Top Five Spectator Brawls in the Northeast

Over the years there's been a plethora of memorable fights within the ring in the Northeast. But a memorable fight is what you'd expect when two skilled athletes meet - it's what prompted us all to gather there in the first place, eyes trained on the combatants as the referee flits about. However, a spectator brawl outside of the ring... well, that's another story. Most of us don't go to an MMA event expecting to see drunks in the audience scrap. Most of us don't go thinking we'll witness a rumble between fight teams in the parking lot. No, those sorts of things are never planned. They're always spur of the moment, often quick and sudden and ugly, and when the dust settles and security has regained control, fans are a left with the knowledge that tonight - and tonight only - they got a little something extra. Anyhoo, here are the top five Northeast spectator brawls MMA Journalist has been lucky enough to see:

1. Cage Fury Fighting Championship 5 - 6/23/2007 - Dante Rivera and Alexis Aquino had a nice, heated battle on the Kimbo Slice/Ray Mercer under card, and if you know Aquino, you know the guy fights with clenched teeth and a heart full of rage. Things took a dramatic turn after the bout, though, when a victorious Rivera gave Aquino's coach the push-face. In the blink of an eye, the cage filled up with members of Rhino Fight Team and Ricardo Almeida's team, and the ensuing Mexican standoff was reminiscent of that scene in "Braveheart" where the two armies meet and lots of people get hacked to pieces. Fatalities: zero.
2. Ring of Combat 6 - 4/24/2004 - Fight Factory rising star Eddie Alvarez met up with Pitts Penn badboy Adam Fearon at the Rexplex Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey in an event headlined by a rematch between Chris Liguori and Pete "Drago" Sell. The Philadelphia slugger needed about two minutes to force Fearon to tap out from strikes. However, their respective Fight Factory and Pitts Penn supporters needed slightly more time when the groups clashed in the parking lot after the show. I think someone got smoked by a car, which just proves that whoever brings a motor vehicle to a street tussle wins. Fatalities: zero, but I'm pretty sure getting run over sucks.
3. Reality Fighting 7 - 10/16/2004 - Alvarez has tons of fans. So, too, does Chris Schlesinger, and when the two met for the RF 7 main event, those fans were straddling the edge of sanity from the get-go. It was all over between Alvarez and Schlesinger in about a minute, but outside the ring Schlesinger's supporters started going bananas, and one thrown chair later saw security laying down a beating. It was... pretty entertaining. Fatalities: zero, although someone's shirt got ripped and their cigar got stomped.
4. UFC 45 - 11/21/2003 - David "Tank" Abbott and Wesley "Cabbage" Correira are just two dudes who like to scrap. Unfortunately, when their bout ended a little over two minutes into the first round, the action continued in the Octagon with both Tank and Cabbage's camp throwing kicks and punches and water bottles at each other. This brawl owns a special place in my heart because it's the only time I've ever seen an audience member brazenly climb into the cage, punch Tank Abbott, pat Cabbage on the shoulder, and escape anonymously into the audience. Credit goes to the Mohegan Sun Casino security for allowing that to happen. Fatalities: only the Mohegan Sun security team's credibility.
5. Mass Destruction 3 - 8/4/2001 - Nuri Shakir and John Frankl were engaged in a hotly-contested war when someone threw a chair and a brawl broke out in audience. All eyes turned to watch the throwdown in the crowd, and even Shakir and Frankl (who were clinched against the ropes) stopped to watch. When the brawl was over, the fight in the ring was restarted. Now that's an MMA show! Fatalities: none. Yet.

Massachusetts Reality Fighting Show to Feature Two Tough New Yorkers

On January 17th Reality Fighting will have its two billionth show, and the Plymouth, Massachusetts event features two hard-as-nails fighters based out of New York (and who usually fight in New Jersey). At the top of the card, ROC Beasts of the Northeast tournament winner Brian McLaughlin will take on Rene "Dead Man Walking" Nazare, and on the under card Team Tiger Schulmann brawler Nissim Levy will take on Sean "I Hope I Have Good Health Insurance" Holmes. For those who don't know, McLaughlin's signature move is an armbar executed in such a fashion that he actually detaches the arm from the body (he gives it back, though), while Levy favors an overhand right that leads to convulsions and chronic bouts of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Plymouth is too far for MMA Journalist to drive to, but if you're in the area on Saturday night you should definitely check the event out.

A Piece of MMA History: Laura D'Auguste

If the sport was in its infancy in 2002, then the concept of women competing in MMA was barely clearing the birth canal. But Laura D'Auguste was ahead of her time, and in events like New Jersey's Ring of Combat and Reality Fighting and Japan's Smackgirl, she was racking up wins against top lady warriors such as Amanda Buckner, Roxanne Modefferi and Megumi Yabushita, putting the world on notice that a bout featuring two females waging war was every bit as exciting as seeing a clash between two men. What made D'Auguste special? The truth is, D'Auguste could really grapple - so much so that she'd compete in men's divisions at NAGA tournaments. Her skills on the mat (honed to a razor's edge at Tiger Schulmann fight team sessions) translated into an undefeated MMA record and a berth at the prestigious 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships, and by July of that year she was widely seen as the best 135-pound female fighter on the planet. Sadly, it's been a two years since D'Auguste last saw action. A split from Team Tiger Schulmann prompted her to join Romulo Bittencourt's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in Newark, while an injury had her bow out of a potential BodogFIGHT match-up against Tara LaRosa. Add to that a new marriage, and the full-time cardiovascular nurse no longer seemed to hold MMA competition as a priority. Which is a shame, because thanks to her, the East Coast was at one time the center of the female mixed martial arts universe.

The Return of Jay Isip?

If the card holds together, then ROC 22 will bring us the return of one of New Jersey's most exciting fighters. That's right, Jay Isip is coming back. "Who?" you ask? Back when BAMA FightNight was the only show in town, Isip - who hails from Team Endgame and fights like a 155-pound wrestler on crystal meth - was kicking ass in Shootfighting tournaments, and he made the leap to Reality Fighting and Sportfighting when those promotions rolled around. Yes, his record sucks, but the dude had zero problems fighting the best (Kurt Pellegrino, Frankie Edgar, Deividas Taurosevicius), and every time he fought you could count on a balls-to-the-wall performance. Pray that when November 21st comes, Isip is still on the card.

The Only Game in Town?

Are you a pro fighter in the New York/New Jersey area looking to get a fight or two in before the new year? Well, unless you make it on to Ring of Combat's November 21st card at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, you're out of luck. Battle Cage Xtreme, New Jersey's other regional show, doesn't return until maybe February of 2009, and promotions like Combat in the Cage and Reality Fighting - which were once staples of the Garden State circuit - are on permanent hiatus. Suddenly, ROC is the only game in town. Is this a sign of the economic downturn hitting East Coast MMA? Or is it just a confluence of scheduling snafus? Who knows. But one thing is sure: ROC's November line-up should be killer.

Is the Northeast a Breeding Ground for Badasses?

Dan Miller needed only a minute and a half to choke the hell out of his opponent in his Octagon debut at UFN 15. Mike Massenzio damn near ripped Drew McFedries' arm off at the same event. Phillipe Nover sent his TUF foe packing in impressive fashion, and by all accounts Brian McLaughlin was kicking ass until an illegal knee earned him a win by disqualification. What do Miller, Massenzio, Nover and McLaughlin all have in common? They're the cream of the crop in the New Jersey fight circuit, and after spending years honing their skills in events like Reality Fighting, Ring of Combat, and the now-defunct IFL, they're sharp as hell and experienced enough to win at the highest of levels. For the longest time, MMA hotbeds like the West Coast and the Midwest were cranking out the toughest mixed martial artists, but no longer. Is the Northeast a breeding ground for badasses? With a wealth of shows and talent and solid schools focused on MMA, it sure is now.

Why Do People Keep Fouling Glen Sandull?

At this past Friday's ROC 21 Glen Sandull took on Ricardo Romero for the light-heavyweight title, and in the heat of battle Romero soccer-kicked the wrestler-turned-fighter in the dome when Sandull was on all fours. The result was a win via disqualification for the AMA Fight Club/Team Renzo representative, a shiny new ROC championship belt, and an exit from the cage on a stretcher. But this was, unfortunately, not the first time Sandull's been fouled in an MMA bout - Carlos Cline repeatedly up-kicked Sandull in their October of 2004 Reality Fighting bout, and Sherman Pendergarst whacked him over the head with a two-by-four in their April of 2006 Sportfighting bout. What is it about Sandull that makes opponents want to disregard the Unified Rules of MMA when fighting him? "He's just so... foulable," says Braden Bice, who faced Sandull at Combat in the Cage in September of 2006, losing in the third round due to exaustion but running Sandull down with his car in the parking lot. "I mean, nothing against the guy, but when he's taking you down again and again, pounding on you like a red-headed stepchild, you just have to break the rules."

TUF Profile: Phillipe Nover

The eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" debuts on SpikeTV on September 17th, and amidst the motley collection of lightweight and light-heavyweight contestants is one fighter East Coasters know well: Phillipe Nover. Yes, the same heavy-handed Nover who first fought at Reality Fighting five years ago, knocking opponents silly when he wasn't submitting them. Yes, the same Nover who hails from Brooklyn, comes to the cage wielding a sword, and who worked as a nurse at Coney Island Hospital whenever he wasn't wrecking people. Normally a welterweight, Nover looks to be cutting down to lightweight for this show - and unlike the inevitable scrubs the producers put into the TUF house like chum dumped into a shark tank, the man definitely belongs there. Watch out for him.