Phil Baroni
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| Phil Baroni | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Statistics | |
| Nickname | New York Badass |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Born | April 16, 1976 |
| Fighting out of | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Town of birth | New York, United States |
| Team/Association | American Kickboxing Academy |
| Fighting style | Boxing, Wrestling |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 10 |
| By knockout | 7 |
| By submission | 2 |
| Losses | 10 |
| Draws | 0 |
"The New York Bad-Ass" Phil Baroni (born April 16, 1976) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He has a professional MMA record of 10-10-0. Baroni has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) where he holds a record of 3-5-0. He has developed a reputation for his boxing ability and knockout power, although he is an accomplished wrestler as well. He formerly trained with Team Hammer House, whose members include two current PRIDE fighters and former UFC heavyweight champions, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman.
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[edit] Biography
Phil Baroni grew up in Massapequa Park, Long Island, New York. Baroni attended Hofstra University before transferring to Central Michigan University where he became a two time All-American collegiate wrestler. Baroni was a double major in biology and psychology, and got his degree in psychology. He was also an amateur bodybuilder from the age of 17 to 20 where he competed in a total of 6 shows in which he placed either first or second.
Baroni had a successful amateur boxing and kick-boxing career. He studied kick-boxing under Keith Trimble, and had 7 kick-boxing matches, winning all 7 by knock out. He also competed in 10 amateur boxing matches, also winning all 10 by knock out. Although Baroni was a big fan of the UFC he did not want to compete in it until the UFC had implemented Weight classes. [1].
[edit] Fighting in the UFC
Baroni quickly made a name for himself in the UFC with several impressive knockout victories. His signature match was a decisive knockout victory over former UFC champion Dave Menne on September 27, 2002. Phil famously jumped on the top of the cage and proclaimed himself to be "The Best Eva!" after the knockout of Menne. He then rematched Matt Lindland to whom he had previously lost to by judges decision. In their rematch, Baroni suffering a second loss to Lindland by another judges decision. He was then matched up against a former teammate of Matt Lindland, Evan Tanner at UFC 45 - Revolution. Baroni dominated the beginning of the match against Tanner, but when the fight was stopped to check a cut on Tanner, Tanner regained his composure and the momentum turned, leading to the referee stopping the fight due to Baroni taking several undefended strikes on the ground. This decision was controversial as the referee Larry Landless had asked Baroni if he wanted to quit which he did not. Landless still stopped the bout, and was struck by a furious Baroni who wished to continue. Baroni was subsequently suspended for 4 months for striking the official. Upon his return Baroni got a rematch with Tanner at UFC 48 - Payback but went on to lose via decision. Despite losing 3 fights in a row, the UFC matched Baroni against the relatively unknown Pete Sell. Following training with Enson Inoue, Baroni dominated early on with numerous takedowns and a dominate standup, however, Sell caught him in a guillotine choke and Baroni appeared to lose consciousness, but then tapped out for the only time in his career thereby ending the fight. Following this loss many people told him to retire, including Dana White.
[edit] Fighting in PRIDE
Baroni joined Hammer House soon thereafter and rebounded in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships promotion with several knockout victories against Ikuhisa Minowa, Ryo Chonan, and Yuki Kondo. On June 4, 2006, Baroni was summarily defeated by Ikuhisa Minowa via unanimous decision in the Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix 183-lb tournament in 2005.
On October 21st 2006 Baroni captured a victory over boxer turned MMA fighter Yosuke Nishijima via kimura in the first round at PRIDE 32, PRIDE's first American show.
[edit] Feud with Frank Shamrock
Frank Shamrock and Baroni had engaged in a war of words following Shamrock's fight with Renzo Gracie. The two faced off at Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni, a co-promotion between EliteXC and Strikeforce on June 22nd, 2007 on Pay-Per-View.[2] Shamrock defeated Baroni, knocking him down with punches in the first round and finishing him off with a rear naked choke in the second round. It was considered a TKO victory for Shamrock, as Baroni was choked unconscious.
[edit] Steroid use
Following the Shamrock fight the California State Athletic Commission announced that Baroni tested positive for two types of anabolic steroids, Boldenone and Stanozolol. Baroni has appealed against the $2500 fine and faced a one year suspension. Ultimately, the fine was upheld although the suspension was reduced to six months.[3]
[edit] ICON Sport
Baroni faced Hawaii's Kala Hose on March 15, 2008 for the vacant ICON Sport Middleweight title. Former champion Robbie Lawler was stripped of the title due to his inability to defend it on numerous occasions.[1]. While Baroni came out strong during the first round of the fight, his stamina began to fade and Hose started to dominate the fight.[2] Hose ultimately defeated Baroni by TKO early in the fifth round to become the new ICON Sport middleweight champion.[2]
[edit] EliteXC
Baroni went up against Joey Villasenor in the first ever live network television broadcast of MMA on CBS. In the beginning of the fight Baroni looked really active and caught Villasenor's high kick which brought him down to the mat where Baroni threw a couple punches from guard. Baroni then let Villasenor stand up, Baroni then got tagged a couple times and was put into a guillotine choke. Villasenor then let go of the choke and started unloading unanswered punches that dazed Baroni prompting the referee to stop the fight at the 1:11 mark of the opening round. This was Baroni's third TKO loss in a row.
[edit] Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 20 matches | 10 wins | 10 losses |
| By knockout | 7 | 4 |
| By submission | 2 | 1 |
| By decision | 1 | 5 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Stupp, Dann (February 10, 2008). Robbie Lawler Stripped of ICON Sport Title; Baroni vs. Hose on Tap. MMA Junkie. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ a b Meinhardt, James (March 16, 2008). Hose Swamps Baroni to Capture ICON Belt. Sherdog.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
[edit] External links
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