Phil Baroni vs. Ninja Rua signed for EliteXC’s first CBS Show
March 25, 2008 by Sam Caplan
A middleweight match between Phil Baroni and former EliteXC middleweight champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua has been signed for EliteXC’s debut show on CBS on May 31.
Stephanie Daniels, co-host of the Internet radio show Cageside Live was the first to break the news. Upon seeing Daniels’ announcement, ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com) confirmed with Baroni through text message that the match has been signed.
Baroni recently returned to active competition following a six-month suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission for testing positive for a banned steroid. The original suspension was for a year but was reduced following a December appeal hearing. Baroni continues to maintain his innocence.
Baroni, 10-9, returned on March 15 during an ICON Sport show in Honolulu, Hawaii. He challenged Kala “Kolohe” Hose for the vacant ICON middleweight title but lost via TKO at 1:45 into round 5 in spite of a strong showing in the first round of the fight.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG
hold on phil, i thought you never took steriods. so you must have got those ridiculous abs by doing a million crunches right? and maybe changing your diet.
Phil v Ninja, well the only interesting part for me is seeing how quick Bad Ass gasses, and most likely see Ninja win again….. not much else there in that fight…..
[...] Sam Caplan at FiveOuncesOfPain.com is reporting that Phil Baroni and Murilo “Ninja” Rua will fight each other on the first EliteXC-CBS Saturday Night Fights event. [...]
hope phil has enuff time to recover from his last match.
Phil ought think about a gig at Chippendales. All those muscles might help him there. Haven’t done much for him in the ring/octagon lately.
T-Ball.
Gavin - Ever heard of 8 minute abs?
Baroni is the only fighter in the states who gets treated like hes fighting in Japan, no matter how many he loses he keeps getting asked to headline.
Lost to Frank, Lost to Kala and if he gasses again will lose to Ninja!
It’s obvious here that EXC are going for the theatrical entrance of Baroni, not to mention his link to the NY/NJ Metro Area. Any chance of the Shields-Fickett fight being made up here?
i like watching baroni lose so i like this fight
as much as i want ninja to win, i hope he doesn’t gas like he did against lawler
although it’d be fun to see who gases first
This fight will be entertaining as hell but I think Baroni’s gonna end up 10-10 after this fight. You have to give credit where credit is due. Baroni does not back down from a fight.
Matt,
I would bet dollars to donuts that the Shields/Fickett fight will be on CBS.
Adam:
I hope you’re right, especially since I plan on attending that show. But ProElite.com was reporting the fight as “cancelled” as opposed to “postponed.” Any info. on this?
Matt, Jack Shields, Jake’s father and manager, told me the fight is postponed. It could happen within the next couple of months.
I definitely don’t think you will see it on CBS. I would think that June 14 is more likely. That is, assuming Fickett doesn’t fight before then.
has ninja fought since he lost to robbie lawler last year? i cant remember….
Sam,
That is good news. Looks like the 6/14 card could be shaping up to be a really good one if the make-up is that night. But now with Fickett fighting an undercard bout on Sat. night, could he be ready (or potentially medically cleared) to fight again by mid-June?
hindsightufuk
he beat Professor X in Cage Rage