Phil Baroni

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1 Profile
2 MMA Debut and UFC
3 PRIDE
4 Pro Elite and Strikeforce
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Phil "The New York Bad Ass" Baroni (born April 16, 1976) is an American professional mixed martial artist and a UFC and PRIDE veteran.

He stands 5 ft. 9 in. (175cm) tall and fights in the welterweight division (170 lbs.).

Baroni currently fights as a welterweight for the US based, Strikeforce promotion.

MMA Debut and UFC

Phil Baroni made his professional mixed martial arts debut on August 5, 2000 for the Vengeance at the Vanderbilt promotion. He defeated his opponent, John Hayes, via TKO at just 35 seconds of round 1.

Six months later, Baroni found himself making his UFC debut after just one professional fight. He faced Curtis Stout at UFC 30 and was victorious after two rounds by unanimous decision.

After picking up a TKO victory outside of the UFC in August, Baroni returned to the UFC action at UFC 34 in November. He faced Olympic silver medalist, Matt Lindland and after an exciting fight Baroni found himself on the losing end of a majority decision, marking his first professional defeat.

Baroni rebounded from the loss in May of 2002 when he stopped the tough Amar Suloev with punches in 2:55 of round 1 as part of UFC 37.

At UFC 39, Baroni had his most notable bout to date when he was matched up against former UFC middleweight champion, Dave Menne. In a highlight reel stoppage, Baroni caught Menne early and drilled him with relentless follow up punches against the cage to earn the KO victory. Following the bout, Baroni climbed on top of the cage walls and proclaimed, "I'm the best EVA!".

In February of 2003, Baroni faced off against Matt Lindland in a rematch on the main card of UFC 41. In another hard fought affair, Baroni was once again outdone by Lindland's relentless takedowns. Baroni hurt Lindland bad with punches but it was not enough as he went down via unanimous decision after three rounds.

Baroni hoped to rebound at UFC 45 when he faced off against another Team Quest fighter in Evan Tanner. Baroni rocked Tanner continuously early and looked to be on the way to a quick stoppage, however referee Larry Landless halted the action to examine a cut on Tanner's forehead. After a lengthy stoppage the fight was called back on and it became immediately apparent that Tanner had regathered himself. The tide immediately turned with Tanner scoring a takedown and eventually moving to mount. Tanner began to rain down some elbows with a few getting through. A miscommunication between Landless and Baroni caused the referee to stop the bout. Baroni protested quickly and even struck Landless in his fury.

Following the bout, Baroni was suspended for four months due to the post-fight altercation. He returned at UFC 48 in June of 2004 in a rematch against Evan Tanner. Baroni looked dangerous in spurts was ultimately controlled by Tanner for three rounds, losing a unanimous decision and his third straight fight.

Scheduled to face Robbie Lawler at UFC 51, Baroni instead faced off against UFC debutant, Pete Sell after Lawler pulled out. Baroni controlled the early portion of the fight with takedowns and crisper stand up. Baroni appeared to gas in the third round though, and looked to want to ride the fight out on top of Sell in his guard. With just under a minute to go, Sell faked a kimura and locked up a guillotine choke that forced Baroni to tap at 4:19 of round 3.

Following the fourth successive defeat, Baroni left the UFC and was pressured to retire by fans and even UFC president, Dana White.

PRIDE

Baroni snapped his four fight losing streak one month after the Sell defeat, winning via armbar submission over Chris Cruit at an Extreme Fighting Challenge event.

In May of 2005, Baroni found a new home in the form of Japanese organization, PRIDE. He made his PRIDE debut at PRIDE: Bushido 7 against popular Japanese fighter, Ikuhisa Minowa. In a back and forth fight, Baroni cemented his place in the organization in the second round when he stopped Minowa with stomps.

Baroni followed the Minowa victory with a 1:40 demolition of another tough Japanese fighter in Ryo Chonan at PRIDE: Bushido 8.

At PRIDE: Bushido 9, Baroni entered PRIDE's 183 lbs. Welterweight tournament. In the opening round, he faced Ikuhisa Minowa in a rematch. Minowa would pull out the victory this time, grinding out the win with his superior wrestling after two rounds.

Baroni bounced back from the loss in April of 2006 at PRIDE: Bushido 10 when he knocked Yuki Kondo cold with a punch in just 25 seconds.

At PRIDE: Bushido 11, Baroni faced off against Kazuo Misaki in the opening roun of PRIDE's 2006 Welterweight Tournament. He went down to the eventual tournament winner via unanimous decision after two rounds.

In his first bout on American soil since March of 2005, Baroni faced off against Japanese boxer turned mixed martial artist, Yosuke Nishijima at PRIDE 32 on October 21, 2006. Baroni picked up a technical submission victory with a kimura in the first round to push his record to 10-7.

Pro Elite and Strikeforce

Following the demise of PRIDE, Baroni took a few months off before calling out former UFC middleweight (200 lbs.) champion, Frank Shamrock out following Shamrock's disqualification loss to Renzo Gracie.

The two were matched-up in a battle for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight show on June 22, 2007 as the main event of a co-promotion between Pro Elite's EliteXC and Strikeforce. The pre-fight build up was matched inside the cage as both fighters laid it on the line. Shamrock got the better of Baroni though as he dropped him in the first round before choking him unconscious in the second with a rear naked choke to seal the victory and the championship.

Following the bout, Baroni was suspended for nine months and fined $2,500 for testing positive for Boldenone and Stanozonol. Baroni disputed the claims and had the ban reduced to six months.

Baroni returned to competition on March 15, 2008 when he faced off against Hawaiian, Kala Hose for the vacant Icon Sport middleweight title. Baroni dominated the first round of the bout with takedowns and brutal ground and pound. Baroni began to gas however and suffered three straight round of brutal punishment and was eventually stopped on punches in the fifth round.

Two months later, Baroni hoped to halt the two fight slide when he faced PRIDE veteran, Joey Villasenor on the main card of EliteXC: Primetime - the first mixed martial arts event to be broadcast live on national television. The bout made it three losses in a row for Baroni as he was dropped and stopped just over the one minute mark into round one. The loss pushed his record to a disappointing 10-10.

The three fight losing streak prompted Baroni to drop down to the welterweight (170 lbs.) division in an effort to rejuvenate his career. He made his welterweight debut at Cage Rage 27 against Scott Jansen. Baroni had an impressive debut as he controlled Jansen on the ground and when the fight was stood up (from mount WTF?!) he knocked Jansen cold with a punch. Strangely, after the bout Baroni was headbutted by Jansen's brother. Baroni managed to keep his calm.

Baroni racked up another quick stoppage win in his next fight, defeating Ron Verdadero in just 51 seconds at an Icon Sport event. He followed that victory with a unanimous decision win over Olaf Alfonso at a Palace Fighting Championships event in September of 2008.

The New York Bad Ass will return to competition at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields on June 6, 2009 where he will face UFC veteran, Joe Riggs on the main card.