Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 9

There's a heavyweight belt up for grabs in the Allen Wright vs. Lewis Rumsey, which sees Wright more or less dominate position en route to the unanimous decision. The final bout of the night is Jeff Lentz vs. James Camilleri - also a title fight. These guys are waging war on the ground with Lentz taking the belt with an armbar from the guard. That's it, folks.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 8

George Siderius vs. Edwin Uzquaino up now. This one is the first real grappling chess match of the night, with both men having their moments with sub attempts and reversals and Siderius almost nailing a Twister (!). When time ran out the unanimous decision was awarded to Uzquaino, but this one was closer than the scorecards implied. Louis Gaudinot and Bill Magliane are up now. Gaudinot sports bright green hair - perhaps to draw upon the strength of the French Bohemian spirit. It works. The two engage in an extremely fast-paced battle that Gaudinot ends with a spinning backfist KO. Wowsers.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 7

Now it's time for Julio Arce vs. Trevor Peterson. Arce seems to have a clear advantage in submission skills, as he needs only 51 seconds to tap Peterson with a triangle and take his lunch money. Mark Speece and Pat Enright are now in the cage. Speece is visibly older and meaner - I think I recognize his face from the FBI's most wanted list. However, that doesn't deter Enright from taking him down and submitting him with a straight anklelock.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 6

Frank Marshall vs. Max Bereznyak is a classic "man with an easy to pronounce name vs. man with a hard to pronounce name" match-up, with the two scrapping hard and Bereznyak struggling to keep the pace in the latter part of the fight. By Round 3 it turned into Marshall pounding on an exhausted opponent to secure the unanimous decision.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 5

John Holland vs. Chris Paulo is up now, with Holland exceedingly well-rounded but Paulo such a strong wrestler that he's able to get away with having less-than-adequate striking. When time runs out the unanimous decision is given to Paulo. Next up is Adam Rosello vs. Kevin Horowitz, kid brother of Beastie Boy Adam Horowitz. Okay, not really. Rosello seems to have the edge in striking and submissions and Horowitz the edge in wrestling - which translates into three rounds of beatings and a split decision for Horowitz. This was a good fight that could've gone either way.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 4

Mike Taibl vs. Jason Lee is up next. Taibl has a 6-2 record in death matches, but this is amateur MMA - a different animal entirely. Anyway, Taibl has a definite edge in wrestling, but Lee keeps punching him in the grill and putting him on Queer Street.The ref doesn't like that and waives the fight off after two rounds, giving Lee the win.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 3

Ryan Smith vs. Ali Loukzada is up first. Smith is technically superior with his striking, but Loukzada keeps wobbling him with wild punches and a lead hook that just screams, "Blah! I'm crazy! I belong in an asylum!" It goes the distance though, and Smith gets the unanimous decision. Next is Nick Torres vs. Pete Burdge, with Burdge hailing from Kurt Pellegrino's school and having no less than ten women screaming for him. I think that female cheering section thing is a requirement for fighters who want to represent Team Pellegrino. Anyway, like the first bout, this one is a slugfest, with Burdge feeding Torres right hands like an old man feeding breadcrumbs to pigeons. Burdge took the unanimous decision when time ran out.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 2

The first fight should get underway any minute now. In attendence are the Garv, NJSACB consigliere Nick Lembo, and pro fighters Tom Velasquez, Eddy Rolon, Kurt Pellegrino, Nissim Levy and Jose Sulsona. An interesting aside about the promotion's name - the first few shows were actually held in an asylum and the competitors were certified lunatics.

Liveblog: Asylum Fight League Part 1

MMA Journalist is here at the Raritan Center in Edison, New Jersey, cageside for the Asylum Fight League amateur show. These events are always entertaining because you tend to see a lot of schools that have no experience in MMA testing the waters for the first time - often with comical results. An example of tonight's MMA noobs (as per the bout sheet): Team Tiger Schulmann, Team Endgame, Rhino Fight Team and Team Kurt Pellegrino. I don't know where these fight camps came from, but they're definitely going to get slaughtered by the real MMA powerhouses on the card (such as Joe's Academy of Tai Chi, the Kata Pit and Team Gentle Flower Aikido).

MMA Journalist to Liveblog 12/13 Asylum Fight League Show

MMA Journalist will be cageside for the Asylum Fight League amateur MMA show tomorrow night at the Raritan Center in Edison, New Jersey, and provided my Blackberry has a signal, I will liveblog the event. There should be two title fights and a card of 12-15 bouts. Woot-woot.

Five Reasons Why Phillipe Nover Will Beat Efrain Escudero

TUF 8 finalists Phillipe Nover and Efrain Escudero will duke it out tomorrow night at the TUF finale on SpikeTV, which will determine who is this season's Ultimate Fighter and who will be relegated to mowing Dana White's lawn on the weekends for extra cash. In light of White and coach Nogueira's high praise, which was lavished on the Brooklyn native once he started clobbering foes in the Octagon like the Fantastic Four's "Thing" clobbers run-of-the-mill bank robbers, does the undefeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Escudero stand a chance? Um, unless Nover slips on a banana peel on his way to the cage, the answer is "no". Here are five reason why Nover will win:

1. Not only was Nover recently awarded his jiu-jitsu black belt by Alexandre "Soca" Freitas, but he was issued a license to kill by Her Majesty's Secret Service and was made an honorary Power Ranger.
2. According to the prophecy, "No man born of Earth can harm the one they call Phillipe Nover".
3. The movie "Cloverfield" was inspired by the night Nover went out in Manhattan, had a little too much to drink and toppled three office buildings.
4. Nover got over his allergy to Kryptonite a long time ago. Now it just tastes bitter.
5. Nover has superpowers. Escudero does not.

New Jersey Killers to Spill Blood in New York

New Jersey killers Kevin Roddy and Steve DeAngelis will be in upstate New York on Saturday night, spilling blood at the "There Will Be Blood" MMA show at the Gil Lay Arena on the Seneca Nation Indian reservation (outside of Buffalo). The event features an undercard of amateur bouts and a trio of pro bouts, with Roddy (recently promoted to brown belt by trainer Kurt Pellegrino) and BCX featherweight champ DeAngelis taking on and likely murdering durable kickboxer Peter Kaljevic and striker Paul Compton. Said arena janitor Jerome Woods, "Roddy and DeAngelis? Ugh. I'm gonna go get my mop ready. There definitely will be blood."

Observations from My Couch: UFC "Fight for the Troops"

• Most. Depressing. UFC. Ever. Seriously, I love me some fights, but all those vignettes about wounded soldiers was heartbreaking.
• For this event the ratio of clobbered fighters to non-clobbered fighters at the end of the night was insane. Corey Hill had his shin snapped in half in an unaired preliminary bout (check it out on the UFC website), another fighter wound up with a busted arm, and more than a few did their best to give viewers an firsthand look at just what this Traumatic Brain Injury thing is all about.
• Jim Miller's domination of Matt Wiman was so complete, Wiman had to see a rape counselor after the bout.
• Kudos to Razak Al-Hassan for reminding us how useless Tae Kwon Do is in an MMA fight.
• Nate Loughran's game plan of letting Tim Credeur repeatedly punch him in the face came so close to paying off. So close.
• Jonathan Goulet and Yoshiyuki Yoshida: getting knocked the hell out and going into convulsions so you don't have to.

Predictions for UFC "Fight for the Troops"

Tonight's UFC "Fight for the Troops" event, intended to raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and broadcast live on SpikeTV from the Crown Coliseum outside of Fort Bragg, features no real big-name fighters. But there are a number of compelling match-ups in store, so MMA Journalist has put together bout predictions for the free event:

• In the opening bout of the evening, light-heavyweights Duke (from GI Joe) and Destro (from Cobra) will clash in what should be a classic "striker vs. international arms dealer/terrorist" fight. Expect Duke to come out on top after a three-round donnybrook.
• In the welterweight division, ninjas Snake Eyes (GI Joe) and Storm Shadow (Cobra) - who used to train at the same gym - will battle it out for the honor of their clan. Regardless of what happens in the cage, the ultimate winner in this one is the fans.
• The UFC's first female MMA bout will feature Scarlett (GI Joe) taking on the Baroness (Cobra), and if Scarlett is allowed to use her crossbow, she should be able to dispatch her opponent via TKO in short order.
• In the main event, US Marine Corp exponent Gung Ho (GI Joe) will take on Serpentor (Cobra), who is comprised of the DNA of Julius Caeser, Napolean Bonaparte, Attila the Hun and a common garden snake. Gung Ho should have a rough time of it, but Serpentor might get distracted by that massive globe and anchor tattoo on his chest long enough for Gung Ho to pull off a submission.