Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Flashback: Cage Fury Fighting Championship 16

NEW JERSEY


I'm not going to lie - I've covered so many shows in my 13 years of reporting on the sport that sometimes I have to get creative just to stay interested. Yes, sitting cageside is always awesome, but do a million stories from that vantage point and you become stale and complacent. Which is why this flashback to Cage Fury Fighting Championship 16, which took place in Atlantic City on August 25, 2012, is a good one. For this CFFC, I followed around a NJSACB inspector. The perspective was enlightening.

Long Island-Based UFC Fighter Database is Noble But Sad

UFC


Generally, when you look for a fighter database to use as a reference tool, you want something with depth, i.e., a lot of fighter entries. That's why mixedmartialarts.com and Sherdog have good ones, and even Wikipedia is servicable. But Newsday put together a database of all Long Island-based fighters who've made it to the UFC, and while the cause behind it is noble - celebrating the hometown heroes who made it to the big leagues - there's something fundamentally sad about the whole thing.

There are only 13 entries.

Sure, our sport is just 20 years old, and the pool of talent as a whole is still relatively small. But 13.... damn.

Anyway, check it out. It worth looking at to remind you who those lone 13 guys are.

UFC Fight Night 38 Primer: Gian Villante

UFC


There's a UFC this Sunday night (!), and headlining the card is a rematch between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Dan Henderson - two guys who probably don't have much fight left in them, but so what, right? Anyway, since the event takes place in Brazil, the undercard is of course stocked with a ton of Brazilians. But tucked away in there somewhere is Long Island native - and former Ring of Combat champ - Gian Villante. Hooray!

In case you don't remember, throughout 2009 and 2010, Villante was widely considered to be the next superstar coming out of the Northeast. And though his friend and training partner Chris Weidman ended up being "that guy", Villante remains one tough S.O.B. capable of thrilling us.

Below is probably one of the worst videos ever of Villante fighting in ROC. Still, it's better than nothing. Enjoy!