(Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods? Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? / Props: CombatLifestyle)
According to a Sherdog report, Bellator has booked a welterweight bout between UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Karo Parisyan for Bellator 122, July 25th at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. Baroni was allegedly set to make his Bellator debut last month in Atlantic City (“#stilltheman…#swag“), but that appearance never came together.
The New York Bad Ass has been inactive since his gross ankle-injury loss to Nobutatsu Suzuki at OneFC: Rise to Power in May 2013. Meanwhile, Parisyan has already gone 1-1 under the Bellator banner, most recently knocking out Ron Keslar at Bellator 116 in April. As nostalgic stunt-fights go, Baroni vs. Parisyan ranks somewhere between Houston Alexander vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (yuck) and Kimbo Slice vs. James Thomson 2 (yes!). But again, we don’t watch MMA for competitive integrity, do we?
So: “I’m the best eva!” vs. “Do you know who I am, bro?” — a battle of massive egos and inconsistent performances. Who ya got?
(Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods? Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? / Props: CombatLifestyle)
According to a Sherdog report, Bellator has booked a welterweight bout between UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Karo Parisyan for Bellator 122, July 25th at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. Baroni was allegedly set to make his Bellator debut last month in Atlantic City (“#stilltheman…#swag“), but that appearance never came together.
The New York Bad Ass has been inactive since his gross ankle-injury loss to Nobutatsu Suzuki at OneFC: Rise to Power in May 2013. Meanwhile, Parisyan has already gone 1-1 under the Bellator banner, most recently knocking out Ron Keslar at Bellator 116 in April. As nostalgic stunt-fights go, Baroni vs. Parisyan ranks somewhere between Houston Alexander vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (yuck) and Kimbo Slice vs. James Thomson 2 (yes!). But again, we don’t watch MMA for competitive integrity, do we?
So: “I’m the best eva!” vs. “Do you know who I am, bro?” — a battle of massive egos and inconsistent performances. Who ya got?
Let me translate the above Instagram photo, for those of who you aren’t fluent in hashtag: Beloved UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce veteran Phil “The New York Bad Ass” Baroni will be competing for Bellator on May 2nd, on a Spike TV-televised fight in Atlantic City, the same city that hosted his first-ever UFC fight back in February 2001. Baroni would like you to know that he’s back, he’s still the man, and what you see is what you get, etc. Indeed, Phil Baroni is all the hashtags.
Assuming that Baroni isn’t just making shit up, the 5/2 date means he’ll be fighting at Bellator 118, supporting a bantamweight title fight between Eduardo Dantas and Joe Warren. According to MMAJunkie’s sources, “[Baroni’s] deal is expected to be a short-term one, possibly just a single fight. The promotion also has no current plan to enter Baroni in any upcoming tournaments.” The 37-year-old slugger’s opponent hasn’t been announced yet.
Let me translate the above Instagram photo, for those of who you aren’t fluent in hashtag: Beloved UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce veteran Phil “The New York Bad Ass” Baroni will be competing for Bellator on May 2nd, on a Spike TV-televised fight in Atlantic City, the same city that hosted his first-ever UFC fight back in February 2001. Baroni would like you to know that he’s back, he’s still the man, and what you see is what you get, etc. Indeed, Phil Baroni is all the hashtags.
Assuming that Baroni isn’t just making shit up, the 5/2 date means he’ll be fighting at Bellator 118, supporting a bantamweight title fight between Eduardo Dantas and Joe Warren. According to MMAJunkie’s sources, “[Baroni’s] deal is expected to be a short-term one, possibly just a single fight. The promotion also has no current plan to enter Baroni in any upcoming tournaments.” The 37-year-old slugger’s opponent hasn’t been announced yet.
Baroni hasn’t competed since May of last year — when he suffered a gruesome ankle injury at One FC: Rise to Power, and he’s lost four of his last five fights. So why does Bellator want him, exactly? I guess for the same reasons that they wanted Houston Alexander and Lavar Johnson — because you’ve heard of them before, and because it makes Bellator’s home-grown guys seem more impressive when they whoop the asses of former UFC talent.
My only question is, why didn’t Bellator book Baroni for their pay-per-view card two weeks later? Are they worried that he’d steal #thewholefuckingshow? (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) We’ll update you when Baroni’s opponent is revealed. In the meantime, tweet us @cagepotatomma with a single hashtag that sums up your feelings about this news.
You guys, I don’t claim to be a prophet all that often, save for when I accurately predict which chef will be eliminated each round on Chopped, but today is one of those days.
When it was first announced that Ben Askren was (somewhat inexplicably) headed to One FC some two days ago, I suggested that the former Bellator kingpin take on Phil Baroni in his promotional debut. It was the fight I wanted to see, and therefore, the fight fans wanted to see. Perhaps most importantly, Baroni is the only other member of the One FC welterweight roster I could name off the top of my head, so how could this fight not make perfect sense?
In any case, you can understand my excitement when opening up the Twitter earlier today to see the above tweet. Because as boring as Ben Askren truly is in the cage, he is equally entertaining online. And it turns out that the following tweet was only part of what was a beautiful back and forth between Askren and Baroni, a back and forth that is sure to lead to a future showdown pairing old guard against new guard despite the fact that the old guard’s body is literally disintegrating beneath him.
Join us after the jump for what will surely go down in the history books as the catalyst to the greatest MMA feud of all time.
You guys, I don’t claim to be a prophet all that often, save for when I accurately predict which chef will be eliminated each round on Chopped, but today is one of those days.
When it was first announced that Ben Askren was (somewhat inexplicably) headed to One FC some two days ago, I suggested that the former Bellator kingpin take on Phil Baroni in his promotional debut. It was the fight I wanted to see, and therefore, the fight fans wanted to see. Perhaps most importantly, Baroni is the only other member of the One FC welterweight roster I could name off the top of my head, so how could this fight not make perfect sense?
In any case, you can understand my excitement when opening up the Twitter earlier today to see the above tweet. Because as boring as Ben Askren truly is in the cage, he is equally entertaining online. And it turns out that the following tweet was only part of what was a beautiful back and forth between Askren and Baroni, a back and forth that is sure to lead to a future showdown pairing old guard against new guard despite the fact that the old guard’s body is literally disintegrating beneath him.
Join us after the jump for what will surely go down in the history books as the catalyst to the greatest MMA feud of all time.
I’m guessing that Askren is referring to Baroni’s emotional post-fight interview after UFC 125 here, in which case, low blow, bro. Just because Phil is “The Best Eva” doesn’t mean he is impervious to criticism. The man has a lot of feelings, and you’re hurting damn near every one of them. So unless Askren plans on burying the hatchet with Baroni over a slice of pizza and a game of paintball, I say we let these two hug slug it out in the cage until the audience falls asleep someone falls over. Who’s with me?
Former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren may not officially be a part of the ONE FC roster yet, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t already have a fight in mind for his promotional debut.
Popular Twitter personality Front Row Brian got the b…
Former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren may not officially be a part of the ONE FC roster yet, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t already have a fight in mind for his promotional debut.
Popular Twitter personality Front Row Brian got the ball rolling by asking his followers to name a welterweight currently under contract with ONE FC.
Eventually, Phil Baroni ended up chiming in on the matter.
Baroni is just 15-17 in 32 professional fights, including a recent 1-3 record under the ONE FC banner. Meanwhile, Askren, a former Olympic-level wrestler, remains undefeated at 12-0.
The high point of Baroni’s career was arguably when he fought Frank Shamrock for the Strikeforce middleweight title in June 2007, getting choked out by a rear naked choke in the second round.
On the other hand, Askren notched four successful title defenses under the Bellator banner before his contract expired, and the company opted not to re-sign the high-level grappler.
Therefore, it’s hard to imagine Baroni vs. Askren being a competitive fight. However, the bout remains a distinct possibility since Baroni is probably the most well-known welterweight currently under contract with ONE FC.
Baroni vs. Askren: would this be a fight worth watching for the fans?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
Well, we warned you. Bellator ring girl Jade Bryce has returned for another installment of “MMA Impressions” for CagePotato.com, in which she gives her own unique take on these classic victory celebrations:
Well, we warned you. Bellator ring girl Jade Bryce has returned for another installment of “MMA Impressions” for CagePotato.com, in which she gives her own unique take on these classic victory celebrations:
Back in 2009, I covered UFC 106 in Las Vegas for my previous employer. I don’t remember many specifics about the event. Looking back on the card, I remember that Josh Koscheck absolutely starched Anthony Johnson in the co-main event, while Forrest…
Back in 2009, I covered UFC 106 in Las Vegas for my previous employer.
I don’t remember many specifics about the event. Looking back on the card, I remember that Josh Koscheck absolutely starched Anthony Johnson in the co-main event, while Forrest Griffin did just enough to earn a split-decision over the returning Tito Ortiz.
The card was supposed to be headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin, but Lesnar pulled out due to a mysterious illness that would eventually spell the end of his days as an active fighter.
Oh, and this was the event where Karo Parisyan went off the deep end, emotionally speaking, and was cut after pulling out of his fight with Dustin Hazelett. He was never the same again.
The one thing I’ll never forget from this event, though, was interviewing Phil Baroni prior to his fight with AmirSadollah.
Much like everyone else, I’d always enjoyed Baroni. His promotional work alongside Frank Shamrock building up their Strikeforce fight in 2007 was a thing of beauty, even if his career record of 10-7 (prior to the Shamrock fight) had already indicated that he wasn’t a top-level fighter or anything close to that.
I talked to Baroni briefly, two days before his fight, and I cannot help but remember how difficult it was to understand what he was saying. I’d ask him a question, and he’d give me a long and winding answer that I couldn’t decipher.
I knew I’d have to go back and listen to my digital recording of the interview a few times before I was fully able to transcribe what Baroni was saying, and even then, I might not get it totally correct.
That was in 2009. Since then, Baroni has gone 2-6 for a total career record of 15-17.
But it isn’t just the record that concerns me. Take a look at this list of Baroni‘s losses since he returned to the UFC in 2009, and tell me what stands out:
Loss to AmirSadollah by unanimous decision. Loss to Brad Tavares by knockout, round 1. Loss to YoshiyukiYoshida by unanimous decision. Loss to Chris Holland by knockout, round 2. Loss to HayatoSakurai by unanimous decision. Loss to Nobutatsu Suzuki by TKO, round 1.
Baroni‘s latest loss to Suzuki at One FC 9 is officially listed as due to TKO by injury, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Baroni injured his ankle, sure, but he was being absolutely blasted with strikes, much like he has been for the majority of his fights over the last six years.
There was a time when watching Baroni take five punches to deliver two giant ones was entertaining, when it didn’t fill me with dread or make me feel like I was doing something wrong by watching what’s unfolding on my television or computer screen.
Those days are over.
When Chuck Liddell was forced into retirement by Dana White, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. We loved watching Liddell fight, but it became clear near the end that he’d taken too many punches over the course of his legendary career. His speech was slurred, and he collapsed under the weight of punches that would’ve made him smile and press forward five years before.
Liddell had someone looking out for him. Baroni does not.
He doesn’t have a promoter that cares about him enough to tell him—for his own good—that it’s to stop fighting and find something else to do. All he has are promoters around the world that don’t give a damn what happens to him in the future. They don’t care if he ends up with severe head trauma from repeated blows to the head. They don’t care if he ends up needing a full-time nurse by the time he’s 50 years old because he cannot take care of himself any more.
The only thing they care about is making a buck.
As long as Baroni has a name, terrible promoters will continue to use him, to send him to their cage or ring to get knocked out with no regard for the terrible act they are enabling. According to these tweets from Baroni, he’s nowhere close to figuring all of this out on his own:
Baroni says “it ain’t over until it’s over.” But the truth is that it’s been over since he fought Shamrock nearly six years ago—Baroni just doesn’t recognize it.
I’d like to say that maybe fight promotions around the world will stop enabling him at some point, but we all know that isn’t true. They don’t care about Baroni or his health or his future, and they’ll keep giving him a check to go out and get punched in the face until he’s been irreversibly damaged.
Back in 2009, I covered UFC 106 in