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:

Steven Katz and CMA Fighting Present

Evolution Fighting Championships 7

Summer Bash – September 3, 2011

Rahway, New Jersey

Hurricane Irene blew through New Jersey last weekend, making it impossible for Evolution Fighting Championships 7 to take place as scheduled in Rahway.  The show was postponed one week and will be happening this Saturday night at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey.

The good news is that almost the entire card remains the same.  The three much anticipated title fights for the 147, 140 and 126 pound straps will happen, and the weather looks good, so this event is a definite go for Saturday.

Promoter Steven Katz explained the cancellation:

“As far as the hurricane goes, it was tragic,” Katz said.  “A lot of people lost stuff.  But as far as the date was concerned, two things happened.  One, it was declared a dual state of emergency in New York and New Jersey, which actually never happened before.  So that allowed the NJSACB to give me a rain date, or a hurricane date so to speak.  And the second thing is the actual city really didn’t want to have a city building open for Labor Day weekend, but that was overruled by I guess the due diligence that was done with the show.  It was already pre-paid and they accepted it.  We were fortunate on both ends, as far as the hurricane goes, that we were able to do that.”

As for the card itself, Katz said, “Thirteen out of the sixteen bouts are the same.  There are two bouts subject to change and one bout that might be added.  The three titles fights remain the same.”