Hey, do you like mixed martial arts? Of course you do. And if you’re reading this blog, you’re most likely either a fan of MMA in the Northeast or hopped up on goofballs (or both). So for your reading pleasure – and to satisfy a court order that stipulates that I must produce at least one blog post a day – I’ve compiled a handy-dandy list of upcoming bouts worth looking out for.
- Daniel Akinyemi vs. Rich Bianchi, UCC 3 on September 10th – The UCC returns to Jersey City, and with it comes middleweight prospect Daniel Akinyemi, who slammed his way to victory on the Iron Ring reality show on BET before taking a two and a half-year hiatus. A paramedic in the real world, Akinyemi is a well-rounded and aggressive competitor when fists are flying.
- Joe Funaro vs. Nicholas Torres, Aslyum Fight League 30 on September 11th – Former underground fighter Joe Funaro (twin brother to James) makes his Asylum debut against some kid named Nicholas Torres. I know nothing about Torres, but every time a UCL veteran fights in a legitimate promotion an angel gets his wings, so, um, yeah.
- Tom DeBlass vs. Tom Velasquez, ROC 31 on September 24th – There are so many stellar match-ups on the ROC 31 card that it’s hard to pick any single one as the stand-out. But I will say this: the pairing of Ricardo Almeida black belt Tom DeBlass against “Latino Sakuraba” Tom Velasquez should be damn exciting. Damn exciting.
- Mike Fischetti vs. Joe Synol, ROC Amateurs II on September 25th – Joe Synol’s been racking up some wins in the various New Jersey’s amateur MMA promotions. Unfortunately, he’s facing TSMMA’s unstoppable Mike Fischetti at ROC’s upcoming amateur show, and as Fischetti is the master of sprawl-and-brawl, Synol is likely going to get smashed with a quickness.
- Shawn Obasi vs. Carlos Cline, Brick City FC on October 2nd – The self-proclaimed “Wing Chun Man” is making his pro debut at the inaugural Brick City Fighting Championship event in Newark, and his opponent is longtime Renzo Gracie disciple Carlos Cline. Expect a lot of punches to the face in this one.
- Kim Couture vs. Munah Holland, ROC 32 on October 23rd – Everyone knows Kim Couture as the chick who married and divorced Randy Couture, and some may even know her from her handful of MMA bouts. But soon people will know her as the lady who was killed by Munah Holland. Holland will be making her MMA debut in this match-up, but she was a 2007 Golden Gloves boxing champ and she hails from TSMMA, so she specializes in MURDER.
- Lyman Good vs. Ben Askren, at an undetermined Bellator event in October – Bellator welterweight champ and TSMMA star Lyman Good gets to do the man-dance with Ben Askren, the wrestler who won the Season Two tourney. Sure, Askren is great at takedowns and constant-pressure, but the word on the street is Kurt Pellegrino has been bringing in high-level wrestlers for Good to work with and Good’s been stuffing them all. Watch for the Human Action Figure to pound out the Man with the Out-of-Control Hair.