Bellator returns to Atlantic City tonight with a very stacked card that will be broadcast live on MTV2.  The prelims will be on Spike, so there is great cable TV coverage of the entire event.  The card features lots of NJ homegrown fighters and it's great to see these guys on TV.

Bellator is doing great things for the sport of MMA and deserves support from the fans.  The fights they've been putting on have been great, and this card is going to be explosive, so be sure to check it out.

The MTV 2 main card looks like this:

Middleweight Semi-Finals:

Brian Rogers vs. Alexander Shlemenko
Vitor Vianna vs. Bryan Baker

MTV 2 Featured Bouts

Ryan Roberts vs. Zack Makovsky
Jacob Kirwan vs.  Rene Nazare

The Spike undercard:

Duane Bastress vs. Daniel Gracie
Ryan Contaldi vs. Tim Carpenter
Joey Kirwan vs. Lewis Rumsy
Adrienne Seiber vs. Andria Caplan
Brian Kelleher vs. Claudio Ledesma

Here are the official weights from last night:

Are you serious about MMA?  No, I mean Dead Serious about MMA?  If you are, I've got great news for you.  Dead Serious Fight Gear is putting on their first show this October 29th, at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey.  This is great news for northern Jersey and New York MMA fans.  Rahway is just outside NYC, so you won't have far to travel to get enjoy some amazing MMA action.  I will be hosting the show from inside the cage, and I can't wait to for this event to happen.

Dead Serious is owned by Frankie Perez.  Frankie is a former fighter himself, and his son Frankie Jr. is an undefeated professional mixed martial artist.  The Dead Serious team consists of Frankie and his wife Lourdes and their kids.  They are truly a fighting family and their passion for the sport comes through at all the events they sponsor.  Dead Serious also provides DJ services for MMA promotions and they do cage rentals as well.  If you attend MMA shows in Jersey, you will more than likely find Dead Serious right there.

With this inaugural show, Frankie and the team has decided it's time to put on events themselves, and they are coming out with a bang.  I spoke with Frankie Perez about Dead Serious MMA's first event:

"I started with the fight clothing," Frankie said. "I come from a fighting family and it's just something that I have a passion for.  I just wanted to do it and I want to take it from here to the top."

The card Perez is putting together sounds like a monster already.  He's well known in the MMA industry and has attracted some major camps to the event.

When it comes to combat sports, Nick Lembo has always been ahead of the curve.  Nick is the Counsel to the NJSACB, and is a seminal figure in MMA history.  Under Nick Lembo's leadership, New Jersey became the first state to officially sanction MMA.  He was also instrumental in formulating the unified rules.

And now he's doing the same thing for Muay Thai.

I had the distinct honor of ring announcing the first ever professional Muay Thai bout in New Jersey, which took place this year back in July at Warrior's Cup VII.  The historic evening of pro-rules Muay Thai came about as a result of Nick and his team, and the event was sanctioned by the WBC.

Recently, Nick worked with the Association of Boxing Commissions to unify the rules for Muay Thai.  His team included a virtual who's who of combat sports VIPs, including Tony Moore, Dr. Sherry Wulkan, Vladimir Borodine, Tony Myers, and Stephan Strotmeyer, plus many other experts in the field.

Nick was interviewed the other day by MuayThaiAuthority.com about the unified rules.  You can read the entire interview here:  Muay Thai Authority Interviews Nick Lembo.

In a nutshell, unifying the rules will help the sport of Muay Thai grow nationally.  As Nick said in the interview:

"The idea for the Committee arose after certain jurisdictions were hesitant on allowing full rules Muay Thai events because of an unfamiliarity with the sport and the lack of a proper rule set to refer to. An increase in familiarity and knowledge should help the sport to grow. Further, it will help fighters and trainers if they know the exact rule set and criteria that will be utilized in the jurisdiction that they compete in."

These are the same guiding principles that have helped make MMA the mainstream sport it is today.  Muay Thai is not only a vital weapon in the arsenals many mixed martial artists, it is also one of the most exciting combat sports you will find.  If you have never seen a live Muay Thai match, you are in for a treat when you do attend a show.

Speaking of which, Warrior's Cup VIII will be taking place on December 3rd in Lincroft, New Jersey.  The show will once again feature professional Muay Thai fighters, and will be using the unified rules.  I'll have much more on that event coming up in the near future.

Of all my MMA memorabilia, my favorite has to be my Kevin Mulhall Topps card.  Kevin is a world class referee, who can been seen in shows in New Jersey as well as in the UFC and other big orgs. I cried when he presented me with his Topps card.  Yes, cried!  Because Kevin is one of the Topps referees in the world.

And not only is Kevin a great ref, he's a total badass.  He's the head trainer at the Jersey Fight Club gym in Cranford, NJ, and has some serious Muay Thai skills.  If you are looking to improve your striking game, definitely check out the Jersey Fight Club.

While you're there, you can also pick up so cool MMA gear from the NJ Fight Shop.  Owned and run by David Grant, the NJ Fight Shop always has great deals for MMA fans and fighters.  Tell him I sent you.  If you do, he won't lower his already rock bottom prices, but maybe he'll throw me a piece of gear!

In all seriousness, do yourselves a favor and check out the Jersey Fight Club and NJ Fight Shop.

The Asylum Fight League, one of New Jersey's longest running and most popular amatuer MMA promotions, is doing another Pro-Am show in South Philadelphia on October 8, 2011.  Carl Mascarenhas always delivers the goods at this shows, and this card is alreayd stacked from top to bottom.  Of course, TheGARV will be inside the cage hosting the event, and as always, this is a show you don't want to miss!  Get your tickets now clicking on the poster.  See you in South Philly!

Stay tuned right here for more details about this upcoming show.

Here's some big news for New York and North Jersey fight fans:  Dead Serious Fight Gear is putting on its first show at the Dead Serious Fighting Championship on October 29, 2011 at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey.  Frankie Perez and his whole family do a great job in support of MMA all over the tri-state area, and it's great to see them get into the promotion game.  They will be sure to get the best talent available on the cards, and have already take the huge first step of hiring Kevin "TheGARV" Garvey as their ring announcer.  It don't get any better than that, folks!

Stay tuned right here for more details about the Dead Serious Fighting Championship.  Let's get it on!

On September 9^th 2011, Lou Neglia’s 37^th Ring of Combat was held at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City. In his usual fashion Neglia offered fans a night filled with thrilling fights. In addition to the main card, which featured an exhilarating super fight and three championship fights, the explosive undercard did not disappoint fight fans.

The super fight of the night saw a rematch between Chris “The Story” Liguori, who trains at Ricardo Almedia Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and John Salgado, of Fusion MMA. Round one was evenly matched, with both fighters exchanging strikes and scrambling to gain control on the ground. Despite Salgado’s strong take down defense, Liguori was able to take him down in the second round.  Once on top, Ligouri was able to dictate the pace of the remainder of the round. With both fighters exhausted in the final round, they traded punches and kicks in one of the most exciting back and forth fights of the night. Ultimately, it was Liguori, who trains with Frankie Edgar’s Boxing coach Mark Henry, that landed a flush right that knocked out Salgado in the third round.

In the first championship bout of the evening, New Jersey’s own Tom DeBlass won the Ring of Combat Light-Heavyweight Title by TKO-ing Team Bombsquad’s, Mike Stewart. DeBlass, who also trains with Ricardo Almeida and Frankie Edgar, dropped Stewart with a big right hand early on. Stewart quickly recovered and instinctively took DeBlass down. After a back and forth scramble on the mat, both fighters were once again back up to their feet. DeBlass, who has focused intensely on improving his striking, landed a solid left hook that caught Stewart square on the jaw. Stewart dropped to the mat and DeBlass seized the opportunity, pouncing on Stewart and dropping bombs until the fight was called three minutes into the first round.

In a highly anticipated rematch, Al Iaquinta of Team Serra Longo took on Vitor Shaolin Jiu-Jitsu’s Gabe Miglioli for the vacant Lightweight championship.  At ROC XXXVI the two met in what was one of the most thrilling battles in the promotion’s history, with undefeated Iaquinta earning the razor close split decision. Friday night’s victory for Iaquinta was much more convincing. Iaquinta came out on fire, catching Miglioli with a high kick that sent Miglioli into the cage. Iaquinta attacked with some ground and pound and the fight was stopped only 26 seconds into round one, earning Iaquinta the Lightweight Championship.

Evolutions Fighting Championships 7, Summer Bash, is in the books.  The Rahway Rec Center was buzzing as the fighters gave it their all in the cage.  Promoter Steven Katz did another bang up job of delivering the goods, but it was the fights themselves that stole the show.

Ariel "Mermaid" Solano showed some great stand up techniques against tough Mike Colon in their 126 pound title tilt.  Solano dominated the exchanges with his fast hands and his takedown defense was a thing of beauty.  Mike was in the fight the whole way and even rocked Solano briefly, but the Jungle Gym fighter, trained by Justin "Chim Chim" Garcia took it in stride enroute to a 3 round decision in a fight that won fight of the night honors.

In the co-main event, my teammate at Team Renegade, Taylor Costantino, took on Dwayne Holman for the 147 pound title.  It was only Taylor's second fight, and he'd stepped up when Mark Agnew couldn't make the fight due to travel issues.  Taylor gave it everything he had and earned the respect of the crowd and of Holman in dropping a 3 round decision.  Holman, for his part, looked great.  His hands were fast and powerful and his take down defense again Costantino was excellent.  I train with Taylor and was impressed by Holman's ability to keep the fight where he wanted it, because Taylor's takedown technique is brutal.  A very excellent fight by both guys.

In the main event, another Jungle Gym fighter and Ariel's brother, Caleb "Calo" Solano, the Evolution Interim champ, took on the reigning and defending champ Ben Syers.  Ben, another team Renegade fighter trained by Anthony Sansetti, is known for his hands, and Calo was careful to keep his distance and look for the takedowns.  The fight was exciting and both men had their moments.  Solano was effective with his leg kicks early, but as the fight went on, Syers started closing the distance and landing punches.  The fight went to the cards and Solano came away with a split decision victory.  He is now the undisputed Evolution Fighting Championships champion.

The other 11 fights on the card were also excellent, and the crowd went away totallty satisfied at the end of the evening.  I had a blast doing the ring announcing, and I'm already looking forward to the next show, which is scheduled for November.  This event was sponsored by Dead Serious Fight Gear, which will be putting its own show next month.  For details about that, check out their website at DeadSeriousMMA.com.

If you want to see a bunch of great pics from this event, check out Kevin Wuchter's photos here:  Final Round Photography

And don't forget to check out my new website: RearNakedJoke.com.  Because MMA is serious business!

Here are the official results: