Liveblog: Return of Macaco Part 5

It's time for the main event, which pits Macaco against some dude from Virginia named Beau Baker. So far no Brazilian has lost, but the danger of a riot still lingers, and if the crowd doesn't like the outcome of this one... Well, tell my wife I loved her, and tell her to give my Shabazz Fruit Cola to our daughter. Round 1 is pretty back and forth, with Baker surviving some bad positions and showing a lot of toughness, but Round 2 is all Macaco working from top position. In Round 3 Macaco's age seems to be showing as he slows considerably. However, his experience and technical ability shine through in the little things he does to stay out of trouble (i.e. grabbing his opponent's head and pulling down when Baker gets behind him). The last minute sees the two men throwing bolos, and when time runs out the unanimous decision is awarded to Macaco. That's all, folks.

Liveblog: Return of Macaco Part 4

Jay Silva and Plinio Cruz are coming to the cage. Silva is a local guy who trains out on the West Coast, or a West Coaster who trains out here. Who knows. All I can tell you is that he's got Emerson Souza and Rob Guarino in his corner. Cruz is known in Rio de Janeiro for his love of Shabazz Fruit Cola. Can you guess who the crowd is rooting for? Silva and Cruz engage in a kickboxing battle in the opening round, and when Cruz starts trying to take it to the ground, Silva manages to avoid his subs, out-scramble him, and punish him with a jab. This one goes the distance as well, and when time runs out Silva is raining down leather from within the Brazilian's guard. The split decision goes to Cruz, but Silva should've gotten the nod. He scored more and scored more effectively. Next up: Bill Hill from Illinois against Flavio Alvaro from the island nation of Shabazz Fruit Colastan. At stake is the coveted Shabazz Cup. Who wants that precious trophy more? Based on Round 1, I'd say Hill, who uses far superior wrestling to beat the stuffing out of his opponent. Round 2 begins with Hill confident enough to trade - which proves his undoing, as Alvaro tags him on the chin with a right hook that knocks him out cold 46 seconds in. Alvaro earns the Shabazz Fruit Cola "Knockout of the Night" award.

Liveblog: Return of Macaco Part 3

Next up is Valter Roberto against Lamont Lister. I'm just about out of Brazilian stereotypes, so I'll just describe Roberto as an experienced middleweight with a jiu-jitsu background. Lister... Well, Lister is a scrapper. Again, the crowd is going nuts over Roberto. God help us if one of these Brazilians loses tonight. Anyway, Round 1 has Roberto pounding Lister for most of the period, although Lister gets some payback late. Things play out in similar fashion in Rounds 2 and 3, with the amount of damage Lister inflicts increasing exponentially until Roberto can barely stand when the final bell tolls. The split decision goes to Roberto, but this one was really close. And now, a word from our sponsor. After a long day at the office, nothing relaxes me more than a bath in Shabazz Fruit Cola. Shabazz Fruit Cola - it's better than Valium!

Liveblog: Return of Macaco Part 2

Production values look pretty high, with extra lighting surrounding the cage, a live Internet broadcast and veteran promoter Ed Hsu on the mic as one of the commentators. I'd also like to add that the event is sponsored by Shabazz Fruit Cola. Try Shabazz Fruit Cola, for all your fruit cola needs. Things are about to get underway. The Garv is in the cage asking for a ten-count moment of silence for Helio Gracie. Anthony Montanaro vs. Marcus Rodrigues is up first, with Montanaro hailing from Pitts Penn and Rodrigues fresh from the favela and full of Portuguese curse words. Wowsers, Montanaro is looking awesome in there, confounding the Brazilian's takedowns, stunning him with knees and peppering him with punches. Round 1 ends with Rodrigues on top though, and Rodrigues gets him down early in the second and pounds on him for the duration. Round 3 is all stand-up, with both men scoring sporadically and both men kicking each other in the groin. The unanimous decision is awarded to Rodrigues when time runs out. Man, you've got to love this raucous Brazilian crowd. They're turning what would normally be a moderate fight card into an impassioned night of combat.

Liveblog: Return of Macaco Part 1

MMA Journalist is cageside for Karriem Abdallah Productions' "Return of Macaco", a Brazilian-heavy five-bout card at Essex County College in Newark. As the title implies, the event is headlined by vale tudo legend Jorge "Macaco" Patino. Don't know who that is? Google "old school badass" and you'll see this dude has had some epics in the ring. Apparently Macaco lives and teaches in Newark now - hence the four other Sao Paulo natives on the card (think: fighting exchange program). Also fighting tonight are tough Garden State lightweight Anthony Montanaro, Philly scrapper Lamont Lister, and Jay Silva. Absent is heavyweight behemoth Bryan Vetell, who, for some reason, bailed on the weigh-ins.

World Cagefighting Alliance Postscript

Smooth and flawless production highlighted by some local stars getting their butts kicked. Props to Rich Ashkar for beating one of the best welterweights in the Northeast in Tom Gallicchio, and props to Marcus Aurelio for beating one of the best lightweights in Chris Liguori.

Liveblog: WCA Part 7

Paul Bradley and Nathan Coy are up. I'm trying to think of a joke about Nathan Coy shying away from photographers and being coy, but I got nothing. The two come out with guns blazing, and though Bradley ends up bloody courtesy of Coy's jab, his counter hooks are finding their mark. Round 2 plays out in similar fashion but with more wrestling added (go figure). In the final round Bradley scores a knockdown, and when time runs out everyone around me agrees that this bout is a tough one to call. The judges give the split decision to Bradley. Last bout is Chris Liguori and Marcus Aurelio. Contrary to popular belief, Aurelio is not a Roman Emperor and father to Comodus. He's just some Brazilian. Anyway, Liguori winds up on his back in the opening round, but Aurelio is unable to pass his guard. In the second, Aurelio sends Liguori to the canvas with a right. It's all over. And I'm spent.

Liveblog: WCA Part 6

Al Buck and George Sullivan are up. They clinch against the cage and Sullivan knees Buck in jewels. In the manpurse. In the love center. In the baby batter maker. Buck understandably needs time to recover. They resume, and Sullivan takes Buck down, mounts him and drops leather for the TKO. Matt Lee and Dave Jansen are in the cage, which pits a tough-as-nails striker against a Team Quest guy who probably favors some form of grappling - maybe wrestling. The bout is underway and Jansen gets Lee down and puts him to sleep with an Anaconda at the 3-minute mark. What the hell? Why'd they let him bring a live snake in there? Rich Ashkar vs. Tom Gallicchio is next. Gallicchio is a big fan favorite, despite his past as a serial killer. Hey, forgive and forget, right? Round 1 is a total barnburner, with Ashkar getting a slam, Gallicchio dropping him with a kick, Gallicchio almost getting the rear naked choke and Ashkar scoring with damaging ground and pound. Round 2 is all Ashkar and his bombs from top position, and Ashkar continues it into Round 3 to nab the TKO. Tough fight for Gallicchio. He should have won that one based on his experience and skill.

Liveblog: WCA Part 5

Imagine if you will an entrance that involves a Portuguese rockabilly song blaring over the loudspeakers, and a fighter dancing while wearing some kind of hat that makes me think of a Brazilian farmer going out on the town. That's Felipe Arantes' entrance. His opponent, Steve DeAngelis, plays it cool and comes out to MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This". Okay, I feel good about this fight. Round 1 sees Arantes, an x-factor around these parts because of his Sao Paulo-based career, as pretty tentative, while DeAngelis is a huge pile of confidence and wrestling fury. Round 2 has Arantes land a hellacious flying knee square on DeAngelis' chin, but he shrugs it off, gives the crowd a thumbs up, and ground and pounds the Brazilian against the cage. In Round 3 Arantes is even more aggressive, but he has no answer for the Team Pellegrino/Bombsquad stud's wrestling, and DeAngelis is just too savvy to get caught with a sub. Time runs out and DeAngelis gets the well-deserved unanimous decision. Monte Cox is cageside, so out of curiosity I go over and ask him what he's doing here. He's in town setting up some future shows, including an Adrenaline in May featuring Tim Sylvia against Ray Mercer. Monte, I love you. Mike Medrano and Doug Gordon are going at it now, throwing down like there's no tomorrow. Both men have KO power, and the crowd is digging how they're giving it their all. A clash of heads in Round 2 has both men bloody with matching cuts over their eyes. What a slugfest. Things slow a tiny bit in the third, but there's no denying Medrano and Gordon have had the best fight of the night thus far. The unanimous decision goes to Gordon.

Liveblog: WCA Part 4

Eric Henry vs. Brian DeMuro is on deck. As an aside, the venue is pretty much full, and Panic's mojo did not kill anyone. Anyway, Henry strikes like Keith Jardine (i.e. awkwardly) and DeMuro strikes like a wrestler (i.e. poorly), so we're subjected to two guys waiting for that one golden punch or kick that doesn't ever seem to come. Henry takes the unanimous decision. It's time for Anthony Morrison and Kevin Roddy. If my memory serves me correctly, these guys trained together at one point. And now... Now they're bitter enemies. Yes, like most friendships gone sour, this one involved a girl most fair, with locks of blonde and eyes of the clearest blue. Both men loved her, yet her indifference stoked the flames of jealousy that burned... Whoops. Lost my mind there. Sorry about that. Anyhoo, Morrison specializes in ground and pounding and Roddy specializes in submitting cats from his guard (yes, actual cats), and Round 1 is all about each man trying to do what he does best. Round 2 is more of the same, while in Round 3 Morrison scores with a big slam. Despite about 100 close armbar attempts from Roddy, Morrison takes the unanimous decision when time runs out.

Liveblog: WCA Part 3

Phillip Wyman and Ryan Smith are coming to the cage. Smith is teammates with Doug Gordon. I know nothing about Wyman, so I'm going to make something up about him hunting crocodiles in the wilds of Africa. So, yeah, it's Smith against the Croc Hunter. Round 1 begins with Croc Hunter - wearing green, scaly fight shorts and carrying a spear gun - landing a hellacous kick to Smith's body. Smith goes down, but is game enough to survive Croc Hunter's ground and pound and go for a heelhook. Croc Hunter escapes, slaps on a triangle, and gets the tap. Now it's Pat White and Anthony Leone's turn. Leone is a veteran of the Underground Combat League, so expect him to pull out a shiv and stab White in the throat at some point. Wow. Okay, no shiv was needed. Leone dropped him about two seconds in with a right cross, then pounded on him until he sunk the rear naked choke at 4:36 into the round. Leone looks like the real deal. Keep on eye on him. Joey Camacho and Lester Caslow are up. Caslow always seems to have about a thousand young girls screaming for him - probably stemming from his time in that boy band. As usual, Camacho comes out strong, but Caslow weathers the storm to get top position and rain down the pain. Camacho makes it to Round 2, but Caslow TKOs him less than a minute into the round. Lord help us, now Panic is in the cage. I fear the dark magic.

Liveblog: WCA Part 2

The event is kicked off by some sort of announcer dude dressed as a goth and wielding a staff with a skull on it. His name is "Panic". Seriously. His driver's license says "Panic". First bout: Daniel Tavares vs. Brian Danner. Danner is making his debut, and after some cautious hugging and tentative striking, he seems to remember that he knows how to throw leather and knocks Tavares out with a one-two combo. Next up is Mark Getto against Ken Foster. I'm trying to think of something funny in regards to Getto being from the ghetto, but I got nothing. Sorry. Round 1 sees these two wrestlers chip away at each other with punches - Getto technically superior but Foster throwing more and throwing harder. Round 2 is more of the same, but Getto steals it late with mount and some payback. Thanks to a takedown and some ground and pound, Round 3 - and the unanimous decision - go to Foster.

Liveblog: WCA Part 1

MMA Journalist is cageside for the inaugural World Cagefighting Alliance show at Boardwalk Hall. The event is dubbed "Pure Combat", which means that tonight's combat will in no way be diluted with peace or love. Just pure combat, baby. The Garv is here, acting very Garvish, and I think I saw UFC veteran Guy Mezger walk by in a suit. He's either doing some sort of commentary or selling insurance. I'm not sure. Anyway, there will be 14 fights, and the cage is huge.

Strikeforce Poised to Become the Next Strikeforce

Strikeforce, the ultra-successful West Coast regional promotion that can boast live attendance records and a late-night television show on NBC, is poised to become the next Strikeforce thanks to its announced acquisition of ProElite's assets yesterday. Known throughout the industry for its strong business model and high-quality product, the organization that has brought fans match-ups featuring Cung Le, Frank Shamrock and Cesar Gracie, as well as other big ticket sellers, will now have access to EliteXC's superstars, like Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano, and Robbie Lawler - and it will have EliteXC's broadcasting agreements with Showtime and CBS to boot. "Everyone says they want to be the next Strikeforce," said Strikeforce Head Honcho Scott Coker. "Well, with ProElite's assets, and, um, the fact that we already are Strikeforce, I think we're going to be the next Strikeforce. The Strikeforce of Strikeforces, if you will. Wait, now I'm confused..." The first rumored Strikeforce event on Showtime may be in April, and will feature Scott Smith against Benji Radach.

Press Release: "Strikeforce Inks Deal with ProElite"

Freakin' finally.

Weekend Schedule

Get ready for another busy weekend in combat sports. Friday night will feature the eagerly-anticipated debut of the World Cagefighting Alliance, but it will also see another installment of promoter Lou Neglia's Combat at the Capitale (a long-running kickboxing show in Manhattan's Chinatown) and New York Fight Club 2, a multi-discipline fight show on Long Island. Info for both are here http://www.louneglia.com/upcoming_recent.shtml and here www.NYfightclub.net . MMA Journalist will be cageside to liveblog the WCA. Then, on Saturday night, there's "The Return of Macaco" in Newark - MMA Journalist will be liveblogging that one, too. Finally, Sunday morning has the NYC Submission Shootout. Expect some coverage for that one as well.