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PHIL BARONI – the Fine Art of Brooklyn Brawling
© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa
LLC Phil ‘The New York Bad Ass’ Baroni took up fighting at an early age because he believed he would one day be a world champion. Learning martial arts as a form of self-defence never entered the equation for Baroni: He just loved to fight, and always believed he was ‘bad’ enough to go all the way to the top of the fight world. Born in Long Island, New York, April 16, 1976, Phil Baroni started his MMA career in kickboxing where he achieved a 7-0 record: all by knockout. Phil also holds an impressive boxing record of 10-0: again all by knockout. "I started kickboxing first, but I liked boxing better. I wrestled my whole life in college and combined the three arts together," says Baroni, who is renowned for practising his own blend of Brooklyn Brawling. Although Phil has a reputation for being able to knock out opponents with his crushing anvil fists, through his grappling skills Baroni became an All-American wrestler for two consecutive years, and won the North American Grappling Association submission-wrestling tournament.
Despite these impressive achievements, Phil Baroni managed to acquire a reputation in some circles for being unable to grapple. "I don’t understand how I got that reputation. I’ve beaten a lot of good guys in street grappling. You can ask Victor Rodriguez or Mark Layman or any of those guys. I haven’t shown it yet in my UFC fights, but I can grapple." Phil made his Octagon debut at UFC 30: The Battle on the Boardwalk, February 23, 2001, against Curtis Stout. "Yeah, that was basically my first real fight, fighting with punches on the ground. I was a last-minute replacement. In the old UFC, they usually tried to get hold of a hometown guy who’d get his ass kicked. And I was their hometown guy, but I kicked the dude’s ass. I didn’t get my ass kicked." At UFC 34: High Voltage, Baroni fought Matt Lindland in an action-packed bout that had fight fans on their feet for all three rounds. Eventually Lindland was awarded the bout by the judges. Due to popular demand, UFC organizers brought Baroni and Lindland together for a rematch at UFC 41: Onslaught. And the two popular fighters fulfilled Onslaught’s expectations with the fierce battle again lasting three ferocious rounds. As with their previous fight, this bout went the distance and was again awarded to Lindland by judges’ decision.
Between the Baroni/Lindland hell-fights, Phil dismantled Russia’s Amar Suloev at UFC 37: High Impact by TKO in round one, and KO’d Dave Menne in 18 seconds of round one at UFC 39: The Warriors Return.. Phil Baroni reentered the Octagon at UFC 45: Revolution, after a nine-month break from competition, due to his seriously tearing a pectoral muscle at training: an injury which required surgery. For Phil’s appearance at UFC 45 he was matched against Evan Tanner. The bout started at a ferocious pace (see UFC 45 www.knucklepit.com), with Baroni scoring a number of vicious punches that rattled Evan and showed Baroni had lost none of his strike power. Phil continued to dominate the fight, savaging Tanner, with a win by referee stoppage seeming inevitable. But rather than stop the fight, Larry Landless separated the fighters and had a thunderstruck Tanner checked by the ring doctor before allowing the fight to continue. When the battle resumed, a refreshed Evan Tanner was able to take Phil Baroni to the ground, where he administered some ground’n’pounding to Baroni. The ref asked Phil if he was okay, and in a combination of combat and confusion, Landless mistakenly thought Baroni wanted the fight to end. Although the bout was awarded to Evan Tanner, Phil and fight fans were not happy. Fortunately, on June 19, 2004, Baroni and Tanner will have the opportunity to settle the score at UFC 48: Pay Back. "The name of this UFC is Pay Back, and f**kin’ Evan Tanner’s going to find out that Pay Back is a real bitch," says Baroni.
Phil was not surprised that he was able to tag Tanner with some solid fists early in UFC 45. "I wasn’t surprised. That was the game plan and this time I’m going to finish him. You know, last time it was just business…. This time it’s personal. And I’m going to knock him out." In the past, Baroni has displayed his strong defence takedown abilities and he expects to be using these techniques against Tanner. "He’ll try to take it to the ground early. That’s all he can do: That’s all anyone can do. That’s going to be his game plan. I know he’s not going to be man enough to stand in the ring and trade with me. He’s afraid. He’s going to try and take it to the ground, but you know, I have some tricks myself, so…" Phil says the disappointing result at UFC 45 did not cause him to sit around and lament the decision, but fired him up to train more intensely for a rematch. "I just trained harder. I was working out in Japan for a month, and now I’m back in Las Vegas training. My fitness is better than ever. I got a little lazy in the last fight. I knew there was only a short time left and I was just going to hang out in my guard a little bit, and come out in the next round. And I paid for it. "I’m not going to be lazy anymore. I’m not going to lose one second of any fight ever again. I’m going to win every second of every fight." How does Phil Baroni train to build such debilitating punching power? "I just train like a typical boxer. I just train like they would. That’s the difference between a lot of the other fighters and me: I train for boxing against boxers, kickboxing against kickboxers, and I grapple with grapplers. A lot of guys kickbox against grapplers and that’s why they never improve. You’ve got to take your ass-kicking in the gym so you’re ready for competition. I’m not afraid of taking my ass-kickings.
"I’m coming back better than ever, man. I’m focused. I’m serious. My goal is to win the UFC Middleweight Championship, and that’s what I plan on doing. This year I’m taking everyone out. I’m going to fight a lot more often, and this year, I’m going to try to get into every UFC I can, and fight anyone." Phil’s prediction for Shamrock v Kimo "I’m friends with Ken and I’d like to see him take it. If he’s in shape, I think he’ll take the fight." For more on Phil Baroni and UFC 48: www.ufc.tv |
