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It’s fight week for 20 fighters who are scheduled to enter the cage in Atlantic City on Friday evening, December 5th at the Tropicana for Ring of Combat 88.
Louis Neglia Jr, a NJ MMA Hall of Famer and pioneer of the sport, will conclude his 2025 season as he and his team host Ring of Combat 88: Ramirez vs Varricchio. Neglia has been as consistent as anyone in the fight promotion business and has continually provided a great forum for MMA fighters to display their skills and chase their dreams of getting to the UFC. ROC 88 very likely has some guys who will make it there.
Main Event: 155 lb ROC Championship (vacant) John Ramirez vs Robert Varricchio
John “The Honduras Assassin” Ramirez (8-9) may not have the flashiest record, but he is a wealth of experience and has been in the cage with nothing but top competition. The 29-year-old fights out of Waterloo Iowa. In his career, he’s faced 6 undefeated fighters, including giving former ROC champion and The Contender Series veteran, Dylan “the Quiet Man” Mantello his first career loss. 5 of his 8 wins are by submission. Standing across from him will be “Ruthless” Robert Varricchio (7-1). Varricchio is another one of the deep talent pool at Tiger Schulmann MMA, who have 8 fighters on this card. Schulmann is rolling like a river right now as their roster is among the deepest anywhere. Both amateur and professionals are keeping him busy working corners and I’m sure he’s very pleased about it.
MyMMANews reached out to Robert Varricchio to get a little background and a feel for his title fight. Ruthless says…
“I’ve been with Tiger Schulmann’s since I was 7 years old. This is what I grew up doing and I’m just so grateful for the coaches and training partners, many who are on this card. I spend a lot of time with Julio Arce, who is just an amazing coach and person. Shane Burgos is also another partner who helps me get better every day. As fa as my opponent…he’s been in there 17 times. He’s seen it all and has not taken any easy fights. I watched them all. John is a well-rounded fighter and a savage.”
We also spoke with Tom “Beethoven” DiGennaro who will be making his return after a very impressive pro debut victory at ROC 87. DiGennaro is an elite wrestler and the rest of his game works well from that base. The 155 lb blue chip prospect is in good hands as his mentor and head coach is Matt Serra. Tom tells me…
“I owe so much to the Serra family. Matt and his wife have allowed me to work and be in the gym full time. It’s a huge difference from working in a trade like construction where you have to pick your battles with things like cardio, sparring and other aspects of training. I can attack my cardio multiple ways as well as my strength and conditioning. It’s really been a game changer to be in this atmosphere every day and I’m working hard every day to get better and I’m bringing it to the cage on Friday.”
Tom will be taking on John Hancock who lost his pro debut and will be looking to get his first win.
I also grabbed a few minutes with Brooklyn MMA‘s leader Terry Gold. Gold will be in the corner of his fighter Firuz Nabiev who is making his pro debut. Terry tells us of Firuz..
“Firuz came to us about 7 years ago with a tae-kwon-do background. We had him for his first few fights, then he moved to Florida. Now he is back with us here in New York and we are excited for him to get to the next level. This is what he’s been working so hard for and we felt it was time. Friday night he will show everyone what he is made of.”
The rest of the Ring of Combat 88 card is below:
Main Event 155 lb title
John Ramirez vs Robert Varricchio
Co-main event 145 lb title
Ricardo Fuentes vs Gilbert Patricino (champion)
155 lb John Hancock Vs Tom DiGenarro
135 lb Marcus Reid vs Zach Siemasko
135 lb Tayvonne Thomas vs Juan Vides
HWT Sonhubou Mbacke vs Kevin Wilkins
145 lbs Firuz Nabiev vs Otto Musinov
185 lb Connor Cullen vs Elijah Sampson
155 lb (amateur) Dante Bazan vs Ryan Sipavicius
135 lb (amateur) Jamal Sharifi vs Farrukh Sadulloev
Fight card subject to change
Doors open 8 pm first bell 9:30 pm
I will host the pre-fight show and commentate alongside Professor Jay Regalbuto.
This event will be streamed in multiple places for free. Keep tuned as I will provide an updated list of places to see ROC 88
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