Fight card topper achieves milestones
Anthony Romero’s first MMA main event improves pro record to 3-0
Mixed martial arts fighter Anthony Romero achieved a number of firsts — two memorable, one painful — in the octagon in the U.S. last weekend.
The three-rounder against Elijah (The Buffalo Soldier) Harris at a King of the Cage event in Niagara Falls, N.Y., was the first main event of the 21-year-old Wellander’s professional career.
A victory by submission with 20 seconds remaining in the final round marked the first time Romero, now 3-0, didn’t need to fight the distance and win by a decision.
What was painful and perhaps the most memorable, given the potential for scarring, was a cut Romero suffered under his left eye in the second round.
The gash, which drew blood and required five stitches, marked the first time Romero had been cut in a fight.
“It’s probably going to leave a scar,” he said.
The cut from Harris didn’t throw Romero off his fight plan by making him hesitant and defensive the rest of the way.
Far from it.
Instead of becoming more protective, Romero shifted into a higher gear after the cut. He became more aggressive feeling that time wasn’t on his side.
“I knew I had to finish it because if he sees my face that’s cut, it gives him more motivation seeing that I’m hurt,” Romero said, recalling the fight at Seneca Casino and Resort.
“I wanted to finish it before anything got worse.”
The Notre Dame alum and graduate of Brock University’s recreation and leisure program came into the fight card topper between the two lightweights knowing the most-used weapon in his opponent’s arsenal was the wrestling aspect of the multiplediscipline sport.
“He really focuses on the wrestling, and he fought my last opponent so we both beat the same guy,” Romero said.
By happy coincidence, and to the chagrin his 22-year-old opponent from Philadelphia, Romero is adept at the ground game as well.
“It ended up being in my favour,” Romero said. “I like grappling and wrestling as well, so he kind of wanted to go there.”
Romero, a coach at Modern Vision Mixed Martial Arts in Welland, won every round and was well on his way to a unanimous decision when Harris succumbed to a rear naked choke hold.
“He dominated the fight from start to finish, he was able to outstrike and outgrapple Elijah the entire fight,” Romero’s coach and Modern Vision head coach Chris Bonfoco said.
“Anthony dominated takedowns with his foot sweeps from against the fence easily taking Harris down five times throughout the fight.”
Romero, whose cerebral ap-
“He dominated the fight from start to finish, he was able to outstrike and outgrapple Elijah the entire fight.”
CHRIS BONFOCO Modern Vision Mixed Martial Arts head coach
proach to mixed martial arts has earned him the nickname The Genius, was pleased with his performance in his first main event.
“Other than the cut, he really didn’t throw me off my game.”
Such a blow could have ended the night early for Romero. Had the cut been above the eye creating the potential for Romero being blinded by his own blood, the fight would have been called.
“The cut was underneath my eye, so the blood wasn’t going in my eye,” he said.
A 30-day suspension Romero received following the fight is standard protocol — “They do that so you’re kind of forced to heal,” he explained — and he was advised not to spar for 21 days.
Preliminary discussions are underway for a fight in November. If those fall through, the next time Romero steps into the cage will probably be February.
His mixed martial arts career began after the turned 18, the legal age to participate in the sport in Canada.
Also fighting on King of the Cage card was Modern Vision’s Tia Rahmoun. Competing in the women’s strawweight division, she won her amateur mixed martial arts debut by a split decision.
“She controlled and striking and the pace of the fight,” Bonfoco said.