A Look Ahead at the New York City Combat Sports Calendar

NEW YORK

It's September, summer's almost over, and soon the winds will grow chill and then 2015 will draw to a close. But until the bell tolls on another year in the Big Apple, there's still some quality violence to take in. From secret unsanctioned boxing matches to eight-man Muay Thai tournaments to amateur MMA events run safely and smoothly, the coming months will have it all. Here's a closer look at the calendar:

• Combat at the Capitale 37, Sept. 11 - Promoter Lou Neglia has been putting on kickboxing shows for a long, long time, and Combat at the Capitale is his polished affair that goes down in an event space in Chinatown. Reason to go: Aaron Sifflet vs. Brandon Cuttino, which pits a dude made of iron against a TSMMA up-and-comer.
  
• New York Fight Exchange 8, Sept. 12 - Grade "A" amateur MMA will be going down at Club Amazura in Jamaica, Queens, and there are a lot of good fighters on the card. Reason to go: Jerome Mickle vs. Jonathan Velez, which has two former Underground Combat League champs squaring off. Both of these guys throw bombs, so expectations are high in the action department. 
  
• BX Fight Club, Sept. 18 - "We are back starting September 18 we got picked up by a TV network so the production crew will be there, cameras will be rolling come prepared.... DM US FOR MORE INFO". That's from the BX Fight Club Instagram account. I guess being a wildly unregulated and unsanctioned boxing event has its appeal. Reason to go: Because they're fun.
• Friday Night Fights, Sept. 25 - The Broad Street Ballroom down by Wall Street will play host to a 155-pound eight-man Muay Thai tournament that will culminate in one night. All this is courtesy of Friday Night Fights, which is a pillar of the kickboxing community in New York City. Reason to go: The drama of an elimination tournament.
  
• Underground Combat League, Sept. 27 - Hey, remember these guys? 
• Aggressive Combat Championships 12, Oct. 3 - High-level MMA at the Queens Theater in Flushing Meadows Park. These shows are well-run and enjoyable as hell. Reason to go: Champ Jillian DeCoursey will be defending her belt.
  
• Extreme Cagefighting 7, Oct. 3 - These cards tend to have a little of everything, so if you go, keep that program close by lest you forget who's fighting who under which rules. Reason to go: Christian Medina, one of NYC's more promising MMA talents, in a kickboxing bout.
  
• Take It To The Top 7, Oct. 24 - These events take place way out in the furthest reaches of Brooklyn and I have yet to attend one, but Take It To The Top keeps plugging along, and they have as one of their champs the ultra-tough Rashad Clarke, which is a respectable thing to have. Reason to go: No card has been posted yet, so I don't have any reason to give other than it's fights on a Saturday night. I'd say that's a good reason, no?