· Ring Of Combat Returns To Atlantic City February 10

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 01/28 at 02:49 PM

Two titles are up for grabs at the next Ring of Combat event which takes place on February 10, 2012 from the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. Tom DeBlass will be putting his light heavyweight title on the line against the hard hitting Carlos Brooks, while Deividas Taurosevicus will be bringing his featherweight belt into the cage to face "The Ultimate Fighter" alum, Jeff Lentz.

The featherweight title fight brings together two tough fighters who are closely matched. The champion, Taurosevicus, has a record of 14 wins with five losses. Of those victories 10 have come from a variety of submissions. This is where he might hold the advantage against Jeff Lentz (8-2-1) in the fight. Jeff Lentz, to his credit, is no slouch on the ground but might be over matched against the tough fighter from Lithuania. Where Lentz seems to hold the advantage is on the feet. Of his eight victories, four are by TKO/KO and one by submission due to strikes.

In the light heavyweight title bout, DeBlass (6-0) will be bringing his world class BJJ along with his solid striking and one-punch knockout power. His opponent, Brooks (3-1), will be bringing his kickboxing pedigree into the cage. The question is, does he hold the advantage on the feet? Tom DeBlass has showed improved striking with every fight as well as absolute belief in himself. In a recent interview we conducted with him we asked him where he believes he holds the advantage in the fight. With unshakable confidence he simply replied, “everywhere.”

It remains to be seen if DeBlass will try to use his striking to get close and take the fight to the ground where he will hold a distinct advantage, or if he will stay in the striking world where the kickboxer, Brooks, should hold the edge.

There are several fighters to look out for in this event. UFC veteran Pete Sell is looking to get back into the winning column after suffering a knockout his last time in the cage. A fighters who seem to be on the brink of a call up to a bigger show is Uriah Hall. Hall, who comes in with a 5-2 record, has won four out of his five fights by TKO and the other due to submission. He definitely knows how to finish a fight once he has a fighter on the ropes. The first of his two professional losses came from UFC contender Chris Weidman, so he has been in the arena against stiff competition.

A young fighter worth keeping your eyes on is Frankie Perez. With a 7-2 Amateur record before making his pro debut last June, he comes in with a wealth of experience. In his two pro fights he made quick work of his opponents winning both fights by submission in a total of three minutes and 33 seconds of cage time. With an impressive ground game, along with training partners likes of UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar, there is no telling how far this fighter can rise.

On February 10, Ring of Combat XXXIX presents the fans with another potentially great show. With ROC’s tradition of having stars go through their ranks, at the end of the night the question will be who is the next rising star? With a total of 15 fights on the card, it should be great night of fights. ROC's talented roster is filled with fighters who all come out to put on a good show, and this will be another one of those events as two champions prevail, and two pretenders fall short of the crown.