Cage Titans 39: "Slippery Pete" vs. "Bare Knuckle" Barry
Travis Lizotte
With the New England temperatures rising the summer fight season heats up Saturday night June 30th as Cage Titans makes its first appearance at a new venue; Pinz in Kingston, Massachusetts will play host as Cage Titans 39 takes over the lanes for a night of New England MMA action. Cage Titans has drawn some serious interest over the last couple months as the promotion continues to be a launching point for New England fighters; former Cage Titans Bantamweight star Manny Bermudez took his undefeated record (11-0) to the UFC in February and remained undefeated with a second round submission victory over Albert Morales (7-4-1) in his UFC debut, putting both himself and the Plymouth, Massachusetts based promotion on the national radar. Another undefeated star in the Cage Titans promotion; Joe Joe Giannetti (6-0) used his unblemished record to earn a spot on Season 27 of The Ultimate Fighter, making the best of his opportunity, the man we know as “Skeletor” finished both of his fights on the show with slick first round submissions earning himself a spot in the finale on July 6th against Mike Trizano (6-0) for the title of “The Ultimate Fighter” and a UFC contract. And not to be overlooked former Middleweight Champion Sean Lally (8-3) made a move to Welterweight to put his talents on display in front of Dana White on the Tuesday Night Contender Series in June, Lally drew one of the best Welterweights in the country in Chris “Action Man” Curtis (18-5), Lally looked to be on his game before falling victim to the heavy striking of Curtis in the third round. Cage Titans is eager to show that it still has a solid stable of fighters ready for the world to see, and one of its biggest stars will take center stage in Saturday’s main event when fan favorite; Lightweight “Slippery” Pete Barrett (9-2) looks to be the next Cage Titans star to launch his name on to the nation stage when he faces off with tough veteran Connor “Bare Knuckle” Barry (4-2). Peter Barrett has become a staple in the cage for Cage Titans having fought for the promotion since his Amateur career and fighting exclusively for the promotion throughout his professional career. “Slippery” Pete’s success in the cage took somewhat of a back seat to his outgoing style and punk rock personality outside the cage, that quickly made him a fan favorite across the region. Pete bounced back off the first two losses of his career last time out with a quick first round finish of Jay Ellis as Cage Titans 38 and he will be looking to turn that win into a winning streak here against fellow 155 ponder; Connor Barry, who is coming off a win against Jay Ellis himself, at Cage Titans 37 in Barry’s promotional debut.
In the night's co-main event the aforementioned Jay Ellis (15-77) yes, you read that right, will be looking to dethrone another Cage Titans rising star in undefeated Zach DiSabatino (3-0) who will be making his fourth consecutive start, if you will, as Zach has fought on the last four Cage Titans fight cards. DiSabatino will be looking to make it four straight wins to start his career and if he were to have it his way, four straight finishes. The Cage Titans 39 fight card took a big hit on fight week when Women’s Amateur Bantamweight Champion Taylor Thompson (2-0) broke her foot and had to pull out of her title defense against Women’s Amateur Flyweight Champion Kylie O’Hearn (3-1), this fight was gaining a ton of notoriety before the injury occurred and was an early candidate for fight of the night. Hopefully these two fighters can get healthy and stay that way so the fans can finally witness this highly anticipated matchup in the near future. We round out the professional portion of the card in the Featherweight division as Team Lauzon’s Randy Costa (3-0 as Amateur) makes his highly anticipated professional debut against Virginia’s Stacey Anderson (0-4) Anderson will be making his second appearance in the Cage Titans cage and will be looking to notch his first professional victory when the cage door locks on the first professional bout of the evening.
Five Amateur bouts are set to kick off the evening at Cage Titans 39 as the remainder of the fight cards looks this way;
135 AM Brett Layton (0-0, Savery BJJ) vs Shane Dougherty (1-0, USMMA)
165 AM Aaron Hughes (2-3 Regiment) vs Xavier Cardona (0-0, Lakeville)
170 AM Jay Helger (2-2, Savery BJJ) vs Manu Delerme (0-2, Golden Falcon)
135 AM Felipe Barbosa (0-0, Savery BJJ) vs Mike MacNeil (0-0, SSSF)
140 AM Jeff Joy (0-0, Juniko) vs Donovan Torres (0-0, Regiment)
Stacey Anderson (0-4) v. Randy Costa (Debut)
Featherweight
Stacey Anderson
Affiliation: Wild Card Boxing
Record: 0-4 (4 first round defeats)
Summary: Stacey has shown problems in the past surviving early onslaughts having been finished in the first round of each of his professional fights. He will have his hands full with Costa who likes to come out of the gates swinging.
Last fight: First round Submission (Choke) loss to Jeff Perez ast Cage Titans 38
Randy Costa
Affiliation: Lauzons MMA
Record: Debut (3-0 as Amateur)
Summary: After a nearly four year lay off from competition Costa will be back in the cage with his eyes on starting his professional career on the same note as he left his Amateur career, with a win. Costa showed willingness to throw his hands in his Amateur career earning all three of his wins by Knockout.
Last fight: First round Knockout of Chris Caterino at CFX 25 (2014)
Breakdown: Make no mistake about it these guys like to throw the leather and will be looking to land early and often. I don’t see this fight making it beyond the first round with one of these guys leaving with their hand raised and the other not knowing where they are or who hit them.
Zach DiSabatino (3-0) v. Jay Ellis (15-77)
Lightweight
Zach DiSabatino
Affiliation: South Shore Sportfighting
Record: 3-0 (2 Knockouts, 1 Submission)
Summary: Zach will be looking to come out heavy early as is typically his mentality, he does not get paid by the minute in the cage and looks to finish his opponents as quickly as possible. A win over a veteran of over 90 fights will further advance Zach’s top prospect status.
Last fight: First round Knockout of Keenan Raymond at Cage Titans 38.
Jay Ellis
Affiliation: Knockout
Record: 15-77 (3 Knockouts, 12 Submissions)
Summary: Don’t let Ellis’ record fool you, this guy is fighting nearly every weekend most of the time chasing his love for the sport. Jay has managed some defining wins in his over a decade in the sport, with victories over Daniel Straus and Gerald Meerschaert on his resume.
Last fight: First round Submission loss to Jason Brown at Stellar Fights 37.
Breakdown: Ellis is going to have to go back to the days when he squared off against UFC and Bellator hopefuls if he hopes to derail the undefeated DiSabatino. I look for DiSabatino to come out and try to finish the veteran early, Ellis will need to dig deep and survive the punishment if he wants to get his hand raised for the first time under the Cage Titans banner.
Peter Parrett (9-2) v. Connor Barry (4-2)
Lightweight
“Slippery” Pete Barrett
Affiliation: Juniko
Record: 9-2 (6 Knockouts, 2 Submissions)
Summary: Barrett is someone who needs no introductions to the Cage Titans fans. Peter is an exciting Striker and overall Mixed Martial Artist and after facing the first adversity of his career, with back to back losses, Barrett is once again ready to show the world that he is one of the best fighters on the regional circuit. Barrett hopes that his tenth professional win will be his biggest to date and one the propels his career to the next level.
Last fight: First round Submission (Choke) of Jay Ellis at Cage Titans 38.
Connor “Bare Knuckle” Barry
Affiliation: Redline
Record: 4-2 (2 Submissions)
Summary: Conner gained high praise around the region after starting his professional career off 3-0, however Conner has just one win in his last three fights as he is set to go to battle with the toughest opponent of his career. Win or Lose this will be a career defining fight for the “Bare Knuckled” one.
Last fight: First round Submission (Choke) of Jay Ellis at Cage Titans 37.
Breakdown: This fight is going to come down to the tale of conflicting styles, Barrett is best versed when he can keep the fight standing and at striking distance. With striking distance Barrett will display some of the highest volume of technical strikes in the division with an uncanny ability to get the stoppage. Barry on the other hand likes to the fight close and make it a grind, Barry likes to initiate the clinch in efforts to get the fight to the ground where he possesses some dominant submission skills. This could be a long grueling fight by the time it is decided with both fighters being athletically gifted and tough as nails. Look for a back and forth war when these two guys collide as this clash of styles could leave us looking to the judges.