Itso Babulaidze continues amazing journey, headlines ROC 83
Itso Babulaidze is a humble, genuine 30-year-old man who grew in in the Republic of Georgia. At 25, he decided to follow his dreams of becoming a professional fighter like his Georgian brother Merab Dvalishvili. He left his country for the US. Once he visited Philadelphia, he found his man. That man that he trusts and would run through a brick wall for is John Marquez. John is the owner and head coach at Marquez MMA located in the Northeast section of the city.
Interview below:
Marquez MMA
They are home to numerous, current UFC fighters and have probably the deepest room in the region with a ton of active competitors in multiple combat sports and jiu-jitsu. Marquez MMA has helped put Philly MMA in UFC main events and many other prime time appearances. The coaching staff is tremendous as John has built a monster. His next UFC fighter may be Itso Babulaidze. Babulaidze found a job as a skilled construction worker and did what coach asked of him. That was train. Itso is relentless and has thrived. To go from zero training to fighting as an amateur 5 times and now headlining one of the best regional promotions in the country in less than 5 years is unheard of.
Itso Babulaidze…title defense, main event
Itso (4-0) won the Ring of Combat welterweight championship in his last fight at ROC 81. He will be defending that belt on March 1st at ROC 83 against Josh Jackson, who is 8-3 and has three straight finishes via strikes. Jackson is coming in from Maryland and 6 of his 8 wins are via TKO/KO. Looks like your classic grappler vs striker battle.
Coach John on Itso and the fight
I made the short trip over the bridge to visit Marquez MMA and chat with Itso about his fight. We joke (but I’m serious), that we have to keep working on his English to prepare him for the next level. You can see our video link on the interview below. I also visited the coach’s office for a chat about the fight and the fighter.
He tells MyMMANews…
“We are not overlooking Josh. It’s a fight. Anything can happen, but I believe in Itso. He’s different. His drive, work ethic, he’s just different. It’s incredible. I’ve seen the video. Where he came from was a village. You can’t get there by driving a car or truck. It’s in the mountains. You could be killed a number of ways trying to get there. He never stops working or trying to get better. During sparring, he is never looking for easy rounds. It’s Jeremiah Wells, or it’s Sean Brady, or it’s Joe Pyfer. We went to Vegas for Joey’s fight, and he went to Xtreme Couture and was rolling with Sean Strickland. He will be ready on March 1st for Ring of Combat.”
Ring of Combat 83 is brought to you by former world kickboxing champion Louis Neglia Jr and Frankie Perez’s Dead Serious MMA. It will be hosted in Atlantic City at the Tropicana Casino and Hotel Resort on Friday evening March 1st. Doors open at 8 pm. First bell is 8:30 pm. The event will be streamed live on the Streaming Pulse app and is absolutely FREE. Check us out as I will be at the commentary table with Professor Jay Regalbuto and former UFC standout “Raging” Al Iaquinta, and heading into the cage for some post-fight interviews as this card is stacked with 3 championship fights, a super-fight and several other great matchups.
Photo credit: Angelo Carchesio
