Do you smell that? That's the scent of warriors about to ride off into battle, their anticipation distilled into a sweat that reeks of aggression and violence. *Cues orchestra for dramatic medieval battle music* Oh yeah, it's on now... well, actually, it's on tomorrow night, which is when Lou Neglia's Ring of Combat returns to the Tropicana in Atlantic City for another 50-bout extravaganza that will go on into the wee hours of the morning (actually, a dozen bouts will go down, but trust me, when the main event doesn't happen until after midnight, it feels like 50 bouts). I've already extolled the virtues of Uriah Hall vs. Daniel Akinyemi (slugfest!) and James Jenkins vs. Dwayne Shelton (bloodbath!), so let's take a look at some of the other pairings that will make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and make my colon feel like it has to crap out a sofa.
-Tom DeBlass vs. Randy Smith -After going through about a dozen would-be opponents, light-heavyweight DeBlass - who's on the cusp of breaking into the big leagues - just wanted a damn fight. So in stepped heavyweight Smith. When last we saw Smith, he was fighting Brendan Barrett to a draw, and his size advantage and ability to wear opponents out is something hometown hero DeBlass is going to have to be wary of. While this isn't the first time the ROC 205-pound champ is fighting at heavyweight, it will be the first since he committed to making his mark on the light-heavyweight division, and he's had, what? Something like two weeks notice since Smith took the fight? It should be a good test.
-Jeff Lentz vs. Giovanni Moljo -I interviewed and wrote something about Lentz about two or three years ago and put it up on the FCF website, but I'll be damned if I can find it. Man, that sucks. It was pretty glowing, too, as the kid was something of a prodigy in the Northeast and was taking dudes out left and right with his unorthodox striking and competent ground game. Oh well. I have no idea who Giovanni Moljo is, but Giovanni Ribisi has alway been a decent actor. Remember "Saving Private Ryan"? Gritty performance for sure.
-Pete Sell vs. Mitch Whitesel - It was rough watching Sell fall to Nordine Taleb at the ROC 38, especially since I remember when "Drago" kicked Ted Govola Jr.'s ass at ROC 2. Anyway, Whitesel has never really been one to outstrike anyone, so this should be a nice, competitive matchup where no one gets killed at the end.
-Lester Caslow vs. Duane van Helvoirt - Former teen pop sensation Caslow has fought in just about every promotion that has come to New Jersey, including Bellator. Van Helvoirt, meanwhile, hails from the Netherlands. You know what the Netherlands is a major exporter of? Flowers. Caslow has nothing to fear.
-Munah Holland vs. Pearl Gonzalez -Gonzalez is some kind of submission specialist out of Chicago, while we all know Holland excels at punching girls in the face so hard they... so hard they... I don't know. They something. Anyway, Holland fights out of TSMMA, and she about murdered Kim Couture, and Kim Couture was kicked to the curb by Randy Couture when he found out she was disguising herself as an old witch and handing out poisoned apples to innocent young girls in the woods. So, um, yeah.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
CFFC Postscript
CFFC really hit it out of the park for their thirteenth show. From the bottom of the card, which saw a pair of green bantamweights battle it out, to the top of the card, which saw some high-level shit go down, the event was a real homerun. Some thoughts:
-Travis Wynn kicked ass in his debut, but the scorecards on that unanimous decision don't accurately reflect how good Marcus Daniels is. Daniels has rock-solid jiu-jitsu, and a ton of composure when it matters. Wynn was just a superior wrestler and was able to dictate how the fight went.
-MMA Institute in Virginia is kicking butt and taking names, with Brian Nielson looking smooth in the way he handled Marc Stevens-trained Dustin Baker. I guess Virginia isn't just for lovers?
-In my CFFC preview, I posed the question "Is Brad Desir the real deal?" The answer: Oh fuck yeah. Luciano Cristovam was every bit the jiu-jitsu stud you'd expect from a Renzo Gracie black belt, and he absolutely dominated Desir in the first round. Like, completely dominated, a 10-8 round for sure. But Desir didn't falter, and came out in the second winging bolos, and when they started connecting Cristovam was doomed. Desir has got a bright future ahead of him the cage. Very bright indeed. (As an aside, why the hell did Cristovam's people agree to that fight with Desir? It was his MMA debut, and he was taking on someone with eight fights - both amateur and pro - under their belt? That's nuts. Just like when Igor and Gregor Gracie took on Tom Gallicchio and Doug Gordon, Cristovam got creamed.)
-Man, Jackson Galka's Muay Thai is sharp as hell and fun to watch. If he got a chance to land those leg-kicks for another round, Terrell Hobbs' leg was going to fall off.
-We all knew going in that Claudio Ledesma is one of the best, but what we didn't know is that Pedro Gonzalez is actually pretty dangerous himself. I'd like to see Gonzalez again, against someone high-ranked as Ledesma.
-Anthony Morrison has still got it. Jay Haas was no slouch, and had some nice transitions to go with his functional strength, but Morrison put him on ice. I'd like to see Morrison make a run at the CFFC featherweight title sometime soon.
-Sean Santella ate a lot of punches, and things were looking really grim when Bryan Laschomb found his groove and started sprawling and brawling effectively. But then came the slick jiu-jitsu, and Santella had the kneebar. Nice. (Note: the athletic commission labeled the official result as a heelhook, but from my angle I could see it was a straight kneebar with Laschomb's foot tucked under Shorty Rock's armpit.)
-How ready is Joey Gambino ready for the UFC/Strikeforce/Bellator? Against his toughest opponent to date, Gambino kicked ass for most of his five-round bout against Kenny Foster, and even after a blocked kick in Round 4 saw Gambino likely break his arm, the CFFC featherweight champ kept going. That kind of mettle - plus his skill, strength, speed and technique - means it's just a matter of time before we're seeing the dude on TV. He's definitely ready.
-Travis Wynn kicked ass in his debut, but the scorecards on that unanimous decision don't accurately reflect how good Marcus Daniels is. Daniels has rock-solid jiu-jitsu, and a ton of composure when it matters. Wynn was just a superior wrestler and was able to dictate how the fight went.
-MMA Institute in Virginia is kicking butt and taking names, with Brian Nielson looking smooth in the way he handled Marc Stevens-trained Dustin Baker. I guess Virginia isn't just for lovers?
-In my CFFC preview, I posed the question "Is Brad Desir the real deal?" The answer: Oh fuck yeah. Luciano Cristovam was every bit the jiu-jitsu stud you'd expect from a Renzo Gracie black belt, and he absolutely dominated Desir in the first round. Like, completely dominated, a 10-8 round for sure. But Desir didn't falter, and came out in the second winging bolos, and when they started connecting Cristovam was doomed. Desir has got a bright future ahead of him the cage. Very bright indeed. (As an aside, why the hell did Cristovam's people agree to that fight with Desir? It was his MMA debut, and he was taking on someone with eight fights - both amateur and pro - under their belt? That's nuts. Just like when Igor and Gregor Gracie took on Tom Gallicchio and Doug Gordon, Cristovam got creamed.)
-Man, Jackson Galka's Muay Thai is sharp as hell and fun to watch. If he got a chance to land those leg-kicks for another round, Terrell Hobbs' leg was going to fall off.
-We all knew going in that Claudio Ledesma is one of the best, but what we didn't know is that Pedro Gonzalez is actually pretty dangerous himself. I'd like to see Gonzalez again, against someone high-ranked as Ledesma.
-Anthony Morrison has still got it. Jay Haas was no slouch, and had some nice transitions to go with his functional strength, but Morrison put him on ice. I'd like to see Morrison make a run at the CFFC featherweight title sometime soon.
-Sean Santella ate a lot of punches, and things were looking really grim when Bryan Laschomb found his groove and started sprawling and brawling effectively. But then came the slick jiu-jitsu, and Santella had the kneebar. Nice. (Note: the athletic commission labeled the official result as a heelhook, but from my angle I could see it was a straight kneebar with Laschomb's foot tucked under Shorty Rock's armpit.)
-How ready is Joey Gambino ready for the UFC/Strikeforce/Bellator? Against his toughest opponent to date, Gambino kicked ass for most of his five-round bout against Kenny Foster, and even after a blocked kick in Round 4 saw Gambino likely break his arm, the CFFC featherweight champ kept going. That kind of mettle - plus his skill, strength, speed and technique - means it's just a matter of time before we're seeing the dude on TV. He's definitely ready.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Cage Fury Fighting Championship 13 Preview
While most of you will be shelling out bucks to see Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit go at it on pay-pay-view on Saturday night, a select few of us will instead be at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, watching some top-notch regional MMA the way the sport is meant to be watched: in-fucking-person. That's right, I'm talking about Cage Fury Fighting Championship 13. Now, I've already extolled the virtues of a few of the bouts (http://www.mmajournalist.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-february-will-be-awesome.html), but there are others that have my interest piqued as well. So why not discuss them now? Hey, that's a great idea! (Note: I'm talking to myself. I think I might be going crazy.)
-Sean Santella vs. Bryan Lashomb - Up until when Santella ran into the human brick wall known as Aljamain Sterling, he was the baddest "little guy" in the Northeast. Which isn't to say "Shorty Roc" isn't still pretty bad ("bad" meaning he could put his fist through your chest; "bad" meaning he could submit you before you even knew he'd taken you down). He is. Only now he's aiming to get back on track as a dominant force in the Garden State circuit. On the other side of the bout is Lashomb, who trains out of MMA Institute in Virginia, is a veteran of M-1 Challenge, and seems pretty well-rounded. The big question here, though, is if Lashomb is ready for the step up in competition, as Santella is way better than any of the guys he's faced while competing in the Maryland-DC-Virginia area... *Awkward silence* ...Wait, are you expecting me to tell you if Lashomb is ready? How the hell should I know?
-Anthony Morrison vs. Jay Haas -How's this for bad luck: "Cheesesteak" Morrison worked his way up the Northeast rankings and made it into the WEC, only to face Mike Brown and Chad Mendes (an ex-champ and a top contender). Man, talk about screwed. Anyway, Morrison is back after a year and a half hiatus, and standing on the other side of the cage will be Haas, an experienced dude from Pennsylvania who can pound opponents out or get subbed by them. This bout intrigues me because I'm curious to see where Morrison is at in terms of being "Mr. Ass-Kicker".
-Claudio Ledesma vs. Pedro Gonzalez - Ledesma is another top "little guy" who fell to Aljamain Sterling but still remains a stone-cold killer, so this matchup should see him work New England fighter Gonzalez over pretty thoroughly. My crystal ball is showing me some punishment from top position, a transition to a sub, and a victorious Ledesma doing the Marcarena, but in the interest of full disclosure, I should say my crystal ball is a piece of shit. Literally.
-Mike Medrano vs. Brian VanHoven -Back in 2010, Medrano was a contender fighting the best guys in Ring of Combat, but he's hit a bit of skid from then to now. VanHoven was winless in 2011, so in theory, this should be the perfect opportunity for big-punching Medrano to get back to his winning ways. In theory. In reality, just about everyone Medrano has ever faced has had a reach advantage; if that's the case with VanHoven - and if VanHoven is explosive - this one could get ugly.
-Sean Santella vs. Bryan Lashomb - Up until when Santella ran into the human brick wall known as Aljamain Sterling, he was the baddest "little guy" in the Northeast. Which isn't to say "Shorty Roc" isn't still pretty bad ("bad" meaning he could put his fist through your chest; "bad" meaning he could submit you before you even knew he'd taken you down). He is. Only now he's aiming to get back on track as a dominant force in the Garden State circuit. On the other side of the bout is Lashomb, who trains out of MMA Institute in Virginia, is a veteran of M-1 Challenge, and seems pretty well-rounded. The big question here, though, is if Lashomb is ready for the step up in competition, as Santella is way better than any of the guys he's faced while competing in the Maryland-DC-Virginia area... *Awkward silence* ...Wait, are you expecting me to tell you if Lashomb is ready? How the hell should I know?
-Anthony Morrison vs. Jay Haas -How's this for bad luck: "Cheesesteak" Morrison worked his way up the Northeast rankings and made it into the WEC, only to face Mike Brown and Chad Mendes (an ex-champ and a top contender). Man, talk about screwed. Anyway, Morrison is back after a year and a half hiatus, and standing on the other side of the cage will be Haas, an experienced dude from Pennsylvania who can pound opponents out or get subbed by them. This bout intrigues me because I'm curious to see where Morrison is at in terms of being "Mr. Ass-Kicker".
-Claudio Ledesma vs. Pedro Gonzalez - Ledesma is another top "little guy" who fell to Aljamain Sterling but still remains a stone-cold killer, so this matchup should see him work New England fighter Gonzalez over pretty thoroughly. My crystal ball is showing me some punishment from top position, a transition to a sub, and a victorious Ledesma doing the Marcarena, but in the interest of full disclosure, I should say my crystal ball is a piece of shit. Literally.
-Mike Medrano vs. Brian VanHoven -Back in 2010, Medrano was a contender fighting the best guys in Ring of Combat, but he's hit a bit of skid from then to now. VanHoven was winless in 2011, so in theory, this should be the perfect opportunity for big-punching Medrano to get back to his winning ways. In theory. In reality, just about everyone Medrano has ever faced has had a reach advantage; if that's the case with VanHoven - and if VanHoven is explosive - this one could get ugly.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
New Blog Link
In the spirit of industry growth, check out this link to some dude's MMA blog - http://jim-ma.blogspot.com/ .
Monday, January 30, 2012
New York Admits Amateur MMA is Legal
I just read the New York City District Attorney's Motion to Dismiss Zuffa's lawsuit, and in it the dude freely admits that the law banning professional MMA does not apply to amateur bouts. Oh hell yeah. Back in 2003 I discovered that loophole in the law and wrote about it in Full Contact Fighter, and since then a few "underground" promoters have managed to exploit that loophole to varying degress of success.
Here's a link to the document - http://www.scribd.com/doc/79853000/Fighting-Motion - but if you want to cut to the chase, here's the relevant sentences:
"The statute’s provision on its face explicitly speaks to ‘professional’ combative sports and does not address amateur sports. Moreover, while the legislature, in another statute, regulates amateur boxing and wrestling, the legislature has not enacted a provision expressly addressing any amateur martial arts activity. Accordingly, the statute does not treat amateur MMA bouts any differently from amateur bouts involving traditional martial arts."
Ah yes, the sweet taste of vindication...
Here's a link to the document - http://www.scribd.com/doc/79853000/Fighting-Motion - but if you want to cut to the chase, here's the relevant sentences:
"The statute’s provision on its face explicitly speaks to ‘professional’ combative sports and does not address amateur sports. Moreover, while the legislature, in another statute, regulates amateur boxing and wrestling, the legislature has not enacted a provision expressly addressing any amateur martial arts activity. Accordingly, the statute does not treat amateur MMA bouts any differently from amateur bouts involving traditional martial arts."
Ah yes, the sweet taste of vindication...
Sunday, January 29, 2012
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