Ring of Combat 54
(PRESS RELEASE) – New York, NY (January 20th, 2016) – Legendary world kickboxing champion, Lou Neglia, brings his premier mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, Ring of Combat, which has sent over 100 professional fighters to the UFC, back to the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Friday, March 4th.
This past November, Dana White along with Matt Serra and Nick The Tooth brought their web series, Lookin’ For A Fight, to Ring of Combat 53. Dana and company personally scouted the MMA talent on hand and drafted former ROC welterweight champion, Randy Brown as the latest ROC alumni to compete in the UFC.
Ring of Combat President, Lou Neglia, believes that any of the athletes on this night could be the next big thing. “Ring of Combat 54 is an exciting card with four championship fights,” said Lou. “All of these fighters could be the new upcoming MMA superstars,” he continued.
The main event has the return of, New York’s Gregor Gillespie (5-0) defending his regional ROC lightweight title against undefeated Jose Mariscal (3-0) of Illinois. Gillespie, who has some of the best wrestling credentials in all of MMA, was set to defend his title this past November but had to pull out due to injury. Mariscal, who made his ROC debut this past November, made quite the impression as he earned a hard fought decision over previously undefeated Max Bohanan
In the co-main event, Brian Kelleher (15-7) looks for his second win in a rematch against the man he won the title from, Julio Arce (8-1).
Kelleher met Arce at ROC 52 in what was a face paced bout earning a majority decision over the former champion. Arce looks to even up the score and win back his title in the process.
Fresh off his title winning performance, Bradley Desir (7-4) of Tiger Schulman’s MMA looks to successfully defend his national lightweight title in a rematch against Eddie Lenoci (4-1) of the Serra/Longo fight team.
Riding a six fight win streak, ROC national featherweight champion, Mike Santiago (16-9) defends his title against New Jersey’s Lester Caslow (15-9).
The Ring of Combat 54 non title bouts are:
Mike Elshamy (5-0) vs Eric Roncoroni (2-0)
Gregy Styles(2-0) vs Tajuddin Abdul-Hakim (1-0)
Frank Buenafuente (4-3) vs Leo Perez (3-2);
Tony Gravely vs Cody Mooney
Nick Fiore (3-0) vs Allen Cozze (1-0)
Pat DeFranco (5-3-1) vs Matt Church (2-1)
Max Bohanan (5-1) vs Zach Fears (3-1)
Guram Mestvirishvili (2-0) vs Jay Silva (9-8)
Mike Trizano (6-0) vs Kevin Perez (6-1)
Tony Gravely (3-1) vs Paul Grant (2-1)
(CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Ring of Combat has made a name for itself unlike any other MMA promotion by being the platform that launched the careers of former UFC champions Chris Weidman, Matt Serra and Frankie Edgar along with UFC contenders Al Iaquinta, Uriah Hall, Costas Philippou, Edson Barboza, Ryan LaFlare and Chris Wade.
Ring of Combat 54 will take place March 4th at the world famous Tropicana Casino and Resort showroom.
Doors @ 8:00 PM / Fights @ 8:30 PM.
Tickets are priced reasonably between $52 and $127 and can be purchased at the Ring of Combat website, the Tropicana Box Office or any TicketMaster outlets.
This is sure to be another sell-out event, so get your tickets TODAY!
Get social with Ring of Combat: Facebook.com/ROCMMA, Twitter.com/ringofcombat,
About Ring of Combat:
Ring of Combat is one of the longest running and most successful MMA promotions in the country. More than 100 ROC fighters have moved on to the UFC and other top promotions, including former UFC champions Frankie Edgar and Matt Serra and current UFC Middleweight Champion, Chris Weidman. It is because of this success, finding great but unknown talent and preparing them for the world stage, that Ring of Combat has earned the reputation of being called the “American Idol” of MMA. Lou firmly believes that great fights make great fighters!
For more information about Ring of Combat, please visit their website at: www.ringofcombat.com
About Lou Neglia:
Louis Neglia is a three-time World Kickboxing Champion, a former U.S. Kickboxiing Champion, a Florida Karate Champion, New York State Champion, and an Eastern American Karate Champion. No opponent has lasted more than three rounds against Louis Neglia since he won his first World Championship in 1980. Lou is an eight-degree Black Belt, and retired from competition in 1985 with a career record of 34 wins and only 2 losses. He was named Fighter Of the Year in 1984 and was inducted into the Karate Hall of Fame. He starred in four motion pictures(“A Hard Way to Die”,”Super Weapon”,”Fist of Fear”,and “One Down”, “Two To Go”). Featured articles have been written about him in the top American and International magazines and newspapers.
For more information about Lou Neglia’s, please visit his website at: www.louneglia.com
