Thursday, August 5, 2010

M-1 Global Event on Saturday: Why You Should Care

M-1 Global is holding the latest installment of their "Selections" tournament in Atlantic City this Saturday, and though there are no "marquee" names on the card, there's still a very good reason why you should care: Tom Gallicchio vs. Aaron Meisner.  For those just emerging from a coma or those released from a decade of solitary confinement in a state penitentiary, Gallicchio has long been one of the Northeast's top welterweights.  Somehow a jump to the national stage has eluded him, but he's a banger with a devastating ground-and-pound and hard-to-resist rear naked choke, and always seems one "big name" win away from a Strikeforce Challengers bout on Showtime.  On the other side of the match-up is Meisner, who at one time was one of the hottest prospects coming out of Philly.  Sporting deadly Muay Thai clinch-work and knees, Meisner was a middleweight badass who ran into a brick wall when he tried to fight his way into the TUF House for Season 7, and after that he was out-struck by Costa Phillippou at ROC 23.  However, he's since cut down to 170 and has been smoking dudes, and where Gallicchio is an ace grappler who can throw a punch, Meisner is an ace striker who can dodge a submission.  That alone makes for one intriguing pairing.  Check out M-1 Global's upcoming show for Mike Guerin's impending war with TUF vet Shane Primm or Gold Team Fighter's star Plinio Cruz's face-punching part with Tyson Jeffries, but at the end of the day it's all about Gallicchio and Meisner throwing down, and you can expect some livebloggery from MMA Journalist (and live Tweets for all you Twitter degenerates) on the event.