Extreme Challenge: "Mayhem at the Marina" Lineup

Tomorrow night is Extreme Challenge: "Mayhem at the Marina", which takes place at the Trump Marina in Atlantic City. MMA Journalist will be there liveblogging the action, and the lineup currently looks like this:

• Tara LaRosa (Fight Factory) vs. Sally Krumdiack (Charlie's Combat Club)
• Maciej Linke (Gold Team Fighters) vs. Jeff Lentz (Rhino Fight Team)
• Tim Bradley (Wolf Pack) vs. Steve DeAngelis (Team Pellegrino/Bombsquad)
• Rich Edwards (Gold Team Fighters) vs. Dave Church (Team Pellegrino)
• Matt Kocher (Lionheart MMA) vs. Troy Maxwell (Extreme Performance)
• Jay Silva (Team Rampage) vs. Mike Johnson (Fight Factory)
• Daniel Straus (Vision MMA) vs. Lester Caslow (Team Pellegrino)
• Pat White (Evolution Fight Team) vs. Mervin Rodriguez (Rhino Fight Team)
• Kevin Roddy (Team Pellegrino) vs. Biff Walizer (Lionheart MMA)

Keep an eye out for LaRosa, DeAngelis, Caslow and Roddy.

New Jersey State Athletic Control Board to License Outlaw?

On March 28th Monte Cox's Extreme Challenge: "Mayhem at the Marina" comes to Trump Marina in Atlantic City, and while the event is headlined by top female fighter Tara LaRosa taking on up-and-comer Sally Krumdiak, one bout on the main card is raising eyebrows: Steve DeAngelis vs. Billy the Kidd. DeAngelis is one of the best 145-pounders the Garden State has to offer - capable of taking on nearly anyone and definitely destined for the WEC or Japan - but Billy the Kidd... Billy the Kidd is a well-known outlaw. Will the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board license a man wanted in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for murder, cattle rustling, theft and cheating at poker? No one doubts DeAngelis' ability to handle whatever his opponent throws at him, but all it takes is one bullet from a .45 single-action six-shooter to end things unfairly. Also, should the commission allow this match-up, they'd essentially be condoning the fact that Billy the Kidd was a founding member of the vigilante group "The Regulators", and that during the course of his career he murdered lawmen and civilians alike. For the sake of fighter safety and especially common decency, let's hope the NJSACB does the right thing.

Weekend Schedule

Get ready for a jam-packed weekend full of fighting. On Friday, Extreme Challenge's "War at the Shore" event goes down in Atlantic City, while on Saturday there's Affliction: "Day of Reckoning" on pay-per-view, Lou Neglia's amateur MMA event "Proving Grounds" in Newark, and a Muay Thai kickboxing show at the Fighthouse in Midtown Manhattan. Then, on Sunday, WEC 38 airs live on the Versus channel. Expect MMA Journalist to liveblog Friday's Extreme Challenge and Saturday's Proving Grounds event from cageside.

Prediction for Extreme Challenge's "War at the Shore": It Could Be Awesome... or It Could Suck

Extreme Challenge's "War at the Shore" event, slated for January 23rd at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, is just a little more than two weeks away, and based on what we know of the card - and what we don't know - MMA Journalist is predicting that the event could be very awesome. Or it could suck. It's still unknown if headliner Eddie Alvarez will be able to compete (thanks to Shinya Aoki's heelhook last week in Japan), and while the card is full of local stars and attractions, like Wilson Reis, Charlie Brenneman, Tuan Pham, Jesus Martinez and Zack Makovsky, they're facing unknowns from distant locales such as Ohio and Texas. Which begs the question: how many people are going to buy tickets to see a local guy fight someone no one knows anything about? Last but not least is Tara LaRosa, who is supposed to be on the card, but is still facing the illustrious "TBD". MMA Journalist will be there to liveblog regardless, but I sincerely hope this event works out. Extreme Challenge is too solid a brand for the promotion to come back to New Jersey and have a stinker.

Eddie Alvarez Defeated By Sneaky Asian Devil

Vids are already circulating from this morning's K-1 Dynamite event in Japan, which featured a slew of typical freakshow bouts but also a few relevant match-ups - not the least of which was Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki. And you know what? Alvarez lost, the victim of a painful and possibly damaging heelhook that forced him to tap out in just under two minutes. There is no question the Philadelphia slugger will be back. However, based on the video, and the hobbled Alvarez being helped backstage with an ice pack on his knee, there is a pretty big question as to whether he'll be able to compete at the January 24th Extreme Challenge in Atlantic City. Stay tuned for more info.

Eddie Alvarez to Satifsy "Punching People in the Face" Addiction with Two Fights in 23 Days

Eddie Alvarez, the heavy-handed Philadelphia slugger who made a splash on the international stage this past year by wrecking Joachim Hansen, Andre "Dida" Amade and Tatsuya Kawajiri, will take on submission ace Shinya Aoki at FEG's "Dynamite!" show in Japan on New Years Eve, and he'll follow that up with a January 23rd bout at Extreme Challenge's "War at the Shore" in Atlantic City. That's one heck of an ambitious schedule for a top ten lightweight, as 23 days an exceedingly short amount of time for a fighter to recover from any injuries and return to peak shape, but Alvarez suffers from an addiction to punching people in the face (clinical term: "Punching People in the Face" Syndrome, or PPitFS). Said a spokesman from Alvarez's camp, "We're still trying to get Eddie help. But PPitFS is a serious condition, and if left unchecked, Eddie could simply explode. Obviously we don't want that, so he's taking these fights."