· ROC XXXV Recap & Results

On Friday, 8 April 2011, Lou Neglia’s Ring of Combat held their 35th mixed martial arts event. The stacked card gave us exciting fights that showed intense combat taking place in all aspects of the sport. There were submissions, knockouts, as well as long drawn out decisions. Overall, ROC XXXV lived up to the high standards of elite competition that one comes to expect from an organization that gave life to some of the UFC’s champions.

Preliminary Bouts:

Anthony Facchini vs. Mike Benoit  
The fight started off with Mike Benoit controlling the fight. He dominated the stand up, landing tough shots standing and in the clinch. The tide turned on him though when Anthony Facchini jumped guard, applied a guillotine and choked out Mike Benoit for a victory in the first round.

Brian Smiley vs. Donnie DeFilippis
This fight was a fast and one-sided affair. Donnie DeFilippis quickly took down Brian Smiley, gained back control and tapped out Brian Smiley with a rear-naked choke just one minute and 52 seconds into round one.

Main Card:

Thomas English vs. Mike Prokop
Mike Prokop vs. Thomas English was mostly a grappling battle. In the first round English got the takedown early on and easily controlled Mike Prokop, but scored very little damage. The second and third round went the opposite way. Prokop slammed English down in the second and showed better cardio in the third, eventually getting a takedown and gaining back control. The fight ended with Thomas English defending a rear-naked choke, leaving him on he losing end of the judges’ scorecards.

Michael LaDuke vs. Claudio Ledesma
In another grappling battle, Michael LaDuke and Claudio Ledesma traded takedowns and slams, with neither fighter really gaining any advantage, until the end of the first round when LaDuke managed to get a takedown and gain back control on Ledesma. LaDuke ended the round going for a rear-naked choke. The second round started with Ledesma getting a takedown and throwing a few good punches while on the ground. LaDuke rolled onto his back in an attempt to gain his footing when Ledesma quickly put his hooks in and wrapped up the rear-naked choke again, this time for the tap out.

J.A. Dudley vs. Joe Abouata
In a battle of heavyweights that pinned two game plans against each other, J.A. Dudley, a wrestler and Joe Abouata, a striker. Dudley was able to control the majority of the fight with his superior wrestling, remaining on top and avoiding damage on his way to well earned decision win.

Tom DeBlass vs. Sean Salmon
Tom DeBlass stormed out quickly showing off his Ricardo Almeida BJJ. It took him less than a minute to find and secure the victory. He would submit UFC veteran Sean Salmon by ankle lock from the bottom.

Evan Chmieleski vs. Ryan Vaccaro
This two round battle had a little bit of everything, grappling, striking and a finally a TKO. The first round showed Ryan Vaccaro wanting the takedown and Evan Chmieleski aiming to keep the fight on its feet. Vaccaro was able to take Chmieleski down a couple of times, but Chmieleski showed good grappling skills and managed to sweep Vaccaro and end the first round on top. The second round started with some more of Vaccaro getting some takedowns, but Chmieleski was able to regain his feet. Vaccaro’s continual attempts for a takedown ended up being his downfall. As he shot in Chmieleski timed a knee perfectly, stunning Vaccaro. He followed it up with a second knee knocking Vaccaro down and forcing a referee stoppage.

Aung La Nsang vs. Uriah Hall
The opening round saw Tiger Schulmann trained Uriah Hall securing a takedown and controlling Aung La Nsang on the ground. The end of the round provided a quick flair of what we were to expect for the next two rounds: a display of various kicks. Rounds two and three showed each fighter throwing flashy spinning kicks, high kicks, and every type of kick under the sun, along with moments of quick grappling. In the third though, Uriah Hall showed his impressive striking and power by landing a lunging right cross to knock down and end Nsang’s night with a ref stoppage.

Title and Super Fights:

Liam Kerrigan vs. Justin Haskins
Primarily a battle on the ground, Liam Kerrigan and Justin Haskins demonstrated near equal abilities getting takedowns and defending submissions in the beginning minutes. Haskins exhibited his power after one takedown and stunned Kerrigan. Smelling blood he turned on the afterburners and threw punches with wild abandon, forcing the ref to step in and save Kerrigan from further damage. With this victory Justin Haskins is now the ROC lightweight champion.

Mikhall Malyutin vs. Chris Liguori
The co-main event was the only fight of the night to stay completely on its feet. The first round had Chris Liguori aggressively and tirelessly setting the pace and tempo of the fight while Mikhall Malyutin patiently counter punched. Liguori was able to land some tough leg kicks and a few punches while avoiding most counters.

Round two also presented Liguori as the aggressor with the difference being that Malyutin was starting to find his range and timing as he began connecting on Liguori. One counter stunned Liguori and sent him to the canvas, but he showed his quick recovery skills and instantly bounced back up, shooting in for a takedown on the charging Malyutin. Unable to complete the takedown, the fight went back to its feet with Liguori looking a tad bit slower after the hard shot.

Round three started and Liguori looked like he was fully recovered from the damage he took in round two. Both fighters bounced around looking like they were just as fresh as they were in the first round. Liguori and Malyutin traded combos of punches while the aggressor/counter punchers remained the same. At the bell to end the round it was anybody's fight. As the judges the results came out, two of the three judges saw the victory going to Malyutin by a score of 29-28 giving Mikhall Malyutin the split decision victory.

Elijah Harshbarger vs. George Sullivan
The ROC welterweight belt was fought over by two tough competitors. It was a classic wrestler versus striker battle with the wrestler showing impressive strength with his slamming takedowns. Elijah Harshbarger, the wrestler, managed to take down George Sullivan at will, but Sullivan remained out of trouble and got back to his feet throughout the first two rounds.

The third round was the first time Harshbarger managed to put Sullivan into any real danger. Gaining back control and locking in a body triangle, Harshbarger constantly threatened with the rear-naked choke, which sometimes looked like it was sunk in deep. Sullivan always managed to wiggle his neck free and threw some punches that stung Harshbarger and forced him to let go of his choke in order to block. The round ended with Harshbarger still having control of Sullivan’s back. The victory, and the welterweight belt, went to Elijah Harshbarger by unanimous decision.

Quick results:

Anthony Facchini def. Mike Benoit via submission (guillotine choke) – 3:04 Round 1
Donnie DiFilippis def. Brian Smiley via submission (rear-naked choke) – 1:52 Round 1
Mike Prokop def. Tom English via unanimous decision
Claudio Ledesma def. Michael LaDuke via submission (rear-naked choke) – 0:43 Round 2
J.A. Dudley def. Joe Abouata via unanimous decision
Tom DeBlass def. Sean Salmon via submission (ankle lock) – 0:57 Round 1
Evan Chmielski def. Ryan Vaccaro via TKO (knee) – 3:35 Round 2
Uriah Hall def. Aung La Nsang 1 via KO (punch) – 1:37 Round 3
Justin Haskins def. Liam Kerrigan via TKO (punches) – 3:52 Round 1
Mikhail Malyutin def. Chris Liguori via split decision
Elijah Harsharger def. George Sullivan via unanimous decision