(Not interested in being a celebrity. Nope. Not one bit.)

You might think Phil Baroni would be pretty pumped about being on the Elite XC card this weekend. It’s a pretty big deal, what with it airing live on CBS and all. But Baroni? He’s keeping it in perspective, or so it seems from his recent interview with MMANews.com:

I’m not that excited like some of these guys are because I never got into fighting to be a Rockstar. I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve been a pro for 8 years now. When I turned pro it was to fight and to be a professional fighter and to compete. There was no getting rich or being famous. You had the hardcore but it wasn’t about being on TV, hell, it wasn’t even about being on PPV when I started out. It’s cool that the sport is growing and that there are better opportunities and all but to me if I wanted to be on The Ultimate Fighter or a reality TV star than I would have went to drama club when I was in school and tried to be an actor or I would have taken more ground balls when I was in baseball and maybe played in the Major Leagues at third base or some shit.

Wait, back up a minute. You’re telling me Baroni wasn’t a member of his high school drama club? So he’s just a natural, then?

Also, it’s good to know that even pro fighters sometimes tell themselves that if only they’d taken a few more ground balls in high school baseball practice they’d be in the big leagues by now. I thought it was just me.

(The record shows he took the blows / and did it hiiiiiiiis waaaaaaaay. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

After suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Brad Tavares at UFC 125 — his second-consecutive loss since returning to the UFC in November 2009, and his third-straight loss overall — it appears that Phil Baroni‘s latest stint in the UFC has officially ended. Versus’s MMA Beat passed along confirmation of his release last night. The firing was no surprise to Baroni, who intends to stay very active in 2011 and work his way back to the big leagues.

The 34-year-old currently holds an MMA record of 13-13, with a 3-7 lifetime record in the UFC. Baroni hasn’t tasted victory in the Octagon since declaring himself "the man" after storming Dave Menne at UFC 39 in September 2002. Tough break for the NYBA, but maybe we’ll finally get to see that rubber match with Minowaman.

Semi-related: Matt Brown, who has lost his last three fights in the UFC, all by second-round submission, is reportedly getting another shot against British welterweight Mark Scanlon (7-1, 0-1 UFC) at UFC on Versus 3 in March. Go figure.

(Don’t miss next week’s episode of ‘My Baroni,’ when Phil accidentally makes a date with two different ring girls on the same night!)

You may have been so excited about Tito Ortiz bringing his one-man Schadenfreude act back to the UFC that you forgot all about it, but another Octagon veteran returns at UFC 106, and it’s the NYBA himself, Phil Baroni.  When last we saw Baroni he was fending off allegations that he was pharmaceutically-enhanced before losing a one-sided decision to Joe Riggs in Strikeforce.  Now he’s one of the rare fighters to get another shot in the UFC immediately after a loss, and he takes on Amir Sadollah this Saturday night in a contest between two guys in desperate need of a win. 

So go on, Phil.  Tell us all about how bad you’re going to beat this mamaluke, or maybe something about how you’ve been avoiding having sex with your wife lately.  Come on and dazzle us.  It’s been too long and we can hardly wait to hear your new material:

“Look, I’ve said it all already,” Baroni said. “The trash talking is starting to sound like a broken record, even to me. Nothing that I say is going to affect the outcome of the fight. Nothing he says is going to affect the outcome of the fight. There is no need to hype it up because he is a big name among the fans after winning the reality show. I’m coming to reestablish myself in the UFC at his expense, and I’m sure he is coming to do the exact same thing at my expense, since he lost his last bout. …I’m done with all that, at least for now.  I’m not focused on that stuff. I’m focused on my training. I’ve got a tremendous opportunity in front of me, and I’m doing everything that I can to properly prepare so that I can take full advantage of it.”

Phil, it’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore.

(Bros. Fo. Life)

It’s no secret that times have been hard for the NYBA of late.  Phil Baroni hasn’t beaten anyone who is currently sporting a winning record since he knocked out Yuki Kondo in Pride: Bushido back in 2006.  He dropped three straight fights to the trio of Frank Shamrock, Kala Hose, and Joey Villasenor.  Then, after making the drop in weight that was supposed to help propel him to the top at long last, he got tooled by Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.

But that’s all in the past, which, as we’ve been told, is a canceled check.  Now Baroni is talking comeback (again), and for some reason he seems surprised that he didn’t get the chance to challenge Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce welterweight title once Joe Riggs pulled out:

If I would have won the fight (with Riggs), [Diaz and I] would have been fighting each other," Baroni said. "The fight was a decision. I thought I was the No. 1 guy that would definitely be able to fill in.

(Still the best eva. Props: Genghis Con)

From a recent NerdSociety.com interview with the New York Bad Ass:

Hear that, nerds? Be more like this guy. You can read the rest of this illuminating interview here. Baroni takes on Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields on June 6th.

(Does Phil Baroni even have control over what comes out of his mouth?)

Following UFC 86 Sherdog ran a story featuring comments from notable MMA fighters regarding their thoughts on the Forrest Griffin-Quinton Jackson decision. It was a pretty standard reaction piece, with the most interesting comment coming from Mac Danzig, who seemed to disparage Rampage’s overall persona.

But then Fightlinker pointed out that Phil Baroni, who had been quoted calling the decision “some bullshit”, was claiming that he never actually gave a quote to Sherdog:

First off I never gave my opinion on the fight being scored wrong to anyone esp a reporter from Sherdog. I never spoke to any media about my opinion the fight. I think its bullshit that Sherdog quoted me. First off I think the fight was a great one. Second I feel the decision was a fair one. I think Forrest is an inspiration and fought his heart out. His career is an inspiration and story book. He did a great job fought like a true champion against Rampage and his entire career. He deserves to be UFC champion and I take my hat off to him.

Now, if that were any other fighter, this claim would be pretty shocking. It’s not like Sherdog to just make up quotes. But since it’s Baroni, there is always the possibility that he a) is just screwing with them, or b) has no idea whether he did or didn’t give that quote.

Steve Cofield has information that seems to indicate it’s the latter.

(Image courtesy of ItalianSweatshop.com. If you decide to click that link, be advised that the "music off" button is in the upper-left corner.) 

After dropping his UFC return fight to Amir Sadollah at UFC 106, Phil Baroni (13-12, 3-6 UFC) was slated to come back as a middleweight against John Salter at UFC 118 — but a training injury changed his plans. According to MMA Junkie, Baroni has been re-scheduled to appear at UFC 125 on January 1st against TUF 11 semifinalist Brad Tavares (5-0, 1-0 UFC).

Tavares, who was eliminated on the show by eventual winner Court McGee, returned at the TUF 11 finale and scored a decision win against Seth Baczynski. Now he has a chance to make his name off a struggling veteran, while Baroni can keep his career alive by whipping the 22-year-old Hawaiian. The New York Bad Ass hasn’t tasted victory since outpointing Olaf Alfonso at a Palace Fighting Championship event in September 2008, and it’s a pretty safe bet that if Baroni loses to a barely-established upstart like Tavares, it’ll be the end of his current stint with the UFC. Can Baroni stage another career comeback, or will he catch one of these?

(Mr. and Mrs. New York Bad Ass)

Congratulations, you crazy kids. I hope she knows what she’s getting herself into. Check out the full wedding photo gallery at Combat Lifestyle. You can even play the classic game: Where’s War Machine? It’s the game where, when you win, you immediately wish you’d never played.

(Props: ix3623vault)

At this point, emotional post-fight breakdowns are the norm for Phil Baroni. (Remember this old classic?) Since each loss seems like it could represent the end of the road for the veteran slugger, we understand why he takes them so hard. But as the above clip demonstrates, Baroni has always had a difficult time coping with losses, even the ones that came before he really had a professional career.

Prior to making his MMA debut in 2000, Phil Baroni was a standout on the Toughman amateur boxing circuit. Though he won most of his fights, he lost a decision to a dude named Sam Rodriguez (date of fight unknown), and reacted by storming out of the ring and beating up every inanimate object in sight, including a defenseless fire hose door. His longtime training partner Mark Coleman would later pay tribute to the incident in the acclaimed short film "FUUUUUUUUCK!"

And now that we have this bit of footage, we’re only missing one thing: A clip of Baroni throwing a tantrum after a loss at one of his old bodybuilding competitions. Make it happen, Internet.

(‘Best eva!’ just doesn’t have the same ring of authority when you say it through a bunch of gauze.)

Dana White posted this picture of a battered Phil Baroni to his Twitter account today, remarking "Phil baroni sent me this today and said ‘welcome back to the ufc’ phil is tough as nails!"  True, but he might also be a tough-as-nails fighter who’s worried about losing his job, hence the subtle reminder that he endured this beatdown for the UFC’s benefit, while only pocketing $25,000 for his trouble. 

If you needed a reminder that fighting other people in a cage was a tough way to make a living, this ought to do it.  Baroni has been in the sport for nearly a decade, and, after taxes, training costs, and management, he comes away with not even enough money to buy a new Toyota Camry.  That’s ironic considering that he now looks like someone who’s been in a pretty bad car accident.  Let’s hope his sponsors came through for him.  Let’s also hope that he’s been putting some of that money away for his retirement, which might be right around the corner.

On the suggestion of reader “rheindog,” here’s Phil Baroni’s 18-second destruction of Dave Menne at UFC 39 (9/27/02). Baroni’s jackhammer-beatdown is memorable enough, but what makes this one classic is his Super-Guido celebration at the end: “I’m the best eva! I’m the man! I’m the man! I’m the man!” Unfortunately, he wasn’t — Baroni’s next four fights would result in losses at the hands of Matt Lindland, Evan Tanner (twice), and Pete Sell.

(“…so you see, my client couldn’t have *possibly* committed these murders.” Hey that’s two OJ jokes in the same day! Good times! / Lots more photos and videos from the Titan weigh-ins at BJJinMMA.com)

Seven months after his unexpected loss to Chad Griggs at Strikeforce: Houston, WWE-star-turned-MMA-fighter Bobby Lashley will return to action tonight in the main event of Titan Fighting Championships 17 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. Though Lashley was originally supposed to face off against James Jack, Jack mysteriously went M.I.A. and has been replaced with an equally-obscure fighter named John Ott, an 8-7 journeyman who has primarily competed at middleweight and light-heavyweight. Yesterday, Ott weighed in at 215.4 pounds for the heavyweight contest, against Lashley’s 252.4. It is what it is.

Also on the card, Phil Baroni will look to break a three-fight losing streak against the comparatively unseasoned Nick Nolte, while Abe “Sylvia Killer” Wagner clashes with Strikeforce/Bellator vet Aaron Rosa. The event will be broadcast tonight on HDNet starting at 10 p.m., following “The Voice vs. Wanderlei Silva” at 8 p.m. and Inside MMA at 9. Here’s the Titan FC 17 televised lineup, according to their Facebook page:

(Phil Baroni: Here for the orgy. / Props: sports.sho.com)

MMA Junkie confirmed yesterday that veteran slugger Phil Baroni will be competing at UFC 118, August 28th in Boston. No opponent has been named yet, but as the New York Bad Ass told BJPenn.com, his next fight will see him return to middleweight. After compiling a journeyman’s record of 10-10 over the first eight years of his career, Baroni dropped to 170 pounds in 2008 and won his first three fights against Scott Jansen, Ron Verdadero, and Olaf Alfonso. Those wins were followed by unanimous decision losses to Joe Riggs in Strikeforce and Amir Sadollah in Baroni’s Octagon return at UFC 106. Once again, it’s time to regroup:

"I’m going to go back up to 185 for this fight…The cut [to welterweight] was rough; I think I made the cut wrong the last couple times I made the weight (to 170). I lost some strength and I lost some of my speed and explosiveness and I think those are some of my strengths. So I think that in the future if I made the cut again I would do it slower and go about it a different way. But right now I’m more focused on getting my strength and power back and getting my explosiveness back and in order to do that I’m going to have to gain weight. So it’s going to be a cut right now to 185. I wouldn’t be able to make 170 right now and be able to perform at a higher level. But at 185 I think I’ll be able to get my strength and explosiveness back and be able to perform at a higher level. In the future I’m not ruling out 170 but right now I’m going to fight at 185. I’m not sure where the best weight class is for me and I’m not sure where I will be best at but right now it’s not 170, 185 is the place. 179 would probably be the best weight class for me, but I don’t have that luxury."

So who can the UFC give Phil at 185 who will contribute to a good brawl, and who’s also hanging on to his job by his fingernails? Start getting in shape, Tom Lawlor…

“Interview of the Day” honors go to Ariel Helwani at MMARated for drawing out the personality of notoriously introverted wallflower Phil Baroni. Some highlights from their chat:

Ariel Helwani: How did it feel to get back in the ring after a long layoff?
Phil Baroni: I felt like shit after about four minutes. I was out of shape (and) I didn’t train for seven months. (It’s) nobody’s fault but my own. Oh well, I made a mistake. Fuck it, I’ll take it out on Ninja. Poor Ninja.

Were you happy with your performance against Hose?
What the fuck do you think? Was I happy with my performance against Hose? What are you retarded?

Who would you like to fight after the Rua fight?
Man, I already told you, I’ll fight anybody. Anderson Silva because he is considered the man and that’s what I want to be.

Any interest in fighting Shamrock again?
Fuck yeah man. That fight is my dream rematch. That’s the fight I want to get back more than any.

You’ve trained with Kimbo Slice before, what are your thoughts on him?
He is a big, black, tough motherfucker. Could it be anymore obvious?

Any final words?
Go fuck yourselves. No I’m just kidding. I just want to thank everyone for their support. I’ve grown a lot over the years as a fighter and a person (and) my best years are yet to come. I’m still in this to be a world champion. I have a lot of fight left in me. Check me out on CBS May 31st when I will eat Ninja sushi for dinner.

Check out the rest of the article for more gems from the New York Bad Ass about his upcoming fight with Murilo Rua at CBS’s Saturday Night Fights show, steroids, injuries, and Frank Shamrock. To summarize, Baroni thinks Rua is a much tougher opponent than Hose, but it’s cool because conditioning makes champions. And clearly Baroni is going to be a cardio machine ten weeks after gassing in the first round against Hose. I mean, he’s going to make Lance Armstrong look like an overweight one-lunged asthmatic on a chain-smoking jag in Denver…

According to InsideFights.com, Phil Baroni will make his return to the UFC at UFC 106 (November 21st, Las Vegas) against cursed TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah. It will be Baroni’s first Octagon appearance since his submission loss to Pete Sell at UFC 51. After leaving the UFC in 2005, Baroni competed in PRIDE, Icon Sport, and Strikeforce, among other promotions, going 5-5 as a middleweight, then 3-1 as a welterweight. He most recently dropped a decision to Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.

Amir Sadollah’s MMA career hasn’t quite lived up to the promise of his storybook run on TUF 7, where he scored stoppage victories over Steve Byrnes, Gerald Harris, Matt Brown, and CB Dollaway (twice), despite coming into the show with a 0-0 professional record. After two separate injuries suffered in training, Sadollah finally made his return to the cage at UFC 101, 14 months after the TUF 7 finale, came in way underweight, and was TKO’d by Johny Hendricks in 29 seconds. Needless to say, both guys have a lot to prove, and the loser of their match will have to decide if he really wants to continue in a profession that’s treated him with so much cruelty. No word yet on whether this match will be on UFC 106′s televised card. Any early predictions?

Phil Baroni Sits down with Cagepotato.com – Watch more Funny Videos

With his fight against Brad Tavares booked for 1/1/11, Phil Baroni has two options in front of him — victory, or possible banishment from the UFC. Our friend Ruben Vera tracked down the New York Bad Ass at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, and grilled him on everything from his brawl-based gameplans to his cardio problems to his fondest MMA memories. Honestly, it’s one of the most revealing interviews with Baroni that we’ve ever seen. Some highlights…

On his gameplan for Tavares: "You know me. I’ve been doing this for ten years, there’s no surprises. I’m gonna do what I do best."

On his conditioning struggles: "It’s genetic, dude. I’ve been training cardio for the last ten years, hard. It’s genetic. You got a guy like Cain Velasquez who just don’t get tired. He can just train all day. Even a guy like Koscheck…I don’t think there’s anything I’m not doing that other guys are doing. I have a lot better punching power than those guys. And I think I’m faster, I have more fast-twitch. I know I can beat them both in a race. But in a longer duration, those guys can keep going, and that’s one of the things that separates us…It seems like a lot of the Mexican guys have real good cardio, throughout history and in the UFC. Diego Sanchez has great cardio, Cain Velasquez, a ton of guys. I don’t know what it is, man, but I do the best with what I got."

(Baroni was kind enough to take a break from filming the new "Miami Vice" movie in order to drop by the Strikeforce press conference.)

MMA needs characters just as much as it needs the stoic types who just bore everyone by doing nothing but winning fights and keeping their mouth shut.  But God bless Phil Baroni, who will make sure there is never a dull moment when he shows up to your party.  Looking over the quotes from yesterday’s Strikeforce presser it’s enough to make you wonder whether they didn’t open with a standup routine from Baroni.  Just check out some of the gems he dropped on the mic in St. Louis yesterday.

On fighting styles and management choices:

"I asked my agent – I said ‘hey get me a southpaw to fight.’  My agent’s pretty stupid.  He said ‘What’s that?  He didn’t know what a southpaw was.  So, I said "It’s a (expletive) left-handed fighter.  I’m real good at fighting lefties.  Lefties are made to order for me.  They eat straight right hands and I’ve got a pretty (expletive) big one.  I’m going to put it right on his kisser."

(Sorry, guys.)

As great as the ratings were for CBS/EliteXC’s first “Saturday Night Fights” broadcast in May, it was one the most criticized MMA events in the sport’s history. Both hardcore MMA fans and first-time viewers had bones to pick with everything from the choice of main event fighters, to the unsatisfying stoppages, to the slow pacing (which helped carry the bloated affair nearly an hour past its scheduled runtime), to the regrettable music-video vibe provided by the dancing girls and pyrotechnics. Without the mainstream draws of Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano on the card, CBS knows that they have to cater to the discerning MMA fan with “Unfinished Business,” which kicks off this Saturday at 9 p.m. ET/PT. As CBS senior executive vice president Kelly Kahl tells Yahoo! Sports’s Kevin Iole:

“To be perfectly honest, I think there was more of a wrestling element to that [first] show and I didn’t like it. I’d much rather present them as great athletes and warriors, which they are, but it got a bit clownish and that didn’t do us any favors.”

For tomorrow night’s event, Iole reports that all those cheesy elements (“such as when Phil Baroni ambled slowly to the cage and had women disrobe him”) will be 86′d. Also, cutting out downtime will be a top priority. Whereas “Primetime” featured just two minutes and 12 seconds of fighting in the first 71 minutes of the show, Kahl said that “Unfinished Business” is going to be “commercial, fight, commercial, fight.”

Still, even with the planned changes, CBS and EliteXC are aware that matching the ratings of their blockbuster debut — which peaked at 6.51 million viewers during the Kimbo Slice/James Thompson fight — is far from likely. Said ProElite executive chairman Doug DeLuca:

“We certainly are managing all of our expectations. It is summer. And we did have a number of good PR items going for us on the first event. It was the first event on primetime network television. That alone drummed up a huge amount of press for the event and a lot of people were interested in seeing (it). But, look, I’m confident in our fight card. I’m confident in mixed martial arts and I’m confident at what we can do at EliteXC in terms of producing events…We understand the numbers might not be as big as the first time, but (still) we’re all expecting to do some good numbers.”

Sure, we’re all still recovering from the MMA onslaught of last weekend, but the second chapter of the great MMA-on-network-television experiment should be a must-see for fans. Will you be watching?

(Props: MMA Junkie)

(If it weren’t for Lou Ferrigno, Phil would’ve never had to deal with this MMA drug testing bullshit.) 

Phil Baroni has never been afraid to speak his mind. Whether he’s dishing on pre-fight abstinence, the fragility of his own mind, or childhood obesity, “The New York Bad Ass” never pulls any punches, and in fact it’s one of the many reasons we love the guy. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that, during a recent interview with Fight Sport Asia, Baroni not only came out as a proponent of steroid use in MMA, but more or less admitted that most of his PRIDE cohorts were probably juiced during the Japanese promotion’s heyday. Here’s what he told the publication:

I want to see the best fighters, I want to see who is the strongest the best! Guys should be able to do whatever it takes to be the strongest. Getting choked and kicked in the head is really bad for you, worse than pot , TRT, or steroids. I don’t care who’s the cleanest, I wanna’ see the strongest, the fastest and the most gnarly fighters. I don’t want to see who is the best at passing drug test. Overeem isn’t the only guy taking shit, he just got caught. I wanna’ see the baddest mother fuckers going at it. That’s why PRIDE was the best — I wanna see a 205 (ripped) Wanderlei Silva kill dudes!

Most of you will not likely find this revelation to be all that surprising considering, you know, the above photo of Baroni. It does, however, seem a little inconsistent of Baroni to be advocating a substance that he has vehemently denied using in the past, despite testing positive for Boldenone and Stanozolol Metabolites in the aftermath of his second round submission loss to Frank Shamrock back in 2007. Unfortunately for guys like Baroni and Alistair Overeem, the various athletic commissions regulating the sport don’t seem to agree, as Baroni was suspended for six months for his infraction. And we all know what fate Alistair was sentenced to.

*Disclaimer: If you are at all squeamish or faint at the sight of blood, don’t click the video below.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Drfrankstile)

Besides hindering your breathing and making you look like a stereotypical MMA fighter, having your nose broken several times also makes it way more likely that the injury will reoccur. With this in mind, Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni headed to the plastic surgeon responsible for belt-sanding down the sharp brow bones of Marcus Davis and Nick Diaz to see about getting his problematic proboscis taken care of.

Vampires: Old and Busted.
Werewolves: New Hotness?

According to ScreenJunkies, music video director Sxv’leithan Essex [sic] is teaming up with the producer of Rise of the Silver Surfer to bring us Growl, a story about an underground MMA fight club hunted by a family of werewolves. It’s like Fighting meets The Lost Boys meets My God This Movie Is Going to Be Terrible. Here’s the synopsis, via ShockTillYouDrop:

Well sure, Mr. Lost Boy himself being a part of the production is cool and all, but does anyone else notice that the shadowy figure in the poster image on the right bears a striking resemblance to the New York Badass? We’ll let you know if Baroni can take a break from training for Amir Sadollah and beating up nerds long enough to confirm our suspicions.

(Phil Baroni and Kala Kolohe Hose.)

Yesterday, we reported that middleweight free-agent Phil Baroni had signed a multi-year contract with EliteXC after weighing offers from six different organizations. It now looks like an immediate title-shot could have been a major factor in Baroni’s decision. ICON Sport — the prestigious Hawaii-based MMA organization owned by Pro Elite — announced that it has stripped Robbie Lawler of his middleweight championship belt because of his ongoing inability to defend his title due to injuries, and the vacant title will be on the line in a March 15th fight between Phil Baroni and top ICON contender Kala Kolohe Hose.

Baroni’s last fight was a submission loss to Frank Shamrock at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni in June of last year. He’s a veteran of both the UFC and PRIDE, and holds notable wins over Amar Suloev, Ryo Chonan, and Yuki Kondo. Hose (5-1) has won his last four fights by first-round KO/TKO, and defeated Frederic Belleton at last month’s ShoXC Elite Challenger Series. He was originally scheduled to face Lawler for the ICON title in December, but Lawler was forced to pull out, leading to the entire event being canceled.

In an article on TheFightNetwork, Lawler was quoted as saying, “I’m disappointed and upset, but I understand why this happening. In 2007, I did well when I was healthy. I accept the decision, but I promise everyone that I will return. And I will get my belt back.” On his next opponent, Baroni said: “Kala is like a younger version of me. I like him. It’s too bad Lawler was afraid to fight him, but I’m not. I’ve been fighting top guys my entire career, and I’m going to show the Hawaiian fans what a real middleweight champ looks like.”

In this talk with Fox News’s "Fight Game" it’s difficult to tell whether Phil Baroni is drunk or just on the downward slope of a career spent getting punched in the head.  It’s like that time you did a terrible karaoke rendition of "Little Red Corvette" before throwing up all over your girlfriend’s shoes.  There’s only one acceptable explanation, and it’s ‘I was drunk.’  Let’s hope the seven-dollar beers at the Mandalay Bay were to blame for how this interview turned out, and not ten years worth of abuse in the cage.   

The catalyst for this particular discussion is the UFC 109 victory by fellow New Yorker Matt Serra over one of Baroni’s Xtreme Couture training partners, Frank Trigg.  Apparently, gym loyalties are nothing compared to regional ones.  Plus, Serra goes into the Starbucks where Baroni’s mom works and gives her good tips, while all Trigg has ever done is make an awkward pass at her at Baroni’s wedding.  Yet another situation where ‘I was drunk’ is the only explanation that will suffice.   

After the jump, Eddie Bravo discusses his path to jiu-jitsu, and subtly overstates his own importance.

(Remember, bend at the *knees* when you’re beating the crap out of Keith Jardine.)

Bad news for Team Brazil at UFC 117: Due to a back injury suffered in training, Thiago Silva has been forced to withdraw from his preliminary card matchup with Tim Boetsch. Silva had previously injured his back while preparing for his UFC 108 main event against Rashad Evans. After losing that fight by decision, the American Top Team light-heavyweight began a physical therapy program, but apparently it wasn’t enough to protect him from re-injury; no word yet on how long he could be sidelined. Stepping in to face Boetsch on 11 days notice is UFC newcomer Todd "Bulldog" Brown, who has compiled an 11-1 record in midwestern promotions. Boetsch is returning to the UFC after being cut last March, then winning three consecutive fights in smaller promotions.

Speaking of luckless s.o.b.’s, Phil Baroni is out of his UFC 118 fight with John Salter due to a collarbone injury. The fight was to mark Baroni’s return to middleweight after dropping two straight at welterweight, including a decision against Amir Sadollah at UFC 106. Baroni, who tends to get emotional on his Twitter account even in the best of times, had this to say: "I cant take it anymore. Im freaking out. anxiety im shot. beaten." Stay strong, NYBA…

(Kickin’ asses, breakin’ hearts, and stealin’ robes from Courtyard Marriotts. Props: sports.sho.com)

Strikeforce distributed a press release yesterday evening announcing that Phil Baroni had been released by the organization, citing Baroni’s "one-sided defeat" at the hands of Joe Riggs in June, and the fact that he’s lost four of his last seven fights. (Kind of harsh, since he’s also won three of his last four.) Said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker: "We wish Phil the best of luck and hope he can revive his career. If he can, maybe one day, he can return and fight for us." The news was surprising for a couple reasons. First, have you ever heard of Strikeforce releasing a big name due to poor performance? It’s not like their welterweight division is so deep that they can be picky, and Baroni is a draw whether he wins or loses. Also, the vaguely negative tone of the press release seemed out of character for Strikeforce. Did something else happen behind the scenes?

The answer: Yeah, maybe. Immediately after the press release hit our inboxes, it was reported that Baroni had verbally agreed to a new contract with the UFC. The New York Badass compiled a 3-5 record in the UFC as a middleweight from 2001-2005, and was released after taking four consecutive losses. During his recent stint as a welterweight, Baroni has yet to defeat a fighter who currently holds a winning record, which seems to imply that the UFC’s offer to Baroni had more to do with sticking a thumb in Strikeforce’s eye than acquiring a promising 170-pounder. It also gives more credence to yesterday’s wild speculation about an upcoming season of TUF featuring old guys. Call us crazy now, but you’ll see.

(Baroni training at Xtreme Couture, looking ripped.)

Joe Riggs was expecting a fight with Jake Shields in Strikeforce this summer and didn’t take kindly to the news that he would be getting Phil Baroni instead, but talking with Riggs this afternoon he said his focus is now fully on Baroni, who he is expecting to be “pharmaceutically enhanced” when they meet in the Strikeforce cage on June 6.  While the “Diesel” stopped short of saying that Baroni was definitely on the juice, he did say that Baroni exhibits all the typical signs of a steroid user, from his physique to his performance on fight night.

“He always shows up in shape, looking shredded and puffed up, but I think he’ll be pharmaceutically enhanced, too.  Just because he doesn’t test positive for steroids doesn’t mean he’s not on them right now.”

("Come on Josh, don’t be pissed at me. I said you’re ‘HALF A DICK,’ not a full on dick.")

Veteran UFC welterweight Phil Baroni stopped by The Bum Rush Radio Show this week and while he was here he gave his thoughts on this weekend’s heavily-anticipated welterweight title bout between his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Josh Koscheck and dominant champion Georges St-Pierre.

Baroni took issue with Ben’s assessment that St-Pierre will be able to take Koscheck down at will en-route to a late submission victory.

"I disagree — not just because we’re friends. Koscheck’s the better wrestler. It’s not gonna come down to striking at all. I don’t think Koscheck needs to land a big shot to win the fight. Koscheck’s a better wrestler. He has a much better pedigree. GSP has a double-leg tackle — that’s about it," Baroni explained. "He’s more of a jiu-jitsu guy and I don’t see him getting on top. Koscheck’s gonna have to control where the fight goes and beat him in a wrestling match. If he does that, he’s gonna win the fight. GSP is mentally weak. He’s a great athlete, he’s got a huge gas tank, he’s strong, he’s fast, but between his ears, there’s a little bit of softness. I think if comes down to a gut-check, Koscheck will take care of him."

(Those are the Chinese characters for "best" and "eva." Photo courtesy of Strikeforce.)

The idea of a spiritually grounded Phil Baroni kind of freaks us out, to be honest. But the NYBA you knew as a young, brash, self-destructive middleweight is gone, and in his place is an older, wiser, fired-up welterweight who won’t quit until he’s a world champion. With his fight against Joe Riggs scheduled for the main card of Saturday’s Strikeforce show, we called Phil yesterday to chat about sex, steroids, destiny, being reborn at 170, and what he really wants to be remembered for…

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CAGEPOTATO.COM: So I’ve been watching some of your recent interviews — do you really believe that not having sex helps your athletic performance? I thought that was just some bullshit myth.
PHIL BARONI: Yeah, I believe it. I know it to be a fact, man, especially when it comes to taking punches. You take punches better when you abstain from, ah…punching your own loads out.

How do you explain the science behind that?
Aw man, I’m not a scientist. It makes you fuckin’ mean, I’ll tell you that much. I’m lean and mean right now. It fuckin’ works. You don’t think so, then don’t do it — you’re not a fighter anyway, so who cares?

Don’t you think your wife’s needs should come before your job?

As promised yesterday, here is the full interview with Joe Riggs, who opens up about his past painkiller addiction, his ongoing attempts to get Jake Shields into the cage with him, and of course, the possibly “pharmaceutically enhanced” Phil Baroni who he’ll meet in Strikeforce on Showtime this Saturday night.

Cage Potato: Thanks for talking with me, Joe.  You’re fighting Phil Baroni this weekend, but I think we all know that’s not the fight you wanted.  You were pretty adamant about trying to get a fight with Jake Shields.

Riggs: Yeah, that was a fight that I’ve been trying to get for a couple years now and he’s managed to squeak his way out of it every time we were supposed to fight.  This time contracts were signed and everything was ready to go and he just wormed his way out of it.  He’s the type of guy who just wants to fight the fights where the match-ups are stylistically in his favor.  I think he also wants fights, like this one [against Robbie Lawler] where if things don’t go his way he has excuses.

(Forget money and fame – Phil was fighting back when the prize was a weird trophy and a semi-attractive Japanese chick. / Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

When we learned that the match between UFC veteran Phil Baroni and 23-year-old prospect Brad Tavares would indeed be aired before the UFC 125 pay-per-view broadcast this Saturday, it reminded me of our last chat with the New York Bad Ass on episode 11.1 of the Bum Rush Radio Show. Baroni has reached that point in his career where youngsters are trying to make their names off of him, and he has to beat them if he wants his own name to retain its value. I asked Phil if he felt like the last in a bygone generation of fighters, considering that so many of his rivals are no longer competing. And I thought his response was worth sharing again…