Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Feared Bounty Hunter Tom Gallicchio to Add Judoka Pelt to His Grim Collection
Garden State welterweight stud and feared bounty hunter Tom Gallicchio is traveling north this weekend, venturing into Massachusetts to face highly-credentialed judoka Rick Hawn at World Championship Fighting 9. Consequently, it is widely expected that “Da Tank,” a.k.a. “The Wanderer,” a.k.a. “Boba Freakin’ Fett” will be adding another pelt to his grim collection. With solid wrestling, a strong submission game and over 15 bouts to his name, including convincing wins over the likes of Doug Gordon and Igor Gracie, Gallicchio has long been considered one of the most dangerous 170-pound fighters in the Northeast. Though Hawn sports an impressive judo resume that includes four national titles and a 2004 Olympic bid, his brand of pajama fighting will avail him naught when Gallicchio goes all “frozen in Carbonite” on his ass. Watch for the wall at Pellegrino MMA in Belmar to be adorned with Hawn’s hide after this weekend.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Observations from My Couch: UFC 110 "Mad Max, Men at Work, and Other Australian Things"
- I don’t understand it. It was an overseas fight, no one really had to worry about a legitimate post-fight drug test, and his opponent was a scrub. So why did Mirko CroCop look less than amazing?
- Keith Jardine sure does get knocked out well.
- I don’t know where this version of Georges Sotiropoulos came from, but he looked fantastic.
- See what happens when you stop feeding Michael Bisping tomato cans? He loses and whines about it.
- Someone please explain to me why Chris Lytle went through all those knockdown-drag-out stand-up wars when he could’ve been winning via submission the entire time. Please. Explain it.
- Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski… must… try… to… care…
- Cain Velasquez had a tougher time with Cheick Kongo than he did with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira? Lord, kill me now.
ROC 28 Postscript
This was one of the best Ring of Combats in a while. Bellmore Kickboxing’s Ryan LaFlare can now be considered one of the Northeast’s best 170 pounders and should only be facing other top dogs – like Tom Gallicchio, Greg Soto and Matt Makowski. Edson Barboza’s KO of Nabih Barakat was frightening. Barboza has clearly come into MMA with a ton of a striking experience. And TSMMA’s Louis Gaudinot took out a really hot prospect in Tuan Pham, and he did it on the feet, which is where Pham is strongest. Looks like the only way to beat Gaudinot is via lay-and-pray, and it should only be a matter of time before that chink in his armor is sewn up.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Liveblog: ROC 28 Part 6
The ROC welterweight title is up for grabs, and vying for it are Justin Haskins of Pellegrino MMA and Ryan LaFlare of Bellmore Kickboxing. Don't let the gym's name fool you: LaFlare is a skilled and aggressive grappler, so while Haskins is a wrestling stud, he might not have that much of an advantage on the ground. As if to prove that point, LaFlare comes out and nails a takedown, but Haskins gets back to his feet and scores a few takedowns of his own. LaFlare avoids trouble, and in Round 2 Haskins' takedowns never come, as LaFlare dodges them all to land a bout-ending left hook at 1:36 into the frame. A great performance by the Bellmore Kickboxing fighter, and he's now the man to beat. Last bout of the night and it's Gian Villante of Bellmore Kickboxing against American Kickboxing Academy's Mike Cook, with the ROC heavyweight championship on the line. How good is Villante? It takes him only 40 seconds to stun Cook with a punch, suplex him, and tap him out with a rear naked choke. Villante is now the ROC heavyweight champ. And that's it.
Liveblog: ROC 28 Part 5
Next up: Brendan Barrett of Brutal MMA and Joe Abouata of Wilkie's Warriors in a heavyweight bout. Abouata is what you'd get if you crossed a human's DNA with a Harley Davidson, but Barrett's always been a tough, top-level guy. He comes out and establishes control early, getting the Wilkie Warrior down and grinding him throughout the first, and tapping him with a guillotine from mount in the second. The official time of the tap out is :45 of Round 2. The ever-popular Nabih Barakat of Serra/Longo takes to the cage to face the Armory's Edson Barboza. Yikes. Barboza is definitely some kind of ringer, as he wades in and clips Barakat with a right and follows him down with some hellacious leather. Barakat is so messed up, he's trying to work his guard even after the ref has pulled Barboza off, and Kevin Mulhall has to hold his ankles while Dr. Wulkan struggles to get him to snap out of it. The official time of the KO is 1:09 of the first round. It's time for Brazil vs. Brazil, with Vagner Fernandes of Gold Team taking on Andre Gusmao of Ricardo Almeida's School for Gifted Grapplers. As an aside, Gusmao is also a skilled capoeira practitioner, which enabled him to dominate when he fought in the IFL but availed him naught in his time in the UFC. It doesn't avail him much here, either, as Fernandes rocks him with a right and proceeds to use his face as a punching bag. Yet Gusmao is tough, and he gains dominate position on the ground, flattens Fernandes out, and drops the hammer until the ref steps in at 3:25 of Round 1.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)