Ring of Combat 31 may have been just a month ago, but there’s a convention called the MMA & Sports Extravaganza going on at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City this weekend, and what pro MMA show would go better with a kung fu tournament, a grappling tournament, a body building competition and Muay Thai event than a big and juicy ROC installment? Anyway, here are eight reasons to check ROC 32 out (in no particular order):
- John Cholish – Cholish can grapple and he can strike, and his dismantling of Hitalo Machado at UCC 2 was epic. This Team Renzo rep is on the rise, so now’s your chance to get on the train while there’s still seats.
- Munah Holland – With Golden Gloves champion-level boxing, TSMMA rep Holland’s got the skills to put a serious hurting on opponent Kim Couture. And if you used to secretly pretend that Randy Couture was your dad, no doubt you want evil ex-step-mom Kimmie to suffer.
- Costa Philippou – Bummed that Philippou didn’t make it past the opening episode of TUF 11? Yeah, me too. But now this deadly striker steps back into the cage and gets to do what he does best: kill people.
- Brendan Barrett – I don’t know if there’s bad blood between Barrett and opponent Randy Smith or if they’re just hyping their fight, but it’s quite possible that this IFL vet is going to tear open Smith’s chest and eat his still-beating heart.
- Melissa Bopp – This may be TSMMA fighter Bopp’s first MMA bout, but I saw her nearly decapitate a girl with a high-kick at a Combat at the Capitale event. That was kind of cool.
- Liam Kerrigan – Tong Dragon rep Kerrigan was a stud amateur who transitioned into a stud pro, then he ran into the human brick wall known as Ed Guedes back in June. This is Kerrigan’s chance to get back on track, so expect him to perform a Mortal Kombat-esque “fatality” move.
- George Sheppard – This MMA Institute rep was winning his M-1 Global lightweight championship bout until he took two successive kicks to the sack. Tragic? For sure. However, he’ll be facing top-notch opponent Tim Troxell at ROC 32 and Troxell is not a nut-kicker, so it should be a good fight.
- Tim Troxell – Again, top-notch. Not a nut-kicker.
