Saturday, June 5, 2010
Liveblog: ROC Amateurs Part 3
Keith Knudson of 5 Star and Daniel Claudio of Infamous MMA step into the cage and this one lasts 22 seconds, both men willing to stand and play Rock 'Em-Sock 'Em Robots. It ends with Claudio face-down on the floor and Knudson celebrating a TKO win. Bill Borawski of Tong Dragon and Robert Chiarello of Varner's Combat Academy are up. Round 1 is back and forth, with Borawski taking the lead with positional control on the ground and a close armbar attempt. They continue in this fashion for all three rounds - Borawski taking Round 2 and Chiarello taking Round 3 - and the unanimous decision goes to Borawski. It's time for Will Quiroz and Dan Girace of Q Tribe and Serra/Longo to engage in combat. Whoo-wee, it's another slugfest, and the face-punching party comes to an end at 2:13 of Round 1 when Girace KOs Quiroz with a hellacious fist to the dome. Next is Anthony Genovese of Varner Combat Academy and Victor Mabin of 5 Star, and this one plays out as a spirited battle between featherweights. Round 1 is too close too call, but Genovese has Mabin in trouble with a rear naked choke at one point in Round 2. Mabin pays him back with some body-kicks in Round 3 - and again finds himself fending off the rear naked choke. Regardless, Mabin takes the unanimous decision.
Liveblog: ROC Amateurs Part 2
First up is Jay Somers of 5 Star MMA against Jeremy Lehive of Pellegrino MMA. Hey, did you know 5 Star MMA is really the Pitts Penn team? I did not. Apparently they had to change their name due to some copyright dispute with the University of Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh's varsity dogfighting team. Anyway, Round 1 sees these guys trading furiously until Somers wobbles Lehive with some knuckle-love. Lehive recovers on the ground, though, and threatens with an armbar. The Pellegrino MMAer continues with the positional dominance in the second, and when Somers drops him with a punch in the third it's clear Lehive's best chance for victory is in the realm of grappling - which is realized when he slaps on the triangle for the tap out at 2:48 in. Next: Julio Germain of Atlantic Veterans MMA vs. Billy Hofacker of Serra/Longo. Hofacker's got the venerable Serra brothers in his corner, ready to go their own brand of "Crazy Lasagna Jiu-Jitsu" if things get out of control, so we'll see how it goes. Germain looks strong in the striking and wrestling department, but Hofacker manages to sweep him and torment him from back-mount in both Round 1 and 2. But Germain has his sprawl and brawl down pat by the third, swinging, sprawling and backing away until the crowd is booing Hofacker for excessive butt-floppery. It goes to the judges and they declare it a majority draw. Team Endgame's Sal Vecchia takes to the cage to face TSMMA's Gregg Bellardinelli. Woof. There's a whole lot of Italian in the cage now. I think Snookie might be guest reffing, too. Vecchia takes the opening frame with superior wrestling, keeping his foe firmly on the canvas, and he repeats the feat in Round 2 and nearly finishes with a guillotine at the bell. Bellardinelli is behind for sure come Round 3, but he can't stop the takedown, and Vecchia does his thing and takes the unanimous decision.
Liveblog: ROC Amateurs Part 1
MMA Journalist is here in lovely Edison, New Jersey, for the Ring of Combat amateur MMA show, where the stars of tomorrow kill each other today. There are 15 fights on tap, and in the main event TSMMA's Mike Fischetti is taking on Team Serra/Longo's Eddie Lenoci for the light-heavyweight belt. You know, years ago if you said someone was Team Tiger Schulman you could usually assume they'd be great at throwing strikes and maybe decent on the ground, and if you said someone was from Serra/Longo you'd think they were either fantastic on the ground and okay on the feet or fantastic on the feet and okay on the ground. Nowadays, however, these guys are ridiculously dangerous no matter where the fight goes. What's my point? I don't know. Maybe that things have evolved so much thanks to these amateur leagues. Or something. Shut up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)