Phil Baroni older and wiser, and ready
I think about my career a lot, a subdued Baroni said. The ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could have beens.’ What…
I think about my career a lot, a subdued Baroni said. The ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could have beens.’ What if the decision had gone my way in the first [Matt] Lindland fight? What if the referee hadn’t illegally allowed [Evan] Tanner’s corner to clean and tend to the cut during the first round of our first bout? What if I hadn’t gotten a little too excited with [referee Larry] Landless? What if I hadn’t fallen into that stupid guillotine choke against Pete Sell? Then reality hits, and I forget about all that, because none of it matters anymore. I’ve just got to move forward.
Baroni has a point. The New York Bad Ass burst into the mixed martial arts world like a superstar in the making, scoring highlight-reel knockouts in four of his first six fights. Lots of fighters find success early, principally because their management coddles them, matching them up with weekend warriors, barroom brawlers, one-dimensional fighters, and anybody else who is an easy win in order to build their man’s confidence and his base of experience before truly testing him against top guys. But Baroni’s success was different.
Not surprisingly, the NYBA, who has never wanted for outward confidence, eschewed the traditional path to stardom by stepping straight into the heart of darkness. His second career bout was in the UFC, a hard-fought decision win over Curtis Stout. His fourth bout was against a former Olympic Silver Medalist in wrestling, Matt Lindland. Though he lost that bout by majority decision, many, including this writer, thought that the bout could have easily been scored a draw.
Baroni lost on the judges’ cards that night, but he absolutely won in the court of popular opinion. It was obvious during the bout that the former Olympian wanted nothing to do with actually fighting the cocky Long Islander. That endeared the fans to Baroni because the vocal majority showed up at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that night to watch two guys throw down, something the well-muscled middleweight puncher begged his opponent to participate in to no avail.
It was his next two bouts, however, that truly turned the NYBA into a bona fide UFC star.