Phil Baroni

The New York Bad-Ass" Phil Baroni (born April 16, 1976) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He has a professional MMA record of 10-8-0. Baroni has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) where he holds a record of 3-5-0. He has developed a reputation for his boxing ability and knockout power, although he is an accomplished wrestler as well. He formerly trained with Team Hammer House, whose members include two current PRIDE fighters and former UFC heavyweight champions, Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman.

 Biography

Phil Baroni grew up in Massapequa Park, Long Island, New York a predominantly Italian neighborhood. Baroni attended Hofstra University before transferring to Central Michigan University where he became a two time All-American collegiate wrestler. Baroni was a double major in biology and psychology, and got his degree in psychology. He was also an amateur body-builder from the age of 17 to 20 where he competed in a total of 6 shows in which he placed either first or second. Massapequa Park is a village located in Nassau County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 17,499.

Baroni had a successful amateur boxing and kick-boxing career. He studied kick-boxing under Keith Trimble, and had 7 kick-boxing matches, winning all 7 by knock out. He also competed in 10 amateur boxing matches, also winning all 10 by knock out. Although Baroni was a big fan of the UFC he did not want to compete in it until the UFC had implemented Weight classes.

Baroni quickly made a name for himself in the UFC with several impressive knockout victories. His signature match was a decisive knockout victory over former UFC champion Dave Menne on September 27, 2002. He then rematched Matt Lindland to whom he had previously lost to by judges decision. In their rematch, Baroni suffering a second loss to Lindland by another judges decision. He was then matched up against a former teammate of Matt Lindland, Evan Tanner at UFC 45 - Revolution. Baroni dominated the beginning of the match against Tanner, but when the fight was stopped to check a cut on Tanner, Tanner regained his composure and the momentum turned, leading to the referee stopping the fight due to Baroni taking several undefended strikes on the ground. This decision was controversy as the referee Larry Landless had asked Baroni if he wanted to quit which he did not. Landless still stopped the bout, and was struck by a furious Baroni who wished to continue. Baroni got a rematch with Tanner at UFC 48 - Payback but went on to lose in a judges decision. After losing 3 fights in a row, the UFC matched Baroni against the relatively unknown Pete Sell. Following training with Enson Inoue, Baroni dominated early on with numerous takedowns and a dominate standup, but he was punished for not capitalizing on his dominance by a guillotine choke and was forced to tap. Following this loss many people told him to retire including Dana White.


Baroni joined Hammer House soon thereafter and rebounded in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships promotion with several knockout victories against Ikuhisa Minowa, Ryo Chonan, and Yuki Kondo. On June 4, 2006, Baroni was summarily defeated by Ikuhisa Minowa via unanimous decision in the Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix 183-lb tournament in 2005. Team Hammer House members Kevin Randleman, Adam Guerra, Mark Coleman, and Wes Sims Team Hammer House is a Mixed Martial Arts team and training facility opperating out of Columbus, Ohio made up of mostly former NCAA wrestlers. ... PRIDE Fighting Championships (PRIDE or PRIDE FC for short) was a mixed martial arts organization based in Japan.

On October 21st 2006 Baroni captured a victory over boxer turned MMA fighter Yosuke Nishijima via kimura in the first round at PRIDE 32, PRIDE's first American show.

Feud with Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock and Baroni had engaged in a war of words following Shamrock's fight with Renzo Gracie. The two faced off at Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni, a co-promotion between EliteXC and Strikeforce on June 22nd, 2007 on Pay-Per-View.[2] Shamrock defeated Baroni, knocking him down with punches in the first round and finishing him off with a rear naked choke in the second round. It was considered a TKO victory for Shamrock, as Baroni was choked unconscious.

Steroid use

Following the Shamrock fight the California State Athletic Commission announced that Baroni tested positive for two types of anabolic steroids, Boldenone and Stanozolol. Baroni has appealed against the $2500 fine and a 1 year suspension. The case is pending.