This past Friday, September 20th, we saw another great Ring of Combat event. The Tropicana in Atlantic City was the place to be for fight fans. Submissions, KOs and competitive bouts with all fighters bringing their A-game to Ring of Combat, the place where stars are born. 150 plus fighters went on to the UFC with 7 becoming world champions, most recently Merab Dvalishvili, who started his career at Ring of Combat 85. With every show, my greatest pleasure is to provide a platform for all fighters to showcase their skills and get the exposure they deserve.
On the night of Ring of Combat 85, a lot of people did great. One person in particular I feel is UFC material. So much so I sent a message to Dana White to highly recommend him to be the next ROC alumni to enter the UFC. He has great ability that so many ROC alumni had. Jimmy Drago won the 170 lb. Title beating Alonzo Turner in an exciting fight at ROC 85. I believe Drago is a great talent with one of the greatest training ethics I’ve ever seen. Not to mention, he has one of the biggest fan bases ever. He was a drug addict who would fight in underground boxing matches to support a serious drug problem he had. In rehab, someone met him and brought him to Animal MMA where he turned his life around. A great human interest story that is turning successful. I’m excited and confident that he will get the UFC call shortly.
Results and images of this exciting ROC 85 are below.
Results from: Bob Meloni
Images by: Angelo Carchesio
170 lbs Josh Bonneau wis by UD 30-27 on all over Eli Guzman
135 lbs Shamar Williams wins by TKO 5:00 R1 over Marcus Reid
170 lbs Alex Brown wins by submission (armbar) over Nick Caracappa 3:53 R2
145 lbs Vincent Constantini wins by UD 29-28 on all over Cole Cameron
145 lbs Torance LaCour wins by TKO (strikes) 1:47 R1 over Griffin Parriott
155 lbs Andrew Stock wins via submission (RNC) over Gunner Spain 1:28 R1
140 lbs Billy Markle wins by UD 29-28 on all over Chris Disonell
145 lbs Cole Alaxanian wins by UD 30-27 29-28 29-28 over John O’Dea
135 lbs Nodir Alidodov wins by UD 30-27 29-28 29-28 over Turpal Khamzaez
170 lb ROC Championship Jimmy Drago (defending) wins by UD 30-27 on all over Alonzo Turner
135 lb Roc Championship Sebastian Ruiz wins by SD 30-27 28-29 29-28 over Ricky Bandejas