the Armory - two Brazilians - for the ROC lightweight crown. As expected, this one is ugly as all hell, as Barboza's vastly superior Muay Thai enables him to chop out Guidici's knee with a low-kick and force Guidici to verbally submit at 3:03 of Round 1 (think: Pedro Rizzo vs. Dan Severn).

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Liveblog: ROC 30 Part 4

Adolfo Sanchez of the Rhino Fight Team and BJJ Shore Academy's Ryan Vaccaro enter the cage for a lightweight pairing. Round 1 is all methodically grappling-game - Vaccaro on top after a successful takedown and Sanchez doing his best to neutralize his opponent's offense while whispering demoralizing phrases like "Your tattoos are ugly" and "You call that a haircut?" Other than Vaccaro gaining mount, Round 2 is exactly the same, and after Round 3 plays out in identical fashion, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Vaccaro has garnered the unanimous decision. Tong Dragon's Liam Kerrigan, who made a pretty successful transition from the amateurs to the pros, steps up to face his toughest test yet: Armory lightweight powerhouse Ed Guedes. Oh lordy, Round 1 is almost a carbon-copy of what Vaccaro did to Sanchez, although Guedes does manage to attempt a D'Arce in the waning seconds of the frame. Guedes is infinitely more effective with his ground and pound in Round 2, raining down fists until Kerrigan gives up his back, and continuing with the storm until ref Dan Miragliotta steps in. The official time of the TKO is 2:41 of the second round.

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Liveblog: ROC 30 Part 3

It's main card time, and opening the festivities is a lightweight match-up between James Jenkins of Jamie Varner's Combat Academy and Mike Prokop (aka, "Porkchop") of the Rhino Fight Team. As Jenkins is a devout Muslim, and a porkshop is made of pork, this has all the makings of a hotly-contested battle. (Editor's note: Jenkins isn't really Muslim. Come on, people, get with it. This blog is at most 30 percent serious.) And... a battle it most certainly is, with both men slugging out it with reckless abandon. For about three minutes and forty-four seconds Porkchop is getting the better of the exchanges, blasting Jenkins repeatedly and even stunning him at one point. But at 3:45 of Round 1 Jenkins clips Porkchop right on the chin and that's all she wrote. Next: Team Zocchi's Ariel Sepulveda against TSMMA middleweight Carlos Brooks. Brooks is coming off a loss via flawless jiu-jitsu onslaught (which occurred at UCC 2 last month), but it's doubtful this is going to be anything other than a striking festival. Sepulveda starts off strong, muscling Brooks around and landing hard strikes, yet as time wears on the TSMMA rep finds his groove and begins eating away at Sepulveda with a never-ending barrage of short punches. Half of Round 2 is spent with the Team Zocchi fighter pressing Brooks against the cage, with time ticking down to Sepulveda throwing spinning backfists and Brooks straight boxing him. The momentum belongs to Brooks in the final round, with his punches finding their mark more often than not and Sepulveda doing the funky chicken but refusing to give up. It's a close one, as evidenced by the majority decision handed down to Brooks. Good fight and a real crowd-pleaser.

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Liveblog: ROC 30 Part 2

Jason Lee of Team Zocchi and Dave Church of Pellegrino MMA are starting off the night with a lightweight pairing. A right hand from Lee is the first thing to land with authority, but it only takes Church about 40 seconds to get his distance and timing, and he begins out-striking and out-working his foe in what is mostly a stand-up affair. Round 2 continues where Round 1 left off - until Church delivers a bunch of knuckles to Lee's chin and sends him tumbling to the canvas. The Pellegrino MMA rep follows him down and stays on him, making his presence felt with punishment and an unshakeable top game, and when time runs out Church takes the unanimous decision. Now it's time for the long-awaited pro debut of Chris Wing, who's the latest piece of fruit (no homo) to ripen on the vine of New Jersey's amateur leagues. His opponent: judoka Geidrius Karavackas, who looked strong in his pro debut a few months ago at New Breed Fighters. Is Wing ready? Well, he's got veteran fighter Chris Liguori in his corner, and he's been putting time in at the AMA Fight Club, so he's certainly got the training down pat. The bout opens with Karavackas utilizing a decent reach advantage to ding Wing up with punches and kicks, and Wing seems gunshy. That is, until Wing drops Karavackas with a punch late. The waning seconds of Round 1 see Wing in mount just beating the tar out of Karavackas, and it only takes Wing 14 seconds into Round 2 to land a knockout left hook. Impressive showing. The last of the prelim bouts is Team Endgame's JA Dudley against RABJJ stud Tom DeBlass. Dudley looks to be in the best shape we've ever seen him in (he has abs!). I guess that means coach Eddy Rolon has been putting him through his paces. Or starving him. Anyway, DeBlass draws first blood with a lateral-drop, there's a scramble, and Dudley lands an illegal up-kick that costs him a point. When they restart, it's all about DeBlass wary of Dudley's power and picking and choosing his punches, and taking the Team Endgame heavyweight's back twice on the ground. Credit goes to Dudley for dodging the Ricardo Almeida-trained black belt's subs, but there's no arguing that DeBlass did more than enough to warrant the unanimous decision that he's awarded at the end.

Liveblog: ROC 30 Part 1

Cageside for ROC 30, can you dig it (said in a deep, booming voice with arms out-stretched)? Eleven bouts scheduled, with a bantamweight, lightweight, middleweight and welterweight belt on the line - can you dig it? TSMMA Muay Thai demigod Shennen Maceo was supposed to fight teen pop sensation Lester Caslow for the featherweight title, but Caslow came down with Strep Throat so that bout is off - CAN YOU DIG IT? Ryan LaFlare, Uriah Hall, Nick Pace, Steve DeAngelis, Liam Kerrigan, Chris Wing - the line-up tonight is insane. CANNN YOUUUU DIGGG ITTTT?

*Editors note: if you picked up on the "Warriors" reference, you are just cool enough to read this blog.*

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