Lou Neglia's Ring of Combat is one of the longest-running regional promotions in the industry, and the longevity of the New Jersey-based organization can be attributed to a number of factors, not the least of which is its consistency in putting on competitive fights. How competitive are these fights? So much so that winning a ROC championship belt often bodes extremely well for the future of any fighter.
Like any good nerd, I've compiled some hard data on this subject, but before that, here are some facts for you:
- The first ROC was on October 12, 2002, and took place at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
- All subsequent ROCs have been held at various locations in New Jersey, and in Atlantic City exclusively since ROC 10 on April 14, 2006.
- There have been 66 ROC champs since the promotion's inception.
- Of those 66, 23 have gone on to fight in the UFC, 14 have gone on to become TUF competitors, and 21 have made appearances in the Bellator cage.
Below is a breakdown of all of ROC's champs. Listed are the specific ROC event where they won their belt, the date of that event, and if that champ went on to the UFC, TUF or Bellator.
What's not on this list are the number of times they defended their belt, or if they lost the belt and regained it at a later date (for instance, Pete "Drago" Sell won a ROC championship at ROC 6, graduated to the UFC and TUF, and then returned to win a ROC belt at ROC 36 seven years later).
Also not included are the ROC vets who never won a belt but went on to the UFC anyway - why wouldn't I include those? Because I'm a nerd, but not THAT big of a nerd.
ROC CHAMPIONS BREAKDOWN
| ||||||
FIGHTER NAME |
ROC#
| DATE |
UFC?
|
TUF?
|
Bellator?
| |
Nardu Debra
|
1
|
10.12.02
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Steve Anshelewitz
|
1
|
10.12.02
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
James Gabert
|
3
|
6.7.03
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Tom Muller
|
3
|
6.7.03
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Elvis Garcia
|
3
|
6.7.03
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Pete Sell
|
6
|
4.24.04
|
yes
|
yes
|
no
| |
Laura D'Aguste
|
7
|
11.20.04
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Kurt Pellegrino
|
7
|
11.20.04
|
yes
|
no
|
yes
| |
Dante Rivera
|
7
|
11.20.04
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
| |
Marlon Sims
|
9
|
10.29.05
|
no
|
yes
|
no
| |
Billy Craparo
|
10
|
4.14.06
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Jesse Moreng
|
10
|
4.14.06
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Todd Moore
|
14
|
4.27.07
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Binky Jones
|
14
|
4.27.07
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
Marc Stevens
|
14
|
4.27.07
|
no
|
yes
|
yes
| |
Nick Catone
|
19
|
5.9.08
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Tom Gallicchio
|
20
|
6.27.08
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Glen Sandull
|
21
|
9.12.08
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
John Howard
|
21
|
9.12.08
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Dave Sachs
|
22
|
11.21.08
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Paul Bradley
|
22
|
11.21.08
|
yes
|
no
|
yes
| |
Chris Liguori
|
22
|
11.21.08
|
yes
|
no
|
yes
| |
Bret Kohan
|
23
|
2.20.09
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Rafael Natal
|
23
|
2.20.09
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Charles Oliveira
|
24
|
4.17.09
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Ricardo Romero
|
25
|
6.12.09
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Victor O'Donnell
|
25
|
6.12.09
|
no
|
yes
|
yes
| |
Costa Philippou
|
26
|
9.11.09
|
yes
|
yes
|
no
| |
Anthony Morrison
|
27
|
11.20.09
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
Gian Villante
|
28
|
2.19.10
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Ryan LaFlare
|
28
|
2.19.10
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Demetrius Richards
|
29
|
4.16.10
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
Edson Barboza
|
30
|
6.11.10
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Nick Pace
|
30
|
6.11.10
|
yes
|
no
|
yes
| |
Uriah Hall
|
30
|
6.11.10
|
yes
|
yes
|
yes
| |
Chris Weidman
|
31
|
9.24.10
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Louis Gaudinot
|
31
|
9.24.10
|
yes
|
yes
|
no
| |
Mikhail Malyutin
|
31
|
9.24.10
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
John Cholish
|
32
|
10.23.10
|
yes
|
no
|
no
| |
Joseph Aviles
|
33
|
12.3.10
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Sean Santella
|
33
|
12.3.10
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Marcos Pereira
|
33
|
12.3.10
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
Marques Daniels
|
34
|
2.4.11
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Dustin Pague
|
34
|
2.4.11
|
yes
|
yes
|
no
| |
Jacob Kirwan
|
34
|
2.4.11
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
Jessica Eye
|
34
|
2.4.11
|
yes
|
no
|
yes
| |
Elijah Harshbarger
|
35
|
4.18.11
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Justin Haskins
|
35
|
4.18.11
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Aljamain Sterling
|
36
|
6.17.11
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Al Iaquinta
|
37
|
9.9.11
|
yes
|
yes
|
no
| |
Deividas Taurosevicius
|
37
|
9.9.11
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
Tom DeBlass
|
37
|
9.9.11
|
yes
|
no
|
yes
| |
Pat Audinwood
|
38
|
11.18.11
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Nordine Taleb
|
38
|
11.18.11
|
no
|
yes
|
yes
| |
Jeff Lentz
|
39
|
2.10.12
|
no
|
yes
|
yes
| |
Guillermo Serment
|
41
|
6.15.12
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Ed Gordon
|
41
|
6.15.12
|
no
|
yes
|
no
| |
Jimmie Rivera
|
41
|
6.15.12
|
no
|
yes
|
yes
| |
Ron Stallings Jr.
|
42
|
9.14.12
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Anton Talamantes
|
42
|
9.14.12
|
no
|
no
|
yes
| |
Brendan Barrett
|
44
|
4.5.13
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Andre Harrison
|
45
|
6.14.13
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Chris Wade
|
47
|
1.24.14
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Julio Arce
|
47
|
1.24.14
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
Keith Berish
|
47
|
1.24.14
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
James Jenkins
|
47
|
1.24.14
|
no
|
no
|
no
| |
1 comment:
Allways good stuff sir , however from what I can see, You Missed at least 3 Guys that I See went On to UFC Pat Audinwood , Aljamain sterling n Chris wade
Post a Comment