Ring Of Combat Xii
Ring of Combat XII $100,000 Tournament of Champions Begins Report by Timothy J. Hands – Photos by Tom DeFazio The Ring Of Combat Tournament Of Champions got off to a rip-roaring start at The Tropicana last night in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The first installment of the tournament got underway as local heroes, up-and-comers, and seasoned veterans from different parts of North America all came to the tournament to advance and hopefully find a way to take home some of the cash the winners of the series will receive. And maybe, just maybe, to win a fight or two in the process. It was a night of blistering endings, foot-stomps, and left-hooks that kept most of the crowd in awed enthusiasm, squirming around in anticipation for more action. And with an excellent production value and the overall organization of this first round of this tournament, promoter Lou Neglia might very well be on the verge of something special here. PRELIMINARY BOUTS 140 lbs: Steve Vitti (Rhino) vs. Joe Bentz (Fight Factory) 165lbs: Joe Scarola (Serra-Longo) vs. Bill Worfolk (Depasquale JJ)
LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNAMENT
Kevin Roddy (Rhino) vs. Rich Boine (Tiger Schulmann) Charles Wilson (Double Tap) vs. James "Binky" Jones (Ground Control/Renzo) Ian Loveland (Team Quest) vs. Will Kerr (Strikezone) Kevin English (Duneland VT) vs. Jay Estrada (Gilbert Grappling) WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT Colin O’Rourke (Renzo Gracie) vs. Yon Guenecha (FFA/Young Tigers) Phillipe Nover (Insight) vs. Abner Lloveras (Esport Rogent/BTT)
Jay Coleman (Rhino) vs. Dominic Dellagatta (Tiger Schulmann) Coleman, for the time being, has this tournament at the edge of his fingertips. Dellagatta, a promising and capable fighter, was perhaps regarded along with Coleman as an early favorite to win the tournament. With both fighters facing off in the first round, one of these favorites had to go down, and Coleman calmly provided the exit for Dellagatta with a brisk, short left-hook. "I’m a pretty-good wrestler myself, but he has more credentials than me, so I figured he wanted to beat me that way", Coleman said after. "But the rumor was he wanted to bang with me, and with his reach, I wanted to stay back, in case he jabbed and wanted to take a shot. When I caught him with that first right, I figured he would want to shoot on me, but he didn’t, and I just dropped down. You know, I’m a professional; I don’t talk shit, I just fight." Jamie Toney (Jorge Gurgel) vs. Todd Moore (Houston BJJ) MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT Johnny Carson (The Hit Academy) vs. Jason House (Jan Jira) Mike Dolce (Team Quest) vs. Mitch Whitesel (Wreck Room) Landon Showalter (Charlie’s Combat Club) vs. Don Wagner (Shido Seimei MA) "I broke my right hand on the second punch of the night. It was a frustrating night for me, I should’ve knocked him out. It was a KO waiting to happen." Marc Stevens (Tai Kai JJ) vs. Hansel Calderon (FFA/Young Tigers) FULL RESULTS:
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Reality Fighting 14 Preview By Jim Genia When: November 18th. Where: Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City. What: Reality Fighting XXIV. Kipp Kollar’s MMA promotion returns once again, this time headlined by a lightweight title match-up that pits the Garden State’s two top 155-pounders against each other. But aside from the impending Jim Miller/Frankie Edgar war – and a war it certainly shall be – the rest of the card looks solid. Here’s a look at some of the fighters:
The full card as of 11/15: |
"The Natural" Holds a Young Lion at Bay By Steven Marrocco After a nearly two-hour holdover to accommodate L.A.’s perpetually late and trendy, the packed house at the Culver City Memorial Auditorium got their money’s worth. Squired onto the mat by cage stalwarts Bruce Buffer and "Big" John McCarthy, a legend returned to competition without the four ounce gloves that made him a star. Randy Couture brought the house down as he stood across rising star Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, a two-time ADCC and Mundial Champion. Couture’s competitive blood had not been cooled by his retirement from NHB, having jumped at the opportunity earlier in the year to test his mettle against the submission ace. Rico Chapparelli, his original link to the world of ultimate fighting, would give the jiu-jitsu schooled crowd a look into how the veteran’s reaction time was faring in his early fourties. Meeting at the center of the mat, the submission-only match took a fast turn towards Jacare’s favor as he dropped to the canvas and trapped Couture’s leg. Working to control Jacare’s body, Couture closed the distance to prevent a leg lock, then fought off a lighting-fast transition into an armbar. Staying calm, the former champ pulled back out of the hold and lunged forward to tie the Brazilian up from his half guard. Jacare would not be deterred as he transitioned again to a triangle attempt, spinning around to Randy’s legs when that didn’t work. Jacare pulled with all of his might for a kneebar, but couldn’t power through Couture’s defense. Amazingly enough, the nearly five submission attempts from Jacare netted no points from the judges. "He was very slick, very quick," Couture later said. "He made me work hard just to stay in it. I was basically surviving." Already covered in sweat and breathing hard, Couture hovered up to Jacare for the second round. The Brazilian hadn’t even broken a sweat. Jacare repeatedly dropped on his back at Randy’s feet, trying to secure a leg, but was rebuffed at every attempt. Another kneebar attempt briefly had Randy at Jacare’s back, but the wrestler couldn’t get his hooks in and ran out of time as the two stalemated once again in Jacare’s half guard. Going into the first of two one minute sudden death rounds, the two fighters circled each other, pawing away, but never fully engaging. Though Randy was moving forward, the fighters saw the remaining two minutes slip away as Jacare once again attacked Randy’s left leg as the bell rung finally. After the fight, Couture was encouraged by his performance against the young up-and-comer. "He’s one of the best guys on the planet at this and I managed to hang in there and stay with him," Randy said afterward. "I’d like to have a little more time to prepare next time so I can come in and be more aggressive and wrestle like myself." Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza was extremely gracious about his opponent, stating "I knew he was going to be tough." "He’s a great competitor. I do this because I love the sport of it, not to make my name." In the co-main event of the evening, Marcelo Garcia fought off two guillotine attempts by Rumble on the Rock tournament winner Jake Shields to apply his own guillotine from the youngster’s guard, submitting him at 3:40 of the first round. "The Janitor" Vladimir Matyushenko seemed unwilling to engage Brazilian Vinicius Magalhaes, scoring the single winning point after the ref gave him Maalhaes’s leg as a gift following a restart. Taking the jiu jitsu stylist to the mat, it was the lone punctuation in an extremely slow match. Alberto Crane smothered NHB vet Joe Camacho from the beginning, scoring big with two nearly-sunk north south chokes before taking an armbar from the top position to clinch the win at 2:38 of the second. Kron Gracie worked opponent Andy Wang’s legs very well as he scored with an attempted ankle lock. For his part, Wang couldn’t mount any solid offense as he lingered in Gracie’s guard for the majority of the bout. After a last ditch attempt at a kneebar failed, Gracie took home the win with a 4-0 score. Father Hickson Gracie was cautiously optimistic about the results. "I’m very pleased with his victory, but he’s got a lot of homework to do," Gracie said. "He gives a little too much space and I’d like him to do better next time." Rafael Lovato outclassed Roberto Camargo with a series of guillotine and armbar attempts that racked up points and put him ahead for a 7-0 win. Aggressive grappler Shane Rice took the fight to opponent Jeff Glover, jumping guard several times and working for footlocks that had Glover on the defense for the majority of the bout. In the end, the attempts were the difference, winning him a 3-0 victory. King of the Cage Lightweight champ made quick work of the overmatched Allen Zborvofsky, rolling him into a north south choke that brought the tap out at 3:42 of the first. X-Mission Final Results Randy Couture vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza Draw at 1:00 of 2nd Sudden Death Round. Marcelo Garcia def. Jake Shields at 3:40 of Round 1 by Submission (Guillotine Choke) Vladimir Matyushenko def. Vinicius Magalhaes at 4:00 of Round 2 by Decision (1-0) Alberto Crane def. Joe Camacho at 2:38 of Round 2 by Submission (Armbar) Kron Gracie def. Andy Wang at 4:00 of Round 2 by Decision (4-0) Rafael Lovato def. Robert Camargo at 4:00 of Round 2 by Decision (7-0) Shane Rice def. Jeff Glover at 4:00 of Round 2 by Decision (3-0). Mac Danzig def. Allen Zborvofsky at 3:42 of Round 1 by Submission (North-South Choke). |