Ring of Combat 54: Championship Recap

​Whether they won or whether they lost, the Ring of Combat fighters proved again why that promotion is considered tri-state area’s premiere MMA promotion and UFC feeder show. Every bout on Ring of Combat 54 looked as if it could be on a UFC Fight Night undercard. Dana White’s “Looking for a Fight” – a YouTube show which features Dana White, Matt Serra, and Nick “The Tooth” (Dana’s sidekick) venturing out and seeking young talent – may have given the promotion a solidifying shot in the arm, as they recruited ROC Welterweight Randy “Rudeboy” Brown to the their ranks. All that there is left to do is for Ring of Combat to join UFC Fight Pass so that it can be watched via Xboxes, PlayStations, Chromecasts and online hubs and dongles all over the world.

​Focusing on the four championship fights, the main event was headlined by Gregor “The Gift” Gillespie (6-0 MMA) versus Jose Mariscal (3-1 MMA) for the ROC Regional Lightweight Championship. Gillespie fights out of Bellmore, Long Island, with a tremendous wrestling pedigree and is highly touted as the next big thing out of Ring of Combat. The pedigree showed immediately as Gillespie turned the bout into a grappling match. Mariscal defended for a bit only be taken down and mounted relatively quickly into the first round. Gillespie dominated with an arm triangle attempt that nearly finished the bout, before Mariscal powered out of it with heart and toughness. Gillespie demonstrated pure dominance and control, advancing to Mariscal’s back and reigning down blows. Mariscal kept fighting to survive, but Gillespie’s wrestling control was too much as Gillespie flattened Mariscal out from the back mount and continued to land strikes. The referee called an end to the contest at the 4:09 of the first round, and Gillespie retained the title. Mariscal seemed upset that the bout was stopped, but he also looked outmatched nonetheless.

Gregor Gillespie

​In an exciting rematch for the ROC Bantamweight Championship, fans witnessed Julio Arce of Tiger Schulmann’s Queens (8-2 MMA) take on Brian “Boom” Kelleher from Maxum BJJ (16-7 MMA). Arce opened up with some boxing and a takedown attempt, and forced some wrestling against the cage. The interesting aspect of this fight is that these two opponents seemed to swap styles since their previous fight, as Arce mostly initiated the grappling for the majority of this bout. The clinch fighting continued for a bit until they broke and kickboxed on the outside with neither man landing flush. Kelleher initiated the grappling this time and they wrestled and clinched for about a minute and half before resuming kickboxing from the outside. A knee and a round kick were the only significant strikes by Arce, followed by a flying teep from Kelleher that ended up with more clinch fighting and then some kickboxing again. Round 1 ended pretty even overall.

​In between rounds Arce’s corner noted that Kelleher was throwing single strikes and wanted Arce to fire back with combinations – and that he did. Round 2 opened with Arce moving more and throwing a greater volume of strikes. Both fighters exchanged and defended each other’s strikes until Arce scored a beautiful power double leg takedown. Kelleher attempted a“mission control” position from rubber guard, to an entangled arm submission attempt, to a guillotine attempt, only to get back to his feet and give his back in the process. He wrestled back to face Arce and the fighters then returned to kickboxing. Kelleher attempted a takedown against the cage, but Arce used the cage well to stay on his feet. Kelleher then landed a wide left that drove Arce to attempt a takedown. Kelleher countered with a guillotine attempt and both fighters scrambled back to their feet. Round 2 was a back and forth round of wrestling and kickboxing that ended in an even exchange. At this point, a judge might make the case for giving Arce the first round based on aggression, and the second round to Kelleher based on control.

​The combatants began the third and final round in an embrace. It feels good to be fighting someone you are equally matched against. You share something, and you know each other better right after, and you earn each other’s appreciation and respect for the fight that is pushing the best out of each of you. This even contest was ended just a few seconds into the third round as Arce backed away from Kelleher’s strikes to extend himself for a takedown attempt. Unfortunately for Arce he fell right into an arm-in guillotine. Arce tapped at 18 seconds into the third round and Kelleher claimed the victory. Unfortunately Kelleher didn’t make weight so he couldn’t receive the title.

Brian Kelleher

​In a gut wrenching bout, Team Serra Longo prospect Eddie “Deadpool” Lenoci (4-2 MMA) fought All Star MMA‘s Bradley Desir (8-4 MMA) for the Ring of Combat National Lightweight Championship. This was another rematch as Lenoci was stopped by knockout in their last bout. Unfortunately Desir missed weight by five pounds for their first fight and therefore could not be granted the title following his victory. However, Desir made weight for this bout and came out at Lenoci with strong kickboxing combinations. Lenoci ate a knee to the face which he caught, and ended up dragging Desir down to his own guard. From his back, Lenoci attempted an “entangled arm” submission hold, but Desir defended and stepped out of Lenoci’s guard as soon as it was open, bringing the fight back to the feet. Desir continued with an onslaught of punch and kick combinations. A jab and a front kick dropped Lenoci to the floor in what seemed to be a knockout, but Lenoci showed tremendous heart and fought on by reaching for a leg and attempting an inverted heel hook. A scramble ensued with Desir again standing and walking off, restarting the bout on their feet. Lenoci then started to pick up momentum as Desir appeared to slow down. Still, Desir countered a kick from Lenoci with a throwdown slam and a walk off to keep the fight standing. Lenoci started to walk him down and fire back with straight punches that forced Desir to circle out of range. Not to be deterred, Desir landed a devastating switch kick to the liver of Lenoci, who did his best to survive, but couldn’t recover enough to intelligently defend himself. The referee moved in to stop the bout at 3:17 of round 1, declaring Desir the new Ring of Combat National Lightweight Champion.

Bradley Desir

In the first title bout of the evening, Mike Santiago (17-9 MMA) and Lester Caslow (15-10 MMA) opened up with a short feeling out process, followed by a big pick-up running double leg takedown by Santiago. Caslow tried to secure a guillotine choke but Santiago fought out of it. Santiago then escaped to his feet and tried for his own guillotine attempt, but Caslow maneuvered his way to a clinch where both fighters exchanged a few knees. Santiago then worked his way to a takedown, laid down some ground and pound, achieved the mount, took the back, and ultimately finished with a rear naked choke to retain the Ring of Combat Featherweight Championship belt.

Mike Santiago

Fight Coverage: Gabriel “Monsta” Toribio

Editor: Kyle Antonelli

Photos: Matt Culley