Borgata. Before last night, it was a casino untouched by the gnarled hands of MMA. But then came Cage Fury Fighting Championship 14, with its championship clobberings and undercard smashfests, and the large-bosomed occupants of that venue on the Marina-side of Atlantic City never knew what hit them. Yes, CFFC was fantastic - despite a few extended breaks to allow for the ambulance to return to the site after ferry one fighter after another to the local emergency room. However, what really made the night was the Borgata itself, which seemed to burst at the seams with the heretofore unseen violence it was barely able to contain within its event center (plus, the staff cafeteria was the bomb). Some thoughts:
-I hated seeing UFC vet Greg Soto lose, as the dude has been an integral (and virtually unsung) part of the Garden State MMA scene since Nick Lembo first started allowing amateur competitions, but it was good to see George Sullivan attain that level of success that has eluded him in the past. You see, Sullivan has been around for a long-ass time himself, toiling away in a multitude of local shows dispensing - and sometimes receiving - beatings, yet always ending up better because of it. Once upon a time you could shut down Sullivan's dangerous striking with a smothering ground game. Seems like those days are gone, and now he's got a shiny CFFC welterweight championship belt to show for his hard work.
-I was lucky enough to sit next to the legendary Jeff Blatnick for pretty much the entire night, which is fun because Jeff appreciates good rock and roll, cleavage and combat when he sees it. But it was very telling to see Jeff's reaction to Aljamain Sterling. Sterling, as fate would have it, got to defend his bantamweight belt against a surprisingly-tough Casey Johnson, and Johnson was dangerous enough to put Sterling in some hairy situations (example: a triangle choke that was very reminiscent of Matt Hughes' first tangle with Carlos Newton). And like the stud he is, Sterling battled out of it all, turned the tide, and ended up dominating. So after the dust settled, who did Jeff compare Sterling and his evident talent and ability to? UFC champ Jon Jones, of course. Keep an eye on Sterling, folks. He's going places.
-Sean Santella had zero problems putting Tuan Pham on his back and cinching on the rear naked choke. Flyweight is the perfect weight class for Santella. Absolutely perfect.
-Artur Rofi's aggressive - and seemingly unstoppable - jiu-jitsu game is exactly like that of Nick and Nate Diaz. Case in point: CFFC opponent Evan Chmielski knew what to expect and was exceedingly prepared for Rofi, and when he got the Albanian down he was defending armbars and triangle chokes like his life depended on it. So what did Rofi do? After softening Chmielski up with knees on the feet, Rofi switched from attacking from the bottom to attacking from the top, and really began prying Chmielski's limbs apart. The end came via triangle, and it came after Rofi had damn near torn his opponent's arm off a couple times. I'm not sure when Rofi will be fighting champ Joey Gambino for the belt, but it's got to be soon.
-Ozzy Dugulubgov has got power and a keen ability to unleash it with great fury. He pegged Brian Nielson with a right, dropped him with a stunning high-kick, and unloaded with a storm of punches that had the referring instantly jumping in. Like Rofi, Dugulubgov is a great talent that CFFC has in their stable.
-Mike Medrano made short work of Matt Nice, although he still managed to inexplicably get a bad cut over his eye and wind up bloody. Good to see Medrano get back on track with another win. Also notching another "W" was Brian Kelleher, who kicked a lot of ass last year before falling to two of the best guys in the Northeast. In Raphael Chavez, Kelleher faced a skilled jiu-jitsu guy unafraid to throw down, and the Bombsquad rep simply wore Chavez out - so much so that Chavez had absolutely nothing in his gas tank when Round 2 rolled around.
-Travis Wynn and Anthony Craparo had a hard-fought battle that was a bit closer than the scorecards indicated (Wynn won the unanimous decision). It was really a good showing by both men.
-Shedrick Goodridge weathered Mike Wilcox's wrestling onslaught and put him away with a nice sub. Erik Purcell kept hunting for a single-leg takedown and eventually Dan Holmes put him in a guillotine that ended it all. And Jonavin Webb made Rob Gittens fight his game - a ground war - that had Gittens on the defensive until he tapped out.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Bellator Postscript
As number two MMA organizations go, nothing even comes close to how smooth and professional a Bellator show feels when you're sitting there taking it all in live, and this past Friday's installment at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City was no exception. It was like watching a well-oiled machine in motion - albeit, a machine that churns out violence and entertainment. Some thoughts:
-I've been there for almost ever fight in Zach Makovsky's career and I've watched him do some amazing things in the cage, but once the door shut and the ref signaled for him and Eduardo Dantas to go at it... sheesh. Other than his near-flawless takedowns, Makovsky had nothing. The Brazilian's kicks to the body sounded like a baseball bat hitting a brick wall, and whenever it went to the ground Dantas was working him hard. I was shocked when Dantas put Makovsky to sleep, but now that he's done it and secured himself the bantamweight belt, I'm firmly convinced that Dantas is going to remain the champ for a long while.
-Daniel Straus can definitely deliver a beating and Mike Corey can definitely take one. Seriously, I thought Corey's face was going to fall off for all the damage it took.
-How dangerous is Lyman Good when he's "on"? Thirteen-second knockout dangerous. Frighteningly dangerous. "He will be champ again" dangerous.
-Alexis Vila had one good punch in him, and he clearly used it up when he knocked out Joe Warren, because the Cuban had nothing for Luiz Nogueira. Vila was quite simply out of his league and was beaten in all aspects.
-Thank God Marcos Galvao made the decision in his bout against Ed West an easy one. For three rounds he was clearly the better man - beating West at striking and grappling - and when it came down to the judges deciding the winner, I had every confidence that the commission in New Jersey wasn't going to mess it up.
-Kris McCray got the job done, but I feel like he had a harder time than he should have against jiu-jitsu specialist Ailton Barbosa. Granted, Barbosa was dangerous on the ground and was willing to stand and wing punches. However, we've seen McCray perform with confidence and unchecked aggression before, and for some reason Barbosa was able to stifle all that.
-Will Martinez looked to be in trouble against Terrell Hobbs before reversing his fortunes with his sub game, but I had faith. I once saw him fight Al Iaquinta to a draw at a Ring of Combat - the man certainly has skills.
-Duane Bastress just steamrolled over Plinio Cruz. Same with Scott Heckman over Lester Caslow and Kenny Foster over Jay Haas. Now, I don't know about Haas, but I've seen Cruz and Caslow kick ass before, so I guess that means we have to keep our eyes on Bastress and Heckman. They may be the collective real deal.
-Mikhail Malyutin must've really been thrown off when a fight broke out between him and EJ Brooks. Must've really taken him out of his element. Probably wasn't expecting he'd have to actually fight or something...
-I've been there for almost ever fight in Zach Makovsky's career and I've watched him do some amazing things in the cage, but once the door shut and the ref signaled for him and Eduardo Dantas to go at it... sheesh. Other than his near-flawless takedowns, Makovsky had nothing. The Brazilian's kicks to the body sounded like a baseball bat hitting a brick wall, and whenever it went to the ground Dantas was working him hard. I was shocked when Dantas put Makovsky to sleep, but now that he's done it and secured himself the bantamweight belt, I'm firmly convinced that Dantas is going to remain the champ for a long while.
-Daniel Straus can definitely deliver a beating and Mike Corey can definitely take one. Seriously, I thought Corey's face was going to fall off for all the damage it took.
-How dangerous is Lyman Good when he's "on"? Thirteen-second knockout dangerous. Frighteningly dangerous. "He will be champ again" dangerous.
-Alexis Vila had one good punch in him, and he clearly used it up when he knocked out Joe Warren, because the Cuban had nothing for Luiz Nogueira. Vila was quite simply out of his league and was beaten in all aspects.
-Thank God Marcos Galvao made the decision in his bout against Ed West an easy one. For three rounds he was clearly the better man - beating West at striking and grappling - and when it came down to the judges deciding the winner, I had every confidence that the commission in New Jersey wasn't going to mess it up.
-Kris McCray got the job done, but I feel like he had a harder time than he should have against jiu-jitsu specialist Ailton Barbosa. Granted, Barbosa was dangerous on the ground and was willing to stand and wing punches. However, we've seen McCray perform with confidence and unchecked aggression before, and for some reason Barbosa was able to stifle all that.
-Will Martinez looked to be in trouble against Terrell Hobbs before reversing his fortunes with his sub game, but I had faith. I once saw him fight Al Iaquinta to a draw at a Ring of Combat - the man certainly has skills.
-Duane Bastress just steamrolled over Plinio Cruz. Same with Scott Heckman over Lester Caslow and Kenny Foster over Jay Haas. Now, I don't know about Haas, but I've seen Cruz and Caslow kick ass before, so I guess that means we have to keep our eyes on Bastress and Heckman. They may be the collective real deal.
-Mikhail Malyutin must've really been thrown off when a fight broke out between him and EJ Brooks. Must've really taken him out of his element. Probably wasn't expecting he'd have to actually fight or something...
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Bellator Fighter Profile: Plinio Cruz
Bellator will once more pack the ballroom at Caesar's in Atlantic City this Friday night with screaming fight fans, and though the main card sports such star power as champ Zach Makovsky, Marcos Galvao and Alexis Vila, there's a hellagood undercard there just ripe for the picking for those who go to www.Spike.com or show up in person - an undercard featuring studs like ex-champ Lyman Good and ex-TUFer Kris McCray, plus others. But one name on the prelims who should not be overlooked is Plinio Cruz. A glance at the Brazilian's record may not stir up much excitement; however, if you dig just a little bit beneath the surface, you'll find a badass. Here, let me help you with the digging...
A jiu-jitsu brown belt under the legendary Jorge "Macaco" Patino, Cruz has long been one of the top dogs at the Newark-based Gold Team Fighters, and you can often find him teaching MMA at various spots in and around the metro New York area. But don't for a second think that Cruz is all about fighting in pajamas - he's always been a striker, more apt to trade, slug it out and knee opponent's to death than to hunt for takedowns. In his first at-bat when he came to the US, he took a decision over Jay Silva, and subsequent wins were earned over the hard-hitting Ariel Sepulveda at a ROC event and over wrestler John Doyle at an M-1 Global installment. And if not for a couple errant kicks to Tyson Jeffries' junk (and the inevitable point deduction), Cruz would've made it to the finals of an M-1 Global tournament, if not won the whole damn thing.
His losses have, of course, come against some bad dudes. UFC fighter Rafael Natal once tapped him out, he was dropped by M-1 Global tournament finalist Mike Geurin (who's pretty much carved out of wood), and when Cruz went to Russia, Magomed Sultanakhmedov - who is currently M-1 Global's middleweight champ and an absolute KO machine - put him away. But Cruz has consistently remained one of the Northeast's toughest and most dangerous 185-pounders.
On Friday, Duane Bastress will be the other man in the cage against Cruz, and though Bastress is coming off a win via cut over Daniel Gracie, I'd say the odds are in our boy Plinio's favor. Because there's going to be a stand-up exchange, then another, then another, and Cruz is eventually going to find an opening to put Bastress away. That's usually what he does. Don't believe me? Tune in and see for yourself.
A jiu-jitsu brown belt under the legendary Jorge "Macaco" Patino, Cruz has long been one of the top dogs at the Newark-based Gold Team Fighters, and you can often find him teaching MMA at various spots in and around the metro New York area. But don't for a second think that Cruz is all about fighting in pajamas - he's always been a striker, more apt to trade, slug it out and knee opponent's to death than to hunt for takedowns. In his first at-bat when he came to the US, he took a decision over Jay Silva, and subsequent wins were earned over the hard-hitting Ariel Sepulveda at a ROC event and over wrestler John Doyle at an M-1 Global installment. And if not for a couple errant kicks to Tyson Jeffries' junk (and the inevitable point deduction), Cruz would've made it to the finals of an M-1 Global tournament, if not won the whole damn thing.
His losses have, of course, come against some bad dudes. UFC fighter Rafael Natal once tapped him out, he was dropped by M-1 Global tournament finalist Mike Geurin (who's pretty much carved out of wood), and when Cruz went to Russia, Magomed Sultanakhmedov - who is currently M-1 Global's middleweight champ and an absolute KO machine - put him away. But Cruz has consistently remained one of the Northeast's toughest and most dangerous 185-pounders.
On Friday, Duane Bastress will be the other man in the cage against Cruz, and though Bastress is coming off a win via cut over Daniel Gracie, I'd say the odds are in our boy Plinio's favor. Because there's going to be a stand-up exchange, then another, then another, and Cruz is eventually going to find an opening to put Bastress away. That's usually what he does. Don't believe me? Tune in and see for yourself.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Bouts to Watch Out for at CFFC 14
The Cage Fury Fighting Championship returns to Atlantic City for its fourteenth installment this coming Saturday, popping the Borgata's MMA cherry with a card that promises many forcibly-removed limbs and the most decapitations allowed by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. Now, since technology has advanced to the point where you can watch these events online (at www.CFFC.tv), I'm left trying justify my existence as a cageside reporter. I mean, once upon a time you had to take my word for it in terms of what happened at these local shows, but now you can see the fights with your own eyes from the comfort of your home. So what value then my vast MMA reporting experience? I know. I'll write you up a little preview. Yeah, like, a breakdown of some of the CFFC 14 bouts to watch out for. Hooray! I still have something other than sarcastic tweets to contribute to the MMA world!
-Greg Soto vs. George Sullivan - UFC vet Soto waltzed right into the CFFC cage a few shows back and did what everyone expected him to, which was to fuckstomp his opponent to death and take the organization's welterweight title. Well, now he gets to defend it, and in Sullivan, he gets the added bonus of taking on a former Pellegrino MMA teammate. I'm loathe to delve too deeply into the soap opera-like "he said, she said" of how people do and don't get along in the Jersey Shore fight scene, but I will say that the feud between Soto and Sullivan involves cattle rustling, a meteor that bestows superpowers upon those who touch it, and the affections of a Japanese anime character come to life. So here we are, with Soto playing the role of ace grappler with dangerous hands and Sullivan playing the role of tough standup fighter with dangerous ground game. Putting them together should make for a helluva fun main event.
-Aljamain Sterling vs. Casey Johnson - Sterling spent all of 2011 crushing dudes, said "crush-age" spanning five bouts and comprising the extent of his pro career thus far. And it wasn't just regular Joes that Sterling beat - he beat the best of the "little guys" the Northeast has to offer, including Sean Santella and Claudio Ledesma. Impressive? Hells yeah. On Saturday night, Sterling will defend his CFFC bantamweight belt against Johnson, who, uh, is just some guy out of North Carolina who's real good at beating North Carolinians (according to his record, he does have a win over Elijah Muhammad, and Elijah Muhammad was a leader in the Nation of Islam and mentor to Malcom X... there's a joke in there somewhere). Anyway, this bout should play out as another example as to why Sterling doesn't belong in the cage with folks at the sub-international level, and he should be fighting Shooto veterans and scrappy mofos from those promotions in the jungles of Brazil.
-Sean Santella vs. Tuan Pham - CFFC flyweight champ Santella is to high-speed grappling transitions what Marsala wine is to mushrooms. Does that make sense? Okay, try this one: Santella is to smooth takedowns and intense jiu-jitsu what the Heckler & Koch MP5 is to 9mm bullets. Any better? No? Well, let's just say "Shorty Rock" is good on the ground. Challenger Pham, meanwhile, is a KO striker on the feet, but his sprawl leaves a lot to be desired, and it's through that chink in his armor that everyone beats him. Should be a good fight, though.
-Artur Rofi vs. Evan Chmielski - Romulo Bittencourt-trained Rofi fights with the kind of intensity and emotion that often causes loose athletic commission paperwork on cageside tables to spontaneously combust, and in four pro fights he's wrecked the arms of three opponents (and tapped the other one with a triangle choke). Remember when I mentioned "forcibly-removed limbs" earlier on? I was talking about Rofi. This time around Chmielski gets to be the victim, and while Chmielski has shown a lot of scrappiness (he once TKO'd Ryan Vaccaro in ROC), nothing I've seen of him thus far has given me any indication that he's going to be able to prevent Rofi from tearing his arm off and throwing it into the audience.
-Ozzy Dugulubgov vs. Brian Nielson - Virginia's MMA Institute makes em' tough, and tough is exactly how Nielson seemed when he fought and won at the last CFFC. But Dugulubgov has always impressed me - he can hit hard and he hunts for submissions like nobody's business - and aside from a lapse back at CFFC 10, he's been the epitome of the word "beast". Can the Dugulobgov brand of beatdown overcome the MMA Institute brand of resilience? Dunno, but either way, we as spectators are going to win.
-Greg Soto vs. George Sullivan - UFC vet Soto waltzed right into the CFFC cage a few shows back and did what everyone expected him to, which was to fuckstomp his opponent to death and take the organization's welterweight title. Well, now he gets to defend it, and in Sullivan, he gets the added bonus of taking on a former Pellegrino MMA teammate. I'm loathe to delve too deeply into the soap opera-like "he said, she said" of how people do and don't get along in the Jersey Shore fight scene, but I will say that the feud between Soto and Sullivan involves cattle rustling, a meteor that bestows superpowers upon those who touch it, and the affections of a Japanese anime character come to life. So here we are, with Soto playing the role of ace grappler with dangerous hands and Sullivan playing the role of tough standup fighter with dangerous ground game. Putting them together should make for a helluva fun main event.
-Aljamain Sterling vs. Casey Johnson - Sterling spent all of 2011 crushing dudes, said "crush-age" spanning five bouts and comprising the extent of his pro career thus far. And it wasn't just regular Joes that Sterling beat - he beat the best of the "little guys" the Northeast has to offer, including Sean Santella and Claudio Ledesma. Impressive? Hells yeah. On Saturday night, Sterling will defend his CFFC bantamweight belt against Johnson, who, uh, is just some guy out of North Carolina who's real good at beating North Carolinians (according to his record, he does have a win over Elijah Muhammad, and Elijah Muhammad was a leader in the Nation of Islam and mentor to Malcom X... there's a joke in there somewhere). Anyway, this bout should play out as another example as to why Sterling doesn't belong in the cage with folks at the sub-international level, and he should be fighting Shooto veterans and scrappy mofos from those promotions in the jungles of Brazil.
-Sean Santella vs. Tuan Pham - CFFC flyweight champ Santella is to high-speed grappling transitions what Marsala wine is to mushrooms. Does that make sense? Okay, try this one: Santella is to smooth takedowns and intense jiu-jitsu what the Heckler & Koch MP5 is to 9mm bullets. Any better? No? Well, let's just say "Shorty Rock" is good on the ground. Challenger Pham, meanwhile, is a KO striker on the feet, but his sprawl leaves a lot to be desired, and it's through that chink in his armor that everyone beats him. Should be a good fight, though.
-Artur Rofi vs. Evan Chmielski - Romulo Bittencourt-trained Rofi fights with the kind of intensity and emotion that often causes loose athletic commission paperwork on cageside tables to spontaneously combust, and in four pro fights he's wrecked the arms of three opponents (and tapped the other one with a triangle choke). Remember when I mentioned "forcibly-removed limbs" earlier on? I was talking about Rofi. This time around Chmielski gets to be the victim, and while Chmielski has shown a lot of scrappiness (he once TKO'd Ryan Vaccaro in ROC), nothing I've seen of him thus far has given me any indication that he's going to be able to prevent Rofi from tearing his arm off and throwing it into the audience.
-Ozzy Dugulubgov vs. Brian Nielson - Virginia's MMA Institute makes em' tough, and tough is exactly how Nielson seemed when he fought and won at the last CFFC. But Dugulubgov has always impressed me - he can hit hard and he hunts for submissions like nobody's business - and aside from a lapse back at CFFC 10, he's been the epitome of the word "beast". Can the Dugulobgov brand of beatdown overcome the MMA Institute brand of resilience? Dunno, but either way, we as spectators are going to win.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Lest Ye Were Confused...
Eugene Perez of Aggressive Combat Sports called today, a little bit irate over the idea that readers of this blog might somehow see the posts about his Aggressive Combat Championship event and get it confused with the Underground Combat League. I don't see how such confusion could arise, but who knows, it could be possible. So let's clarify the differences between the two organizations, shall we?
-The Aggressive Combat Championships is an amateur fight promotion that's sanctioned by the United States Muay Thai Association, and the cards at their events can consist of anything from boxing to Muay Thai to submission grappling to combat sport jiu-jitsu bouts. The UCL is unsanctioned vale tudo, although a handshake aggreement by the fighters before they step into the ring can mean Unified Rules, amateur rules akin to those used in New Jersey, duels at ten paces with flintlock pistols, or whatever.
-Aggressive Combat Championship events are held at gyms in Fishkill, NY, Danbury, CT and Bohemia, Long Island. The UCL operates in the Five Boroughs, but I'd have to kill you if I gave you exact locations.
-Notable veterans of the UCL include former UFC champ Frankie Edgar, ROC champ Ryan LaFlare, IFL veteran Bryan Vetell, BodogFIGHT veteran Kaream Ellington, Bellator and Strikeforce veteran Anthony Leone, and bunch of other people who used aliases and wouldn't want their identities revealed. Notable veterans of the Aggressive Combat Championship include UCL vet James Funaro, UCL vet Doug Ahammer, and UCL vet "Smash" Evans.
-If you compete in an Aggressive Combat Championship event, you get insurance (in case you're injured), entrance music, a fog machine, colorful lights and enough fanfare to make fighting in front of your family and friends a pleasant experience. If you compete in the UCL, you get Hepatitis and cooties, and if you give out the location of the event to your family and friends you get a shank in the ribs.
-The Aggressive Combat Championship has been around, from what I gather, just a couple years, whereas the UCL has been around since 2003. As such, the UCL has been featured in the New York Times (three times), the New York Daily News, the New York Post, ESPN (twice), the New York Observer, the New York Press (twice), the Wall Street Journal, Full Contact Fighter magazine, Real Fighter magazine, the Metro New York newspaper, Hurriyet (the biggest newspaper in Turkey), Gawker.com, CNNMoney, and countless websites. The Aggressive Combat Championship has been written about on this blog. But hey, give it some time.
-Ultimately, the most glaring difference between the two organizations is how the New York State Athletic Commission views them. The Aggressive Combat Championship operates in the full light of day with the blessing of the athletic commission; conversely, if agents of the commission ever ascertain the whereabouts of UCL promoter Peter Storm, his location will be targeted by cruise missiles launched from a barge in the Hudson River. In other words, Storm is an outlaw, a pariah, a modern-day bandit and a Latino Tyler Durden all rolled into one - which speaks volumes of his UCL promotion. Frankly, I don't see how one could get the two disparate organizations confused...
-The Aggressive Combat Championships is an amateur fight promotion that's sanctioned by the United States Muay Thai Association, and the cards at their events can consist of anything from boxing to Muay Thai to submission grappling to combat sport jiu-jitsu bouts. The UCL is unsanctioned vale tudo, although a handshake aggreement by the fighters before they step into the ring can mean Unified Rules, amateur rules akin to those used in New Jersey, duels at ten paces with flintlock pistols, or whatever.
-Aggressive Combat Championship events are held at gyms in Fishkill, NY, Danbury, CT and Bohemia, Long Island. The UCL operates in the Five Boroughs, but I'd have to kill you if I gave you exact locations.
-Notable veterans of the UCL include former UFC champ Frankie Edgar, ROC champ Ryan LaFlare, IFL veteran Bryan Vetell, BodogFIGHT veteran Kaream Ellington, Bellator and Strikeforce veteran Anthony Leone, and bunch of other people who used aliases and wouldn't want their identities revealed. Notable veterans of the Aggressive Combat Championship include UCL vet James Funaro, UCL vet Doug Ahammer, and UCL vet "Smash" Evans.
-If you compete in an Aggressive Combat Championship event, you get insurance (in case you're injured), entrance music, a fog machine, colorful lights and enough fanfare to make fighting in front of your family and friends a pleasant experience. If you compete in the UCL, you get Hepatitis and cooties, and if you give out the location of the event to your family and friends you get a shank in the ribs.
-The Aggressive Combat Championship has been around, from what I gather, just a couple years, whereas the UCL has been around since 2003. As such, the UCL has been featured in the New York Times (three times), the New York Daily News, the New York Post, ESPN (twice), the New York Observer, the New York Press (twice), the Wall Street Journal, Full Contact Fighter magazine, Real Fighter magazine, the Metro New York newspaper, Hurriyet (the biggest newspaper in Turkey), Gawker.com, CNNMoney, and countless websites. The Aggressive Combat Championship has been written about on this blog. But hey, give it some time.
-Ultimately, the most glaring difference between the two organizations is how the New York State Athletic Commission views them. The Aggressive Combat Championship operates in the full light of day with the blessing of the athletic commission; conversely, if agents of the commission ever ascertain the whereabouts of UCL promoter Peter Storm, his location will be targeted by cruise missiles launched from a barge in the Hudson River. In other words, Storm is an outlaw, a pariah, a modern-day bandit and a Latino Tyler Durden all rolled into one - which speaks volumes of his UCL promotion. Frankly, I don't see how one could get the two disparate organizations confused...
Monday, April 2, 2012
Aggressive Combat Championships Postscript
Small local shows are fun because they're intimate and, often, you never know what you're going to get. Saturday night's Aggressive Combat Championships on Long Island gave us a bit of everything. From boxing to Muay Thai to submission grappling to something called "combat sport jiu-jitsu", the event had it all, and there was just the right amount of fresh talent mixed in with veterans to make it interesting. Highlights of the night included:
-RAW COMBAT star James Funaro TKOing some dude named Joey in a boxing match. James' bout was the first fight of the night - why? Because he had to race off to tend bar at some nearby dive (his words, not mine).
-TSMMA rep Damien Baily's shellacking of Anthony Curanaj. Curanaj had heart and did his best to hang in there, but Baily just outclassed him when it came to footwork, head-movement and technique.
-Phil Dunlap's ASF team, who pretty much kicked ass whenever one of them climbed into the ring.
-EDGE Hoboken's Gerald Javier, who got the TKO win over a tough and experienced UCL vet Doug Ahammer.
-RAW COMBAT star James Funaro TKOing some dude named Joey in a boxing match. James' bout was the first fight of the night - why? Because he had to race off to tend bar at some nearby dive (his words, not mine).
-TSMMA rep Damien Baily's shellacking of Anthony Curanaj. Curanaj had heart and did his best to hang in there, but Baily just outclassed him when it came to footwork, head-movement and technique.
-Phil Dunlap's ASF team, who pretty much kicked ass whenever one of them climbed into the ring.
-EDGE Hoboken's Gerald Javier, who got the TKO win over a tough and experienced UCL vet Doug Ahammer.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Flashback: Aggressive Shoot Championship
As secret, unsanctioned events go, this one was exceedingly clean and sanitized. But the venue was the old Combined Martial Arts gym in Astoria, after all, and that neighborhood isn't exactly the ghetto. Plus, the fights at this shindig - the Aggressive Shoot Championship - weren't full-on vale tudo like what the UCL was churning out. They weren't even what the Unified Rules would consider real MMA, what with the "no ground and pound" rule and the rope-escapes used for getting out of submissions. Yet somehow it managed to be entertaining. It was October of 2005, and the mainstream's eyes were recently opened to the joys of "The Ultimate Fighter" on SpikeTV. Meanwhile, at this event in Queens, under the stifling oppression of an athletic commission that was shutting down any kickboxing or kung fu event that dared operate openly, a bunch of fighters gathered on a Sunday night to beat the fuck out of each other. Yeah, it was pretty cool.
Legal troubles had UCL honcho Peter Storm sitting on the sidelines (literally, he was sitting on a bench, against a wall, with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled down over his eyes), so Storm's number two man Jerry Mendez took the baton and ran with it. He got some decent names together to compete. Pro fighter Kaream Ellington had a grappling match with future MMA coach Nolan Dutcher. Jiu-jitsu specialist Carmine Zocchi took on part-time DJ Abraham Garcia for a belt (Carmine won). JA Dudley beat Hook N' Shoot vet Dale Carson. Salty competitors Richie Torres and Andrew Montanez threw down against a couple young bucks. Then there was the main event, which pitted Tom Velasquez against Rob Guarino (Velasquez won via armbar in Round 2, after using a rope-escape to avoid a tight heelhook in the first).
Tom earned himself a belt for that victory, and went on to fight pro in Ring of Combat. He's a trainer now, when not working as an official for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. Combined Martial Arts is gone, converted into an LA Boxing, and I seriously doubt the gym's corporate overlords would be interested in hosting another such event, regardless of how much the murky waters of sanctioning have cleared up (relevant link here: http://www.thefightnerd.com/promoter-says-new-york-officials-have-been-cooperative-for-sanctioned-amateur-mma/) . Carmine runs a jiu-jitsu school in Midwood, Dudley is kicking ass as a pro fighter nowadays, and last I heard Guarino runs the Rhino Fight Team school in New Jersey. As for Mendez, he took his promotional skills down south, and puts together sanctioned kickboxing shows in Florida, his Aggressive Shoot Championship somehow the granddaddy to his events and the Aggressive Combat Championship installments that take place here in the North.
On Saturday night, when I'm chilling at the Aggressive Combat Championship event on Long Island, you can bet that I'll be thinking of all the people that came together to make that night back in 2005 so fun. And I fully expect the fighters at the event this weekend to beat the fuck out of each other with as much vim and vigor as they did at that seminal show all those years ago.
Legal troubles had UCL honcho Peter Storm sitting on the sidelines (literally, he was sitting on a bench, against a wall, with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled down over his eyes), so Storm's number two man Jerry Mendez took the baton and ran with it. He got some decent names together to compete. Pro fighter Kaream Ellington had a grappling match with future MMA coach Nolan Dutcher. Jiu-jitsu specialist Carmine Zocchi took on part-time DJ Abraham Garcia for a belt (Carmine won). JA Dudley beat Hook N' Shoot vet Dale Carson. Salty competitors Richie Torres and Andrew Montanez threw down against a couple young bucks. Then there was the main event, which pitted Tom Velasquez against Rob Guarino (Velasquez won via armbar in Round 2, after using a rope-escape to avoid a tight heelhook in the first).
Tom earned himself a belt for that victory, and went on to fight pro in Ring of Combat. He's a trainer now, when not working as an official for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board. Combined Martial Arts is gone, converted into an LA Boxing, and I seriously doubt the gym's corporate overlords would be interested in hosting another such event, regardless of how much the murky waters of sanctioning have cleared up (relevant link here: http://www.thefightnerd.com/promoter-says-new-york-officials-have-been-cooperative-for-sanctioned-amateur-mma/) . Carmine runs a jiu-jitsu school in Midwood, Dudley is kicking ass as a pro fighter nowadays, and last I heard Guarino runs the Rhino Fight Team school in New Jersey. As for Mendez, he took his promotional skills down south, and puts together sanctioned kickboxing shows in Florida, his Aggressive Shoot Championship somehow the granddaddy to his events and the Aggressive Combat Championship installments that take place here in the North.
On Saturday night, when I'm chilling at the Aggressive Combat Championship event on Long Island, you can bet that I'll be thinking of all the people that came together to make that night back in 2005 so fun. And I fully expect the fighters at the event this weekend to beat the fuck out of each other with as much vim and vigor as they did at that seminal show all those years ago.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Aggressive Combat Championship Primer
Confession time: I have a rare medical condition that requires that I see live fights at least once every few weeks. Yes, it's true. It's a condition I've had for years now, and because of my illness, I've ended up attending everything from nice, big Ring of Combats in Atlantic City to intimate UCLs in basement boxing gyms in Washington Heights to ill-advised fist-fights in the park. Of course, Muay Thai at the Mecca the week before last did me some good, but the symptoms - the fever, hacking cough, slight coating of fur growing on my palms and my cursing in Yiddish - are returning. What do, WHAT DO?
Thankfully, Aggressive Combat Sports has an event on Saturday night on Long Island, at a boxing gym called Heavy Hitters in a town called Bohemia (yes, that's a real place - I've passed through it many times en route to the idyllic shores of Fire Island). It is, remarkably, a sanctioned show (USMTA, thank you very much), and the menu is set to include bouts of the Muay Thai, American Kickboxing, Combat Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling variety. There's even a theme to the card, which is Long Island versus Hudson Valley. I also know that UCL vet Doug "Lionheart" Ahammer is supposed to fight, as is the esteemed James Funaro, so hey, bonus, right?
Other facts: the organization holds events north of NYC and in Connecticut (UCL fight Smash Evans fought at a recent one in Connecticut and KO'd his opponent), and somehow the league is related to Jerry Mendez and his Aggressive Shoot Championship event, which took place in Queens back in 2005 and featured JA Dudley, Carmine Zocchi and Tom Velasquez. I don't know much more than that, but that's cool. I'm going be there on Saturday, gathering facts and taking in the fights, and my rare illness will be kept at bay for another week.
I hope.
Thankfully, Aggressive Combat Sports has an event on Saturday night on Long Island, at a boxing gym called Heavy Hitters in a town called Bohemia (yes, that's a real place - I've passed through it many times en route to the idyllic shores of Fire Island). It is, remarkably, a sanctioned show (USMTA, thank you very much), and the menu is set to include bouts of the Muay Thai, American Kickboxing, Combat Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling variety. There's even a theme to the card, which is Long Island versus Hudson Valley. I also know that UCL vet Doug "Lionheart" Ahammer is supposed to fight, as is the esteemed James Funaro, so hey, bonus, right?
Other facts: the organization holds events north of NYC and in Connecticut (UCL fight Smash Evans fought at a recent one in Connecticut and KO'd his opponent), and somehow the league is related to Jerry Mendez and his Aggressive Shoot Championship event, which took place in Queens back in 2005 and featured JA Dudley, Carmine Zocchi and Tom Velasquez. I don't know much more than that, but that's cool. I'm going be there on Saturday, gathering facts and taking in the fights, and my rare illness will be kept at bay for another week.
I hope.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Help Mark Jacobs Game Amazon's E-Book Rankings
Good friend Mark Jacobs of Black Belt Magazine has got an e-book for sale on Amazon (it's 99 cents and available here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MEVLSC), and if everyone buys it between noon and 1pm today, the influx of purchase activity should play havoc on the site's automated ranking engine. So let's fuck with Amazon, shall we?
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Muay Thai at the Mecca Postscript
Last night's Muay Thai at the Mecca, which was Take On Production's latest installment, packed 3,203 fans into the Theater at Madison Square Garden and gave all present a stellar 14-bout card of kickboxing action. To say that this was the biggest, most-impressive Muay Thai event New York has ever seen would be an understatement. MTatM was massive - bigger than most MMA shows I go to - and as the first all-Muay Thai card at the Garden, pretty damn historic to boot. Some thoughts on the fights:
-The first bout of the event was a female championship bout between Prairie Rugilo and Angie Babel, and with a steady stream of right hands, Rugilo took the majority decision and the belt. Good showing by the Girl Fight MMA rep.
-Chris Mauceri of Black & Blue MMA and Tim Schmeier of Sitan could not stop catching each other's kicks. What won the bout, though, was Mauceri's accurate hands and overall resilience (nothing Schmeier did seemed to slow him); he took the unanimous decision when time ran out.
-Evaristo Hernandez of Camp Undefeated was all about flashy Tae Kwon Do-esque kicks, which look impressive but didn't do a lot of damage. No, all the damage was done by Rich Brattole of Weapons 9, who brought the basics to bear and roughed Hernandez up - so much so that Hernandez couldn't answer the bell for Round 3.
-Joey Hernandez of Mushin MMA was taller, more technical, and deadly with his knees, which he used to wreck the body of Brandon Pointdexter from Evolve Ohio. The TKO via body-blow came in Round 2.
-American Killer Bees rep Andrilo Suarez had a decent uppercut, but he looked like he didn't know what to do when opponent Freddy Cheung of Sitan clinched up with him. The result: Cheung kneeing his way to victory, and earning a belt with the win.
-Rudy Felix of Sitan has whip-like kicks that he used to lash out at Five Points Academy's Cornell Ward. Ward spent the entire bout pursuing and head-hunting, but in the end Felix took the unanimous decision.
-Nick Vaughan of the Wat was simply in another league compared to opponent Brian Hutchings of Megalodon Georgia. For the first two rounds, Vaughan chipped away at him, and in the third Vaughan timed a left hook perfectly, sending Hutchings to the canvas at 1:08 of the round. That was all she wrote.
-Steven Hernandez of PinPoint Muay Thai and Ariel Abreu of Camp Undefeated started off having a Muay Thai bout, but somewhere along the way they switched gears and just began brawling. Which was fun as hell, to tell you the truth. Thanks to his hard and fast punching, Abreu took the majority decision.
-Vinny Hui of Five Points and Delroy McCoy of Camp Undefeated went at it, and though the taller Hui seemed to be more skilled and capable, two shots to the nuts had him losing a point and McCoy eventually taking the majority decision.
-Brett Hlavacek of the Wat apparently had somewhere else he needed to be, because he wasted very little time feeding Chris Clodfelter of Sommai Muay Thai shins until Clodfelter dropped. The official time of the knockout was 1:40 of Round 1.
-Eric Ruiz of Progressive Martial Arts unloaded with every strike in the book on Staten Island Muay Thai's Anthony Demaio. To his credit, Demaio took it all, but there was no questioning the unanimous decision Ruiz had earned when it was all over.
-For about two and a half rounds Sean Hinds (Mushin/C3) threw kicks that America's Finest Kickboxing rep Deshawn Robinson caught, with Robinson following each one up with a sweep that put Hinds on his butt. It was a little maddening that Hinds stuck with it, but halfway through the third he nailed Robinson in the head with knees, and Robinson was on jelly legs until the final bell. This one was ruled a majority draw.
-Brian Collette of Eastern Academy versus Marcus Taylor of Performance Muay Thai was ugly. Not because of what happened in the ring - that was short and sweet, with Collette KOing Taylor with punches early in the first - but because of what transpired on the audience afterwards. It seems Taylor didn't like what someone said as he was making his way backstage, and what followed was an unscheduled scrap that security was forced to break up.
-Noted Philly Muay Thai trainer Rigel Balsamico squared off against UFC vet Ryan Madigan, and expectations were high that Balsamico would get to strut his stuff. But Madigan never let that happen, as he swarmed on Balsamico with punches to the head and didn't relent. The local hero went down twice, and after the second time, the ref had seen enough. It was officially over at 2:21 of the first.
-The first bout of the event was a female championship bout between Prairie Rugilo and Angie Babel, and with a steady stream of right hands, Rugilo took the majority decision and the belt. Good showing by the Girl Fight MMA rep.
-Chris Mauceri of Black & Blue MMA and Tim Schmeier of Sitan could not stop catching each other's kicks. What won the bout, though, was Mauceri's accurate hands and overall resilience (nothing Schmeier did seemed to slow him); he took the unanimous decision when time ran out.
-Evaristo Hernandez of Camp Undefeated was all about flashy Tae Kwon Do-esque kicks, which look impressive but didn't do a lot of damage. No, all the damage was done by Rich Brattole of Weapons 9, who brought the basics to bear and roughed Hernandez up - so much so that Hernandez couldn't answer the bell for Round 3.
-Joey Hernandez of Mushin MMA was taller, more technical, and deadly with his knees, which he used to wreck the body of Brandon Pointdexter from Evolve Ohio. The TKO via body-blow came in Round 2.
-American Killer Bees rep Andrilo Suarez had a decent uppercut, but he looked like he didn't know what to do when opponent Freddy Cheung of Sitan clinched up with him. The result: Cheung kneeing his way to victory, and earning a belt with the win.
-Rudy Felix of Sitan has whip-like kicks that he used to lash out at Five Points Academy's Cornell Ward. Ward spent the entire bout pursuing and head-hunting, but in the end Felix took the unanimous decision.
-Nick Vaughan of the Wat was simply in another league compared to opponent Brian Hutchings of Megalodon Georgia. For the first two rounds, Vaughan chipped away at him, and in the third Vaughan timed a left hook perfectly, sending Hutchings to the canvas at 1:08 of the round. That was all she wrote.
-Steven Hernandez of PinPoint Muay Thai and Ariel Abreu of Camp Undefeated started off having a Muay Thai bout, but somewhere along the way they switched gears and just began brawling. Which was fun as hell, to tell you the truth. Thanks to his hard and fast punching, Abreu took the majority decision.
-Vinny Hui of Five Points and Delroy McCoy of Camp Undefeated went at it, and though the taller Hui seemed to be more skilled and capable, two shots to the nuts had him losing a point and McCoy eventually taking the majority decision.
-Brett Hlavacek of the Wat apparently had somewhere else he needed to be, because he wasted very little time feeding Chris Clodfelter of Sommai Muay Thai shins until Clodfelter dropped. The official time of the knockout was 1:40 of Round 1.
-Eric Ruiz of Progressive Martial Arts unloaded with every strike in the book on Staten Island Muay Thai's Anthony Demaio. To his credit, Demaio took it all, but there was no questioning the unanimous decision Ruiz had earned when it was all over.
-For about two and a half rounds Sean Hinds (Mushin/C3) threw kicks that America's Finest Kickboxing rep Deshawn Robinson caught, with Robinson following each one up with a sweep that put Hinds on his butt. It was a little maddening that Hinds stuck with it, but halfway through the third he nailed Robinson in the head with knees, and Robinson was on jelly legs until the final bell. This one was ruled a majority draw.
-Brian Collette of Eastern Academy versus Marcus Taylor of Performance Muay Thai was ugly. Not because of what happened in the ring - that was short and sweet, with Collette KOing Taylor with punches early in the first - but because of what transpired on the audience afterwards. It seems Taylor didn't like what someone said as he was making his way backstage, and what followed was an unscheduled scrap that security was forced to break up.
-Noted Philly Muay Thai trainer Rigel Balsamico squared off against UFC vet Ryan Madigan, and expectations were high that Balsamico would get to strut his stuff. But Madigan never let that happen, as he swarmed on Balsamico with punches to the head and didn't relent. The local hero went down twice, and after the second time, the ref had seen enough. It was officially over at 2:21 of the first.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Another RAW COMBAT Shout Out in the New York Times
That's twice now in six months. One more and I think I'm eligible for a free toaster! http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/fashion/mixed-martial-arts-catches-on-with-the-internet-generation.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hpw
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
MMA In New York Update
Ah, sanctioned MMA in New York... you continue to elude us, like a sprite dancing coyly in the forest, or, probably more aptly, like a prom queen who's unwittingly eated her third roofie but still will not fall. But regardless of our progress (or lack thereof) towards that luscious endgame of UFC's at Madison Square Garden and Ring of Combats at the Brooklyn Armory, stuff is still happening. You know, like this stuff:
-Vocal MMA opponent Bob Reilly steps down from the Assembly. Link here: http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/120274/assemblyman-reilly-stepping-down-backs-frazier/. Of course, Reilly wasn't the only thing standing in the way of MMA bills getting through the Assembly, but him bailing is at least something worth celebrating. And by "celebrating", I definitely mean "RELEASE THE KRAKEN ON HIS HOUSE!"
-Hey, here's Pete Lampasona giving us an update on the half of the New York State legislature that actually like MMA, and how it's included MMA in its budget proposal. Linky: http://www.thefightnerd.com/new-york-senate-includes-mma-bill-in-budget-report/. Pete's a good guy. I don't approve of his hairstyle sometimes, but that could just be me being jealous of his luxurious brown locks.
-This one isn't about MMA as much as it's about Madison Square Garden hosting a massive Muay Thai event on Friday night, but again, maybe I'm just jealous because Muay Thai got in there before MMA could. No, wait, I'm absolutely jealous. Anyway, TakeOn Productions, "Muay Thai at the Mecca", Friday night. I'll be there tweeting results (www.twitter.com/jim_genia) and posting stuff on this blog.
-Vocal MMA opponent Bob Reilly steps down from the Assembly. Link here: http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/120274/assemblyman-reilly-stepping-down-backs-frazier/. Of course, Reilly wasn't the only thing standing in the way of MMA bills getting through the Assembly, but him bailing is at least something worth celebrating. And by "celebrating", I definitely mean "RELEASE THE KRAKEN ON HIS HOUSE!"
-Hey, here's Pete Lampasona giving us an update on the half of the New York State legislature that actually like MMA, and how it's included MMA in its budget proposal. Linky: http://www.thefightnerd.com/new-york-senate-includes-mma-bill-in-budget-report/. Pete's a good guy. I don't approve of his hairstyle sometimes, but that could just be me being jealous of his luxurious brown locks.
-This one isn't about MMA as much as it's about Madison Square Garden hosting a massive Muay Thai event on Friday night, but again, maybe I'm just jealous because Muay Thai got in there before MMA could. No, wait, I'm absolutely jealous. Anyway, TakeOn Productions, "Muay Thai at the Mecca", Friday night. I'll be there tweeting results (www.twitter.com/jim_genia) and posting stuff on this blog.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Weekend Schedule
There's another busy weekend ahead of us, so now would be a good time to gird your loins in preparation (and that goes double for all you Roman soldiers out there getting ready for battle).
Tonight, there's Bellator on MTV2, which features Joe Warren taking on Pat Curran plus a tournament full of guys you've heard of and guys you haven't, all vying for a chance to date/punch in the mouth the next "Teen Mom". Also tonight: TUF Live, which is what the Ultimate Fighter is now called now that it's gone from SpikeTV. We're flying blind on a rocket cycle in terms of what's in store, but what we do know is that local star Al Iaquinta is fighting. Hopefully he wins and gets into the TUF House, and then when the show is all over in a couple of months he can tell us what it was like shacking up with a GAY PORN STAR. (Sorry, that was done for seach-engine optimization purposes - this blog needs hits, you know.)
Hey, guess what, tomorrow night is the latest installment of Asylum Fight League at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. AFL is the best amateur MMA organization in the Garden State, and although I couldn't make it down (date night with the missus - gotta maintain the marriage and whatnot), I highly recommend checking the event out. The studs of the amateur scene are the future TUF Live roommates of GAY PORN STARS of tomorrow.
Tonight, there's Bellator on MTV2, which features Joe Warren taking on Pat Curran plus a tournament full of guys you've heard of and guys you haven't, all vying for a chance to date/punch in the mouth the next "Teen Mom". Also tonight: TUF Live, which is what the Ultimate Fighter is now called now that it's gone from SpikeTV. We're flying blind on a rocket cycle in terms of what's in store, but what we do know is that local star Al Iaquinta is fighting. Hopefully he wins and gets into the TUF House, and then when the show is all over in a couple of months he can tell us what it was like shacking up with a GAY PORN STAR. (Sorry, that was done for seach-engine optimization purposes - this blog needs hits, you know.)
Hey, guess what, tomorrow night is the latest installment of Asylum Fight League at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. AFL is the best amateur MMA organization in the Garden State, and although I couldn't make it down (date night with the missus - gotta maintain the marriage and whatnot), I highly recommend checking the event out. The studs of the amateur scene are the future TUF Live roommates of GAY PORN STARS of tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
New York MMA Rally Postscript
Yesterday was the New York MMA Rally, which was organized by "Sambo" Steve Koepfer, held across the street from Governor Andrew Cuomo's office in Midtown, and attended by about 40 people (pretty much the same attendance as last year). Former New York State Assemblyman Michael Benjamin was a guest speaker, which definitely upped the legitimacy of the proceedings by about ten points, and his post-rally thought on how female MMA could be the angle that helps push the needle in favor of sanctioning is pretty much a stroke of genius. Hard to argue that a "barbaric" sport akin to "human cockfighting" is all that bad when it empowers women, no? Anyway, it was good seeing a few dozen motivated New Yorkers eager to have pro MMA here.
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