» Fighter: Phil Baroni

The remaining bouts for UFC 106 on November 21 in Las Vegas Nevada are now finalized, the UFC announced today.

Topping the bill is the return of former UFC light heavyweight champion “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-6-1) as he is set to face former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin (16-4) in a rematch of the 2006 fight that was Griffin’s first loss in the UFC.

Read More About UFC 106: Tito Ortiz Versus Forrest Griffin II Now Final…

Welterweight matchups between “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (13-11) and The Ultimate Fighter 7 champ Amir Sadollah (1-1) and “Killa B” Ben Saunders (7-1-2) and  “Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis (16-5) and a lightweight matchup between  George Sotiropoulos (10-2) and “Dynamite” Jason Dent (20-9) were officially announced for UFC 106 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas November 21 by the UFC Wednesday.

Read More About Sadollah vs Baroni, Saunders v Davis Official for UFC 106…

UFC welterweights “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (13-11) and The Ultimate Fighter 7 champ Amir Sadollah (1-1) have agreed to fight, Fighters.com has confirmed.

Inside Fights reports the matchup will be at UFC 106 in Las Vegas 21 November.

Baroni was released by Strikeforce 14 August before signing to return to the Octagon for the first time since going to sleep in a guillotine by “Drago” Pete Sell (8-5) at UFC 51 in Las Vegas in February 2005. Baroni called his UFC contract “an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Read More About Phil Baroni Versus Amir Sadollah Confirmed For UFC, Baroni Calls Strikeforce Cut “Bush League”…

Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked heavyweight “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-10) wasn’t the only MMA legend UFC President Dana White locked up to retirement before UFC 102.

Welterweight Matt Hughes (41-7) signed a four-fight deal that sources inside Hughes’s camp tell Fighters.com Hughes expects to lead him into retirement.

Hughes won a unanimous decision over “Terror” Matt Serra (9-6) three months ago and White announced in a pre-UFC 102 presser that Hughes won’t return for at least another three months. Hughes was on hiatus for nearly an entire year before his UD over Serra.

Read More About Matt Hughes Versus Dennis Hallman Rematch Inevitable, Says Hallman’s Agent…

Strikeforce cut welterweight “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (13-11) Thursday.

In an unusual and stinging press release, the San Jose-based promotion justified it’s decision: “The 33-year-old Baroni has lost four of his last seven bouts. In his last appearance, a welterweight matchup with “Diesel” Joe Riggs (30-11) [in St. Louis 6 June], Baroni sustained a one-sided defeat by way of unanimous judges’ decision.”

Before Baroni’s release was officially announced, Sherdog reported Baroni had verbally agreed to a contract returning him to the UFC for the first time since tapping out in a guillotine to “Drago” Pete Sell (8-5) at UFC 51 in Las Vegas in February 2005.

Read More About Strikeforce Cuts Phil Baroni Precluding Possible UFC Signing…

Strikeforce is planning a welterweight bout between “Bang” Duane Ludwig (17-8) and “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (13-10) for early 2009, reported MMA Junkie Sunday.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said, “We’re going to try to put [Ludwig] and Baroni together.  Since they’re so close in weight now, we should definitely put that fight together at 170 [pounds]. They should fight either in Denver or Seattle.”

Ludwig TKO’d “The Squeeze” Sam Morgan (19-12) in the first round at Strikeforce’s last event 3 October.

Baroni was scheduled to fight on the same card, but he suffered a cut requiring stitches during his unanimous decision win over Olaf Alfonso (7-9) the previous week and was pulled.

“New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (13-10) has been pulled from the Strikeforce card  in Denver on 3 October due to a cut sustained in his fight last weekend, his agent Ken Pavia told MMA News.

Baroni won a unanimous decision over Olaf Alfonso (7-9) at the Palace Fighting Championship last Friday, but got cut with Alfonso’s “only big punch of the fight” in the first round.

Pavia said, “It was significant enough that it required six stitches right in his eyelid.  Between the first and second round he realized he was cut and was like, ‘Aww man, now I can’t fight next week.’

“He had the PFC fight inked when Strikeforce came to us but they felt that Phil would come out unscathed so we took the fight even though it was going to be a tough cut for two consecutives weeks. There will always be intangibles and anything could happen.”

The cut will likely take 3-4 weeks to heal.

“New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (13-10) extended his “W” streak to three with a one-sided UD over Mexican welterweight Olaf Alfonso (7-9) Friday night in Lemoore, southeast of San Francisco.

Baroni got cut early, but tagged Alfonso with punches and floored him with takedowns the majority of the fight.

Bryan Travers (11-1) picked up the Palace Fighting Championship welterweight title with a close UD over Jeremiah Metcalf (9-6) by scores of 48-47 on all three judges’ score cards.

Shawn Klarcyk (9-2) defended his PFC Bantamweight Championship from Brandon Miller (3-3) by armbar at 2:19 of round two.

PFC Lightweight Champion Brian Cobb (13-4) also fought off David Gardner’s (14-10) advances on his gold in a UD by scores of 50-45 from all three judges.

Read More About “Bad Ass” Whoopin’ in Lemoore…

The Palace Fighting Championship has announced that “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (12-10) will face WEC veteran Olaf Alfonso (7-8) in a welterweight match at PFC 10, reported Five Ounces of Pain Monday.

The event will take place 26 September in Lemoore, CA, located in the San Joaquin Valley between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

After moving down to welterweight, Baroni won his two recent fights, a first-round knockout of Scott Jansen (3-3) in July, and a 51-second TKO of Ron Verdadero (3-6) less than a month later.

Alfonso won his last two fights after dropping six in a row, most recently knocking out Chris Solomon (1-5) in 28 seconds in May.

“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.

Read More About Bad Ass, But Less of It…