Houston, TX — At UFC 136, middleweight Mike Massenzio made his Team Palooka debut with a gutsy, come-from-behind victory against former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Cantwell. The win represented what Team Palooka is all about: heart, determination, and a “never say die” attitude. The Massenzio-Cantwell bout kicked off the night, and definitely got the crowd going. Both fighters headed into the bout desperately needing a big win in order to keep their position with the UFC, and the New Jersey-based Massenzio came away with the “W.”

Copyright © 2011 PALOOKA, LLC · Joe Palooka™

“Winning this fight, it’s a great feeling…one of the greatest feelings of my life,” says Massenzio. “I’ve been through a lot over the last few years, and I’ve been through a lot in my career already. After a fast start, I got hit with some major injuries. I came back against Brian Stann, which was a very tough first fight, and we got ‘Fight of the Night.’ The Soszynski fight was tough, too. Against Cantwell, I took a little bit from him in the first round, then he caught me good, and I had to deal with that. But I was able to hang with it, and I came back. It was a great experience.”

While waiting for his next bout, the 185-pounder will continue to train with his team at AMA Fight Club in New Jersey. As far as who is next on his list, Massenzio is leaving that in the capable hands of the organization.

“I’ll fight whoever the UFC gets me. I feel good about being able to be in there with some of the best and hang. To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. So whatever they decide to do, I’ll go with it. I’m all about heart, and I’m always going to go out there and fight with everything I’ve got, every fight.”

While we don’t know who Massenzio will face next in the Octagon, we do know what is next for him outside the cage. This Thursday, 10/13 and Sunday, 10/16, Mike will be appearing at the Team Palooka booth (#349) at the New York Comic Con. He’ll be there in order to sign autographs, interact with the fans, and promote the new “Joe Palooka” comics being released!

“It’s an honor that Team Palooka wants to have me as part of what they’re doing. It’s great that they have interest in my career. I’m hoping that as they rise, I rise at the same time. And I’m really looking forward to being with the fans at Comic-Con. Come on out and come say hi…it’s going to be awesome!”

The news MMA comic book fans have been waiting for was recently announced: the comic series made its world premiere with its first issue last week when “Joe Palooka” issues #1 & #2 became available for purchase for the first time anywhere. Fans can get their hands on the comic at http://www.Palooka.com/, and hard copies of the issue will follow in early 2012.

A special 13-page FREE-VIEW is also available simply for signing up with an email address on http://www.Palooka.com/, and fans can also take advantage of a unique offer on “Joe Palooka” issues #1 and #2, which are available together for the low price of only $1.99.

The “Joe Palooka” comic series tells the story of Joe Palooka, an MMA fighter who competes in “Legion of Combat,” which is a sister comic publication. “Legion of Combat” will feature Joe Palooka and top MMA stars including “Suga” Rashad Evans, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, the Blackzilians, Brendan Schaub, and the Miller brothers in team matches between fighters representing countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, Russia, Japan, China, and other nations.

Copyright © 2011 PALOOKA, LLC · Joe Palooka™

About Team Palooka

“Joe Palooka” and “Legion of Combat” are MMA comic books that feature action adventure stories as well as compelling MMA fight action. Created by professional ring announcer Joe Antonacci, the books are being written and drawn by an all-star team of talent known as Team Palooka. The team includes Mike Bullock as the chief writer and Fernando Perniche (both of “The Phantom fame”), who are bringing the exciting stories of Palooka and the LOC to life.

For more information on “Joe Palooka” and “Legion of Combat,” please visit http://www.palooka.com/.

You can also “like” the Palooka Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/TeamPalooka

Follow Joe Palooka on Twitter @TeamPalooka

photo courtesy of sherdog

Brett Rogers is no joke, he might even be able to beat a lot of the UFC’s Heavyweights, but he has only fought one UFC level fighter and that is Andrei Arlovski. Brett beat him by KO and no one can take that away from him. Andrei is an ex-UFC Champion and Brett knocked him out in 22 seconds. That is where Brett’s record begins and ends though, all of the rest of his competition would be happy to make it on the Ultimate Fighter. What you can take from Brett’s past fights are how quick he is and how devastating his punch combination’s are. One thing that has not been tested in recent fights is Brett’s ground game and his chin, but that is because all but one of his opponents did not get past the first round. Another thing about Rogers is that he did spend some time with Josh Barnett, who was supposed to be Fedor’s last opponent and has a very strong ground game. I do not think Rogers will go at this fight like Barnett would but some pointers from a veteran are always helpful. This was a positive sign from Rogers because he has been with his current fight camp all of his career. It is nice that he is loyal and he might be comfortable with them but he is fighting the best Heavyweight in the world and should be training as such in order to be the best Brett Rogers walking into the cage on Saturday. If Brett was fighting any other fighter besides Fedor then I would give him a chance. Fedor has proved time and time again through technique under pressure and confidence in his own skill that he will not be defeated by another human being. Only an experienced Brock Lesner could have the strength and talent to possibly control Fedor.

Fedor is not like many champions, out to prove that he is the best or that he can exchange blows with anybody. Fedor stills fights in Combat Sambo Tournaments in Russia, for fun I guess. Fedor has fought Worldclass kickboxers with knockout power, strong wrestlers that could takedown anybody and submission artists that seemed unstoppable and even people twice the size of him. Fedor has always found a way to win and in most instances found a way to finish them. Fedor is always calm before, during and after his fights and it makes it possible for him to take hard punches, wrestling slams and submission attempts and remember how to use everything to his advantage and win the fight. Nothing could display this better than when Kevin Randleman picked him up in the air and dropped him on his neck, watch it on YouTube and you will start to understand what Fedor is capable of. This fight is no different and he is facing a less experienced, more one-sided fighter than most of his fights in the past. Fedor will do what he’s done to all the others, he will come in, land a few strikes to daze Brett and then do a backward Russia Bear hug and choke Brett out.
One interesting fact about this fight that makes it especially interesting is that this is Fedor’s first fight in a cage instead of a ring. 31 fights over 9 years and 5 fight organizations and Fedor has never fought in a cage. The only way this will hurt his game is that he has used the ring ropes to his advantage in a few fights. The fight where this made the most difference was when he fought Matt Lindland in Bodog Fight and he slid the rope into his armpit and not only prevented Lindland from taking him down but reversed the situation and ended up taking Lindland down. For the fight with Rogers I do not see it being an issue, I do not think Rogers will try and take Fedor down. If that is true, cages are a decent amount bigger than rings and have no corners like in a boxing ring and Fedor could use it to slip away if Rogers rocks him with big punches or Fedor can use it to feel Rogers out early in order to figure out Rogers’ punching range and quickness.

In this day and age when the hype is built up just to get you to visit the local bar to buy an overpriced drink, Fedor still cannot be hyped enough because he truly is the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion or the World.