Bad Ass, But Less of It

“New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (11-10) clocked Scott Jansen (3-3) in the first round of Baroni’s 170-pound debut, knocking the Brit stiff in London Saturday night.

“I had a lot of doubts going in here,” Baroni said after losing three straight and spending his entire career at 185-pounds, “but I erased them with that right hand.”

The usually brash “Bad Ass” lost a bit of bravado with the 15 pounds of inflated muscle, graciously admitting, “I feel really lucky to have this opportunity.”

In an unfortunate scene of MMA hooliganism, a friend of Jansen’s attacked Baroni in the cage after the knockout; but, order was quickly restored.

A reinvigorated Baroni asked after the fight, “Who’s next?”

CageRage is owned by ProElite, which also owns EliteXC and Icon and has a working relationship with Strikeforce, leaving open a lot of options for Baroni in his new weight class.

Heavyweight Neil Grove (6-1) knocked out “Buzz” Robert Berry (12-8) at 1:29 of round two, ending any leftover controversy from a Grove corner stoppage “W” over Berry last December.

Mustapha al Turk (6-3) earned the CageRage British Heavyweight Championship in two minutes of G’n'P on James McSweeney’s (1-2) head.

“Kong” Tom Watson (6-3) won a unanimous decision over John Phillips (6-2).

Heavyweight “Crazy Bear” Stav Economou (7-0) stayed undefeated with a unanimous decision over Piotr Kusmierz (1-1).

CageRage British Featherweight Champion “The Flame” Robbie Olivier (15-8–1) defended his belt from “Ash Cream Man” Ashleigh Grimshaw (5-4-1) with a second round rear naked choke.

Featherweight “One Punch” Brad Pickett (14-4) used a guillotine to choke out Italian Cristian Binda (4-5).

Irish Jason Young (4-1) pounded Francis Heagney (4-3) to earn the vacant CageRage British Lightweight Championship by unanimous decision.