Copyright MMA Gospel Radio.
Fighters.com and MMA Gospel Radio are proud to announce a partnership that’ll bring you more of the best mixed martial arts content.
“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.
Saturday at Cage Rage in London, 43-year old “Machine” Ian Freeman (19-7-1) recaptured the promotion’s light heavyweight title from Liverpudian kickboxer Paul Cahoon (10-11).
Freeman, a former UFC fighter, dominated the mat match with G’n'P to take a unanimous decision.
The Cage Rage welterweight title was also wrapped around a new waist.
Che Mills (6-1) forced a doctor’s stoppage TKO of Marius Zaromskis (7-2) after cutting the Lithuanian’s eyelid.
Mills will likely defend first versus “Semtex” Paul Daley (17-6-2), who will end his short retirement to return to the cage.
“Messenger” James Zikic (16-5-2) submitted light heavyweight Rodney Faverus (24-16-3) at :29 of the third round. It was Faverus’s fifth straight “L”.
TUF205-pounder “Gladiator” Ross Pointon (6-10) submitted “Boss” Ross Mason (12-9) in a heel hook in the first round.
“Hardest” Matt Ewin (20-9-1) won a unanimous decision over “Beast” Mark Epstein (14-11).
“Chocolate” Henrique Nogueira (6-4-1) of the Wolfslair Academy and Team Supreme’s Marc Goddard (7-6-1) fought to a draw.
Featherweight “One Punch” Brad Pickett (13-4) won a majority decision over Paul Reed (7-2).
Rookie Popek Rak (2-0) knocked out Kevin Simms (1-6) in just 1:12.
Middleweight Chris Rice (12-5) TKO’d Edgeleson Lue (2-2) in the third round.
Kickboxer Harvey Harra (5-3) showed his ground game by submitting Gary Kelly (2-1) in the first round.
Last Saturday I quizzed “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock (26-13-2) about when it’s time to hang-up his four ounce gloves.
“When I can’t beat mid-level guys. I’m not going to let myself get beat by mediocre fighters,” Shamrock confided.
Saturday at CageRage 25 in London, “Buzz” Robert Berry (12-7) knocked out Shamrock at 3:26 of round one.
“He comes to fight,” Shamrock had described Berry; and, it’s likely this loss won’t convince the king of the Lion’s Den to retire.
Shamrock is 3-8 since his Y2K return to MMA. He’s lost five consecutive fights by first round stoppage since TKOing Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 48 in 2004.
Ken won’t retire because he’s a fighter with fight left in him. He won’t retire because, even after four consecutive losses, he still headlines a card; and, after five straight losses, his next fight will be a main event too. He won’t retire because we still pay to watch him fight, because our memory of Shamrock at his best continues to eclipse Shamrock at this, his worst.
The “Ashikan Judan” Masakazu Imanari (14-5-1) earned his stage name by twisting “White Bear” Jean Silva’s (15-8-3) foot in a heel hook at 2:30 of round one for the CageRage World Featherweight Championship.
British heavyweight Rob Broughton (7-3-1) dealt undefeated Neil Grove (5-1) his first “L” in a majority decision.
Middleweight “Kong” Tom Watson beat Pierre Guillet to a TKO at 2:05 of round one.
Heavyweight Mustapha al Turk (5-3) submitted kickboxer Gary Turner (4-1) on strikes at 3:19 of round one.
Heavyweight Ivan Serati (8-2) stopped Roman Webber (4-4) at :48 of round one.
Brazilian “Lagartixa” Henrique Santana (5-3) won a unanimous decision over England’s Michael Johnson (5-5).
Giorgio Andrews (3-0) made it a tough night for the Shamrocks by winning a TKO over Ken’s son Ryan Shamrock (1-1) after Ryan broke his hand in the first round.
Undefeated John Hathaway remained so with a TKO of Marvin Arnold Bleau at 1:32 of round one.
Finally, John Phillips (7-1) opened the night with a TKO of Jake Bostwick at 4:10 of round one.
At 44-years old, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock (26-12-2) is still trying “to see the world” by fighting he confided from an airport terminal awaiting his flight to London.
Shamrock is no longer “The World’s Most Dangerous Man”, as he’s billed in his CageRage debut versus “Buzz” Robert Berry (12-7) Saturday.
But, there was a time he damn well may have been.
“[In 1993] a student of mine brought me a flier [calling for fighters for UFC 1],” Shamrock remembers.
At the time, Shamrock was wrestling in Japan’s Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, mentored by wrestling legends Masakatsu Funaki, Karl Gotch, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.
Wrestling in Japan had avoided most of the kitsch of American pro wrestling. His mentors taught Shamrock shoot wrestling, very real and effective submission techniques.
In 1993, Funaki founded a hybrid wrestling promotion called Pancrase.
“It wasn’t MMA,” Shamrock emphasizes. “We used open-hand strikes and shin guards when kicking.”
In Pancrase’s first event in September 1993, Shamrock submitted Funaki in six minutes. It was a testament to how far the former Tough Man competitor had come.
“What we did at UFC 1 was what you see today,” Shamrock traces MMA’s lineage. “That was the beginning.
“Every time I had seen a no holds barred tournament, it was just for entertainment, you know? In wrestling, it meant you could bring chairs in the ring. It was ridiculous. So, I was skeptical,” Shamrock explains. “But, reality fighting, that’s what attracted me to the tournament.”
“We didn’t know until three days before that it was definitely happening.”
In the first round of UFC 1, the wrestler easily submitted kickboxer Patrick Smith (14-13) in a heel hook at 1:49.
After the fight, Shamrock was asked to compare UFC 1 to what he had been doing every month in Pancrase.
“This is easier,” he proclaimed brashly. “This guy doesn’t know submissions.”
His confidence may have been his downfall in his second fight of the tournament.
“I didn’t know who Royce Gracie was,” Shamrock admits. “When I saw him in his gi, I thought he was some karate guy.”
The eventual tournament winner, Gracie (14-3-3), submitted Shamrock in a rear naked choke in 57 seconds.
“It was setup for him to win,” Shamrock complains. “I wasn’t allowed to wear my wrestling shoes, but he was allowed to wear his gi.
“You can watch it and see that I slip going for a leg lock and [Royce Gracie] wraps his gi around my neck for the choke.”
Shamrock went on after UFC 1 to bag wins versus a pantheon of fighters including Matt Hume (5-5), “El Guapo” Bas Rutten (28-4-1), and “Mo” Maurice Smith (12-10).
At UFC 5 in 1995, he’d get his revenge versus Gracie in a “Superfight”, this time knowing fully what to expect from the BJJ and MMA legend. After 36:06, the fight was declared a draw.
The world’s most dangerous man? Gracie had no answer for the wrestler after twice as long as any other MMA fight Gracie had previously participated in.
If Shamrock wasn’t the most dangerous man in the world, at that point he was at least as dangerous as Gracie, considered then to be the top reality fighter in the world.
Saturday, Shamrock makes his British debut. A victory over Berry leads Shamrock to another accomplishment: MMA’s first American network television main event on CBS versus Kimbo Slice.