Thursday, May 31, 2012

Rock Concert + Fights = ROKO

It used to be that if you wanted to catch some live music mixed with fighting, you had to go to CBGBs on a Sunday afternoon and watch the skinheads kill each other.  But Saturday's Rock Out Knock Out (ROKO) promotion will make it easy for you, providing live music acts inter-cut with sanctioned MMA bouts, all in the relative safety of Asbury Park's Convention Hall.  This isn't the first time something like this has been done - one of Brian Cimins' Sportfighting events had a live band, one of Affliction's ill-fated shows had Megadeth perform, and I once saw Ice-T open up for John Lewis' WFA in Las Vegas.  However, this is the first time the entertainment will repeatedly go back and forth between the cage and the stage, and that sounds like a pretty interesting experience if you ask me.  As for who's on the short five-bout card, CFFC veterans Ryan Peterson and Anthony Craparo are on tap, although top billing most certainly belongs to Ryan Vaccaro and Brian Kelleher - two quality fighters and solid contenders who've more than made their mark on the Garden State circuit.  First fight is slated for 3:30pm, and the night will be capped off by some band named "Fuel" (who I'm unfamiliar with - do they do gangster rap?).  Follow me on Twitter for live results (www.twitter.com/jim_genia), and come to this blog for a post-fight wrap-up.  Or don't.  Either way, you know where I'm going to be on Saturday.