Atlantic City, NJ -

The TSMMA presence in Amateur MMA continues to grow with six young fighters taking to the cage for Asylum Fight League's debut event in Atlantic City. The six fighters brought a combined record of 11-0 with them, with six of those victories earned by Julio Arce. Arce would headline the card fighting for the 140 pound title. Greg Belardinelli, Jovany Alvarez, Stephen Regman, Sean Nolan, and Mike Fischetti all carried a debut victory with them as they returned to the cage.

Greg Belardinelli put the discipline Tiger Schulmann's is famous for on display in the cage to open things up. Faced with a tough opponent, Belardinelli would need every bit of his "Non-Quitting Spirit". Melivis Figueroa came in from the American Top Team camp and was able to score a takedown and a couple of submission attempts in the first round. Belardinelli did his own work as well, but faced the possibility of being a round down. Instead of backing down from the fight, he turned things up a notch, dominating rounds two and three. He would keep Figueroa in a triangle choke for much of the second round after a beautiful takedown defense transition. And in round three he dropped Figueroa with punches before finishing with strong shots from inside the guard, escaping to his feet as the bell rang and he earned his second victory in the cage.

Jovany Alvarez was next up and like Belardinelli wanted to show the TSMMA crowd that the first round doesn't make the fight. Alvarez was penalized for a punch to the head of Dave Zennario while the Pellegrino MMA fighter was on the mat. Amateur rules don't allow punches to the head on the ground and Zennario was awarded one point. Alvarez wanted to stand and trade with Zennario as the standup favored the TSMMA fighter, but Zennario continually tried to take the fight to the ground. It was a tactic that would eventually land him in trouble as Alvarez landed a huge uppercut with only ten seconds in the fight that forced the referee to call a stop to the match. Alvarez' also moves to 2-0, this time by KO.

Stephen Regman stepped into the cage against a tough 3-0 opponent in Pete Burdge. Like Alvarez' opponent, Burdge comes out of UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino's camp and was able to score an early takedown on Regman. The teen from TSMMA Watchung showed uncommon composure in the ring though as he picked Burdge apart for the rest of the fight, often making the shorter fighter miss badly and end up facing the wrong direction. Burdge was able to score another takedown late in the fight, but Regman immediately reversed the the takedown. Unfortunately Burdge was able to latch on a key lock that forced Regman to tap. It was a tough loss for the young fighter, but one we are sure Regman will learn from and come back stronger.

Sean Nolan was part of a duo from TSMMA Bayside on the Asylum card. Nolan made a victorious debut in the cage in June, but took a step up in competition against Joe DiFranco of the Daddis Fight Camps. Nolan is known for a thunderous left hand from his southpaw stance and he looked to capitalize on it early. DiFranco had other plans though and the fight ended up being largely fought out of the clinch. Nolan was able to land solid knees and some good punches inside to the head. It was a close fight in every round with two takedowns by DiFranco, one in the second and one in the third round, ultimately proving the lone thing the judges could differentiate between the two. It was a tough loss for the Joshu from Bayside, but like Regman a good show of heart by Nolan and we will see him back in the ring soon.

It was a teen from Staten Island who would turn the tide for TSMMA. Mike Fischetti faced a stern test against Billy Dee Williams. Fighting out of Elite Tactical Martial Arts not Bisping's Cloud City, this Billy Dee wasn't running away from a fight like his namesake. He stood toe to toe with Fischetti and traded shots until he realized he had no chance in a boxing match. Then he turned to takedowns where he soon realized he wouldn't get the edge either. Finally Williams was able to get Fischetti to the ground, if only by pulling his guard. It wasn't much of a guard though as Fischetti quickly passed to side mount before choosing to let Williams stand back up. Williams had enough at that point and called it a night with an apparent injury to his left eye. A great win by the young Fischetti that reenergized the hyped up TSMMA crowd.

Arce be left to pilot TSMMA into port as he put his 140 pound title belt on the line. He would face a gritty RJ Starace from Rhino Fight Team. Starace came out looking to use his reach advantage to hit Arce with looping hooks. It wouldn't work as Arce used straight punches to control the standup throughout the three rounds. It was the takedown and grappling advantage that really decided things though. Arce was able to take down Starace in every round and not only get top position, but improve to mount every round and rain down shots while regularly putting Starace in danger of submission. The defense of his title was worthy of a champion as was the crowd of hundreds of TSMMA fans chanting him on to victory. Congratulations to Julio on victory number seven, which in his case is not a case of luck, but impressive skill and dedication.

Congratulations to all six members of TSMMA. In victory or defeat they all represented the team with skill, conditioning and especially heart. It was another display of the talent and depth within the TSMMA Fight Team. We look forward to watching all six back again soon.