Ring of Combat XLII

Ring of Combat returned to GFL.tv with "Ring of Combat XLII" from the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 4 titles were on the line as ROC continued to raise the stakes of regional MMA and provide the best matchups found anywhere on the East Coast and Tri-State area.

In the main event, Ronald Stallings Jr. (5-2) defeated former 7X UFC fighter Mike Massenzio (13-8) via TKO in round one due to a knee. With the victory, Stallings Jr. wins the vacant ROC Middleweight Championship. The bout resembled a kickboxing match in the beginning as both fighters traded leg kicks and kept their distance. Massenzio clinched up and landed some knees from the position. The fighters broke up the clinch work and went back to kickboxing with each fighter landing, including a nice head kick from Stallings Jr. Massenzio closed the distance from there and went for a single leg takedown getting Stallings Jr. to the mat put only for a second as he popped up and the two continued to grapple for position in the clinch. Massenzio had double underhooks when Stallings Jr. made a move to throw Massenzio away from him and as he turned, Massenzio dropped to the mat from a quick knee to the midsection and Stallings Jr. followed up with strikes to the midsection and face before the ref called a halt to the fight.

In the co-main event, current ROC Featherweight Champion, Deividas Taurosevicus (15-5) defended his title as he beat challenger Mike Santiago (8-6) via armbar in round two. The first round had both fighters landing strikes and Taurosevicus and Santiago both getting takedowns after a fast paced round. Santiago also showed great submission defense inside the cage as he escaped a couple submission attempts from the champ. In round two, it looked like Santiago might capture the belt as he dominated Taurosevicus on the ground with a nice judo throw and some strong ground and pound. But Taurosevicus was cool, calm and collected and once Santiago slowed down his attack, Taurosevicus slapped on an armbar from the bottom. The two fighters held their positions for a few seconds but then Taurosevicus flipped over Santiago on his back, extended the arm and got the tapout in spectacular fashion.

In another title fight, for the ROC Light Heavyweight belt, Anton Talamantes (5-2) defeated Ed Gordon (5-1) via unanimous decision to win the championship. Talamantes used his size and strength to nullify most of Gordon's attacks with several takedowns and stronger grappling throughout the bout as Talamantes had a very strong top game that kept Gordon down on the mat for a majority of the bout.

ROC Bantamweight Champion Jimmie Rivera (10-1) defeated Joel Roberts (8-4) via unanimous decision in yet another title fight. Rivera, a Bellator and TUF vet has faced a who's who of the East Coast's best and utilized his strong wrestling base to nullify Robert's attacks. Rivera and Roberts traded punches throughout the bout and both men still had a lot in the gas tank at the end of the fight. It was high energy and high speed and was one of the best bouts on the card. But it was Rivera's overall control throughout the bout that proved to be the deciding factor as he landed the better strikes and was stronger in the clinch for the first two rounds building a lead that Roberts could not overcome.

You won't find a more thrilling card then this one. Be sure to catch all of the action anytime you want on VOD as Ring of Combat presents "Ring of Combat XLII" exclusively on pay-per-view at GFL.tv.