Friday November 17^th, 2006 – Atlantic City, New Jersey- Promoter Louis Neglia's 12^th installment of the highly successful Ring of Combat series is a bit of a throwback to the early days of MMA when the elimination tournament was the hot ticket in town.

The Ring of Combat assembled an impressive group of up and comers who are looking to claim their spots among the best of the best. With three weight classes and 4 fights per division in the first round of action it promised to be one hell of a show. The great crowd at the Tropicana was not disappointed tonight as the young studs let their fists & submissions do the talking. Winners will advance to the 2^nd round (March 16th 2007) to determine the finalists for the third and final round (April 27, 2007) and be crowned tournament Champions in each weight division a la Pride Grand Prix style.

We had some of the best teams in the country competing for tonight for advancement to the championship round. Team Quest, Team Serra Longo, Rhino Fight Team, and Team TSK to name a few. This was an action packed card that kept the crowd cheering through out the evening.

The Brawl of the night had to go to Landon "The Show" Showalter & Don "The Hammer" Wagner. Showalter was the sharper more experienced fighter but Wagner should change his nickname to "Heart" because he showed tons of it while taking the worst of the striking exchange. Wagner would not take a step back he kept coming and almost stole the second round with a flurry of hooks and uppercuts. But it was too little too late as the judges ruled the unanimous decision for the "Show".

The match between TSK fighter Rich Bione & Rhino's Kevin Roddy kept the crowd on the edge of their seats. Bione was the superior striker as he nailed Roddy at will while the fight remained standing. The ground though was Roddy?s turf as he nearly submitted Bione with an arm bar late in the first round and dominated Bione on the ground in the second round as well. The bout was ruled a draw and another round was ordered up; Bione wanted no part of Roddy's ground game and landed a hard right hand that knock Roddy down and resulted in the TKO referee stoppage at :30 seconds of R3 for the TSK fighter.

The submission of the night has to go to Team Serra Longo soldier Joey Scarola with the slick arm bar finish of Will Kerr after escaping a tight guillotine choke in the first minute of action. Scarola is a guy to watch out for, as he is solid all around but lethal on the ground.

The Knock out of the night goes to the Rhino Fight Team's Jay "Diesel" Coleman as he silenced the entire arena with the devastating knock out of Team TSK's Dominic Dellagatta. There was no love loss between these two camps as these two fight teams have been warring since the late 1990?s for Tri-State bragging rights. Like the Hatfields and McCoys; Team TSK & Team Rhino share common ground and there seems to be some border issues that need to be resolved. I am sure this is not the last time these two teams will face each other.

Keep your eyes on Team Renzo rep Colin O'Rourke as he dominated Yon Guenechea  & begins his rise in the ranks.

Team Quest fighter Mike Dolce & Wreck Room's Mitch Whitesel had a very competitive match that resulted in a unanimous decision victory for Dolce.

Here are the full results

Preliminary Bouts

140lb Weight Class:Joe Bentz (Fight Factory) V. Steve Vitti (Rhino Fight Team) Winner: Steve Vitti via triangle choke at 2:50 R2.

165lb. Weight Class:Joe Scarola (Serra Longo) V. Bill Worfolk Winner: Joe Scarola via arm bar at 1:51 R1.

1^st round Light Weight Tournament matches

Charles Wilson (Double Tap Fight Crew) V. James "Binky" Jones (Ground Control/Renzo)Winner: James Jones via unanimous decision, Jones advances to face winner Estrada/English.

Kevin Roddy (Rhino Fight Team) V. Rich Bione (TSK)Winner: Rich Bione via TKO (referee stoppage) :20 R3, Bione advances to face Loveland.

Ian Loveland (Team Quest) V. Will Kerr (Strikezone)Winner: Ian Loveland via Guillotine  at 3:22 R1, Loveland advances to face Bione.

Jay "el terrible" Estrada (Gilbert Grappling/Estrada K9 unit) V. Kevin "badboy" English (Duneland Vale Tudo)Winner: BOUT RULED A NO CONTEST DUE TO AN ACCIDENTAL ILLEGAL STRIKE. THE STATE ATHLETIC COMMISION WOULD NOT ALLOW THE BOUT TO CONTINUE. WE ASSUME THERE WILL BE A REMATCH TO RESOLVE THIS BRACKET OR PERHAPS ALTERNATE IDO PARIENTE FILLS THE VOID.

Alternate: Ido Pariente (Israel)

1^st Round Welter Weight Tournament Matches

Dominic Dellagatta (TSK) V. Jay Coleman (Rhino Fight Team)Winner: Jay Coleman via KO at :38 seconds of R1, Coleman advances to face Nover.

Yon "Barrena" Guenechua (FFA Young Tiger Foundation) V. Colin O'Rourke (Renzo Gracie)Winner: O?Rourke via submission (tap-out due to strikes) at 2:11 R1, O'Rourke advances to face Moore.

Phillipe Nover (Insight) V. Abner Lloveras (Esport Rogent-BTT) Winner: Nover via split decision, Nover advances to face Coleman.

Jamie Toney (Jorge Gurgel) V. Todd Moore (Houston BJJ- Revolution Dojo.Winner: Moore via split decision, Moore advances to face O'Rourke.

 1^st Round Middle Weight Tournament Matches

Landon "The Show" Showalter (Charlie's Combat Club) V. Don "The Hammer" Wagner (Shido Seimei M.A.)Winner: Showalter via unanimous decision, Showalter advances to face Marc Stevens.

Hansel "The machine" Calderon (Young Tigers Foundation/Florida Freestyle) V. Marc Stevens (Tai Kai Jiu Jitsu)Winner: Marc Stevens via unanimous decision, Stevens advances to face Showalter.

Johnny Carson (Hit Academy) V. Jason House (Jan Jira Gym)Winner: House via submission (Guillotine) at 1:05 R2, House advances to face Dolce.

Mitch Whitesel (Wreck Room Athletics) V. Mike Dolce (Team Quest)Winner: Dolce via unanimous decision, Dolce advances to face House.

The second round is promising to be even better than the first, hold on to your seats MMA fight fans the action is just getting started.

See you guys March 16th for Round 2.