Phil “New York Bad Ass” Baroni vs. Joe “Diesel” Riggs
The second bout of the evening is a welterweight showdown with a little bit olf old school flavor, as “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni looks to reassert himself against Joe “Diesel” Riggs. Both are former UFC standouts who have seen their stock fall over recent years, so a victory in this fight is extremely important to both men.
Phil Baroni is probably best remembered for his complete shellacking of Dave Menne to capture the UFC title, or for his frenetic, self-aggrandizing post-fight interviews. An extremely powerful guy with an absurd physique, lots of knockout power, and dangerous wrestling, Baroni has all the tools necessary to succeed in Mixed Martial Arts. Unfortunately, his stellar potential has gone largely unfulfilled. A combination of factors, including poor training, steroid use, and non-existant cardio have combined to anchor Baroni firmly to mediocrity. He’s still dangerous and explosive, though, and anyone who looks at Baroni as an easy win is likely to wind up napping.
His opponent, Joe “Diesel” Riggs, is an equally dangerous fighter who has seen action in every division from welterweight to heavyweight. A solid striker with a very underrated ground game, Riggs has been hampered by injuries recently, most notably a recurring back injury that has caused him a lot of problems. In the standup game, Riggs is probably slightly outmatched by Baroni, who has nearly unmatched power and explosiveness. On the ground, however, Riggs has more than enough tools to exploit Baroni’s notoriously horrible submission defense. Ultimately, I think Riggs’ back is going to be the deciding factor in this one. Baroni’s takedown defense is very solid, and an injured Riggs is going to have a lot of trouble getting this fight in his realm.
Unable to take Baroni down, Riggs will join the likes of Dave Menne on Baroni’s KO highlight reel early in the second.
