Atlantic City, New Jersey – Promoter Louis Neglia continues to set the standard for MMA here on the east coast. Having inked a deal with Mark Cuban's HDNet Fights for national broadcasting a few months ago, Mr. Neglia put together one of the best fight cards in recent memory for the latest installment of the Ring of Combat.

No "spectacle" fights here just the cream of the crop of the local talent pool – Team Ricardo Almeida, Team Renzo Gracie, Rhino Fight Team, Team Serra Longo were all represented tonight . The card included the finals of the "Beasts of the Northeast" tournament. This alone was enough to sell out the Tropicana but like a late night infomercial….wait there was more!

Two Super Fights with Chris Ligouri taking on Jim Miller for local top dog bragging rights and Gregor Gracie facing New York Bombsquad's Eric Henry.

The first preliminary was a fast paced struggle which set the tone for the evening as new comer Tim Troxell dominated Tiger Schulman fighter Vasilica Goian. Troxell sunk in a tight choke early in the first round but the TSMMA fighter showed heart in battling his way out but was eventually out hustled by the relentless Troxell.

The second preliminary bout of the evening pitted Long Island fighter Nabih against Joshua Keys; Nabih had a strong cheering section. The crowd broke out into "Nabih" chants as the Serra Longo rep made his way to the ring. Unfortunately Nabih was at the wrong end of a left hook from Joshua Keys that simply caught the Serra Longo Fighter flush. A real surprise since Nabih had been controlling the action up until the KO finish.

Nick Catone made quick work of his opponent Ben Knight after a quick scramble and take down it only took Catone 1:08 in to the first round finish off Knight via Ground and pound elbows. Catone opened up a nasty gash on Knights forehead which forced the ref stoppage. 

Local stand out Marc Stevens faced off with Rhino Fight Team bruiser Alexis Aquino. Stevens clinched and laid several knees to Aquinos face which caused a faucet of a bloody nose in round one. Stevens was a step quicker to the punch and the blood was a clear indication of his dominance in the round. Aquino seemed to gather himself late in round one and finished the round with top back control landing some hammer fists. Aquino stepped it up in round two stuffing Stevens' takedown attempts and securing a dominant top position, when it went back to the stand up Aquino clearly had the striking advantage. He may have been the one bleeding but it was Stevens who suffered the beating in the end. Aquino reigned down blows on his "Turtled" opponent and forced the TKO referee stoppage via unanswered strikes, another win for the Rhino Brusier.

In another barnburner Tiger Schulman workhorse Rich "The Puerto Rican Pit-bull" Bione went to war with Team Rush grappler Doug Gordon. Bione is not afraid to test himself and Gordon presented the current obstacle. Gordon quickly secured half mount on Bione and began delivering hammer fists from the half mount, the two scrambled for position with Gordon again securing the mount from the back this time. Gordon flattened out Bione with both hooks and secured the Rear naked choke for the submission victory at 2:40 R1. A dominant performance by the Team Rush fighter Doug Gordon, exposing his vulnerable ground game.

Local BJJ stud Dan Miller faced off against John Howard in the 4^th match of the main card. Miller quickly secured the takedown and half mount to reign down strikes on Howard. Howard stuffed Miler's second take down attempt and turned the tide for the second half of round 1. A real chess match with surprising BJJ skills from Howard as he battled Miller to a stand still in Round 2. Miller finally secured the takedown after a hard clinching scramble and began to deliver “GNP” from the guard for most of Round three. After 3 rounds the bout was awarded to Dan Miller via unanimous decision.

IFL veteran Dante Rivera who has been on a tear as of late was set to face Fernando Rivera until Fernando broke his foot while warming up. Scratch match number 5 due to foot injury.

The tournament finals were also well matched but one match really stood out by pitting two of the most active and well regarded fighters in these parts against one another – Team Ironhorse MMA warrior Mike Massenzio v. Boneyard MMA fighter Lance Everson. These two guys have been climbing the local fight ladder for years it was only a matter of time before their paths intersected. The two middleweights clinched and kneed each other for the first minute with Massenzio securing the head and arm clinch to control the position but Everson freed himself and once again secured the underhooks for his clinching striking game. Massenzio caught Everson with a sharp right hand that set up a take down then secured the Guillotine choke in the guard for the submission win at 4:04 of the first round. Massenzio secures the middleweight tournament championship!

The main event "Superfights" pitted two of the east coast best lightweights against one another with the hope of the winner reaching the UFC. Both of the Miller brothers are feared opponents these days, Jim Miller came in to the match with an 8-1 record, the one loss coming at the hands of Ligouri's Rhino teammate & training partner Frankie Edgar.

Ligouri's record is a bit deceiving at 7-5 one might assume that Miller was going to waltz through him. A closer look reveals a 5-1 mark in his last 6 fights but it has been over a year since Ligouri annihilated Dorian Price in under 2 minutes. Would there be Ring Rust in his game? Would Miller submit Ligouri as he has in all of his recent victories?

Ligouri came out looking svelt at 155lbs, two of the top dogs in these parts did not disappoint. Miller secured the takedown quickly and sunk in a tight armbar that almost finished the fight but Ligouri scrambled free. Miller pressed the action and had Ligouri defending half mount strikes, a kimura attempt, a side arm attempt. Miller wanted no part of Ligouri’s stand up and quickly took the Rhino fighter down and continued the aggressive ground attack. The second round began with another take down by Miller, Ligouri did a better job of defending the submission attempts from Miller's guard and landed repeated blows from the guard for most of round two. At some point Miller opened up a nasty cut over Ligouri's right eye but his ground and pound was relentless.

I score this match even after two rounds as Miller won the first round and Ligouri secured the second round. But the doctor would not allow the fight to continue for the deciding third round due to the cut. Miller was declared the winner via TKO Referee stoppage due to a cut.

The other Main Event pitted Gregor Gracie – the next generation of the Gracie dynasty against the hard hitting Bombsquad trooper Erik Henry. Gracie just earned his first MMA win this past June with a submission win over Josh Lydell. Henry had been on a bit of a winning streak until he lost a majority decision to Doug Gordon at ROC 16. Gracie showed a confidence that only comes with the Gracie family legacy. He quickly took Henry down and passed to side control where he methodically maneuvered himself in to an arm bar position but Henry stood up and tried to keep the fight standing where he was more dominant. Gracie again clinched and traded punches with Henry in order to set up the take down. An accidental low blow by Henry gave Gracie a breather from the clinching strikes of Henry. Gracie ended the round with another takedown, score round one for Gracie.

Round two began with a good striking exchange from both fighters but Gracie quickly secured another takedown and sunk in a keylock from side control and forced the submission victory as Henry tapped out at 1:56 of R2.  

FULL RESULTS

Preliminaries

Lightweights 2 -4 minute rounds
Vasilica Goian (TSMMA) V. Tim Troxell (AMA/Renzo) Troxell Wins via Unanimous Decision. A very Technical match.