Photo by Angelo Carchesio
Ring of Combat 77: Rufati vs Gunnison official results
Louis Neglia and Frankie Perez must have been in a very generous mood as they sat down to construct the fight card for Ring of Combat 77. ROC will be awarding four new championship belts on September 9th at the Tropicana Hotel and Casion Resort in Atlantic City.
Sergio DeBari (5-2) will take on Nekruz Mirkhojaev (5-3) for the vacant ROC featherweight strap. The also vacant middleweight belt will be on the line in a monster match-up as Troy Green (4-1) tries to stop AT McCowin (5-2). In the co-main event and 135 lb title fight, Phil “the Hitman” Caracappa (9-2) was injured and his teammate Efrain Escudero (5-3) valiantly steps in on a weeks’ notice to battle for the belt against the very tough Suhrob Aidarbekov (5-4).
In the main event, the vacant lightweight championship will be decided as dangerous striker Cedric Gunnison (4-1) will welcome Lenny “the Gorilla” Rufati (5-5) back to NJ as Rufati has been fighting closer to his Wisconsin home in his last four contests as he has relocated there from the east coast and now trains out of Roufusport MMA. The Gorilla is moving back down to 155lbs for the championship opportunity, and he will also have tons of support in the stands from his fellow Albanians.
There are also some interesting bouts on the undercard with some of the best young talent in the region. The full card and official results are listed below:
Ring of Combat 77 results below
135 lbs
Javier Coronado 2-0 (Pure Vida BJJ and MMA) vs Chris Kwiatkowski pro debut (Daniel Gracie Fight Team)
Official result: Chris Kwiatkowski defeats Javier Coronado via unanimous decision
140 lbs
Steve Lee 0-1 (Serra-Longo) vs Billy Markle pro debut (Nick Catone MMA)
Official result: Billy Markle defeats Steve Lee via unanimous decision
145 lbs
William Calhoun 3-5 (Clarksville Fight Club) vs John Caldone 1-1 (Long Island MMA)
Official result: John Caldone defeats William Calhoun via submission (guillotine choke) Round 1, 1:46
135 lbs
Christian McAuley pro debut (Tiger Schulman) vs Calogero Torretta (0-0-1) Nick Catone MMA
Official result: Christian McAuley defeats Calogero Torretta via submission (anaconda choke) Round 3, 3:46
160 lbs
Daniel Bastidas 2-3 (Chute Boxe Hoboken Fight Club) vs Armando Gjetja 3-3 (Law MMA)
Official result: Armando Gjetja defeats Daniel Bastidas via KO (strikes) Round 1
145 lb ROC Championship
Nekruz Mirkhojaev 5-3 (Brooklyn MMA) vs Sergio DeBari 5-2 (Silver Fox BJJ/North Jersey Muay-Thai)
Official result: Nekruz Mirkhojaev defeats Sergio DeBarj via unanimous decision
185 lb ROC Championship
Troy Green 4-1 (El Nino Training Center) vs AT McCowin 5-2 (302 BJJ)
Official result: Troy Green defeats AT McCowin via split decision
135 lb ROC Championship
Sukhrob Aydarbekov 5-4 (Brooklyn MMA) vs Efrain Escudero 4-2 (Dante Rivera MMA)
Official result: Efrain Escudero defeats Sukhrob Aydarbekov via submission (kimura)Round 1, 4:42
Challenger…Lenny “the Gorilla” Rufati 6-6 (Pure Vida BJJ and MMA) vs defending champ Cedric “the Gunman” Gunnison (4-1) (The Kab MMA)
Official score: Cedric Gunnison defeats Lenny Rufati via KO (strikes) Round 1, 1:45
Ring of Combat is brought to you by Louis Neglia and Dead Serious Promotions. They have just signed a new broadcasting deal and on September 9th at 8:30 pm ET we will be live on Airy.Tv via Maybacks Global Enterprises. If you can’t make it to Atlantic City, download the app and watch for FREE. I will be cage-side with live commentary along with Jay Regalbuto, who is one of the brightest jiu-jitsu minds in the game right now. We will also have a live results link right here at the leader in regional combat sports coverage.
MyMMANews would also like to give a special thanks to rising female muay-thai fighter, Shannon Murphy, for keeping the accurate results up to the minute
