Asian MMA Update: Phil Baroni To Serve As Color Commentator On Sapp vs. Thompson, ROAD FC 6 Fight Videos

by Anton Tabuena on Feb 8, 2012 6:00 PM EST in MMA News

Phil Baroni will be back at the commentator booth for Super Fight League in India this March. -- Photo by Anton Tabuena

Remember Super Fight League, that show in India to be headlined by Bob Sapp vs. James Thompson? They're promising to be a different mix of spectacle and sport, and while one would think that they've already accomplished that with their headliner, it looks like there's a lot more planned for the event.

MMA isn't as popular in India as it is on other Asian countries, but the show, which will be run by millionaire tycoon Raj Kundra, actor Sanjay Dutt, and MMA agent Ken Pavia, will have different ways to gather in the crowd. They will have eight fights, but to start the show, they'll be having concerts from popular musicians in India to draw the crowd in. Another strategy they're taking is to have celebrities, personalities and popular fighters on the event.

One of those personalities, as BloodyElbow.com has learned through sources close to the situation, is the "New York Bad Ass" Phil Baroni, who will be returning to the commentator's booth and will be calling the action for the March 11 event.

Although not yet finalized, sources have also informed us that Jeff Osborne is being offered as Baroni's partner for play-by-play commentary.

Baroni has also served as color commentator several times in the past, most notably on the recent bout between Roger Huerta and War Machine in Texas:

Also on the news coming out of the Asian region, the ROAD FC 006 Middleweight Grand Prix recently concluded. Following an upset victory over Denis Kang last December, PRIDE vet Shungo Oyama ran through two opponents this past weekend to win the GP and take the Road FC Middleweight title.

Watch all the fight videos after the jump, and don't forget to follow me on twitter -- @antontabuena.

ROAD FC 006: Final 4 Opening Video:

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final 1: Hae Suk Son vs. Eun Soo Lee

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final 2: Shungo Oyama vs. Jong Dae Kim

Middleweight Grand Prix Finals: Shungo Oyama vs. Hae Suk Son

0 recs | 19 comments

Comments

Sapp Vs. Thompson

No chance of this going long enough for either to gas. Going to be well under the 20 second tank limit they both have.

Jaspawokki - February 8, 2012 reply

Good for Phil. I hope he does a great job with this.

andrew861 - February 8, 2012 reply

It’s good to see him find some work outside of fighting, but he really needs to find something he can transition into permanently.

Machiel Van - February 8, 2012 reply

Given that main event...

I’m almost glad I moved to the States for school.

ludakrish - February 8, 2012 reply

Phil Baroni will be.....

THE BEST COMMENTATOR EVA!

blumpkins - February 8, 2012 reply

To be honest i’ve been pretty disappointed with Road FC so far.

Also: MMA in India could be huge if actually done right (WWE is gigantic and there’s one Indian wrestler working for them and he barely even shows up), but I still think the Phillipines are where it’s at in terms of hotbeds

les rallizes denudes - February 8, 2012 reply

not that it's not a valid criticism,

but why have you been disappointed?

also, I don’t think there’s much talent in India, but if SFL can convert those WWE fans with their bland of spectacle and sport, maybe they can last longer than what people think.

Anton Tabuena - February 9, 2012 reply

You are right. There isn’t any talent of any sort in MMA here. Its all about cricket. You can’t convert the fans here. India is a place of habit and they are habituated to big huge punjabi guys waxing eloquent about WWE. Its a sad, sad scene. noone even knows what the UFC and MMA is.

Andrew Lu - February 9, 2012 reply

MMA could be huge but it won’t. I live in India and train a little here.1. I’ve noticed that 99% of “fighters” here are afraid to get hit. Not that i love it but when you’re fighting, you are going to get banged up. 2. Noone seems totally into the sport as yet, its all bloody cricket here. Its so annoying. 3. India has been invaded so many times that the people here have been neutered and over the course of thousands of years the fighting spirit has completely disappeared.

I honestly think India will never be ready for MMA. if the UFC decide to come to south east Asia, the Phillipines is the best bet.

Andrew Lu - February 9, 2012 reply

thanks for the first hand insight man. :)

rec’d.

Anton Tabuena - February 9, 2012 reply

I’ve noticed that 99% of "fighters" here are afraid to get hit

True.

Noone seems totally into the sport as yet, its all bloody cricket here.

Hate cricket myself.

India has been invaded so many times that the people here have been neutered and over the course of thousands of years the fighting spirit has completely disappeared.

That’s somewhat meaningless. As a country where you can’t earn a living by being a fighter makes it a lot harder to train as hard as you can in say a country like the US. While I trained back home my Kyokushin Sensei, while holding a 2nd dan black belt, had to work a full time day job to earn a living. He made almost nothing off teaching karate, despite having close to a hundred students in total.

ludakrish - February 9, 2012 reply

That pic of Baroni is hilarious

considering what he used to look like.

Poster boy for roids in MMA.

Lee Payton - February 8, 2012 reply

Not saying Baroni wasn't roided as fuck

But I think a lot of MMA fighters from that sort of era really look like shit right now.

Frank Shamrock looks like a 40-year old high school student with braces, Ken Shamrock looks like this drunk guy I knew who blamed everything “on the Jewish agenda”, Tank Abbott quite clearly just didn’t care…

Even Bas Rutten is losing it!