‘Taurus’ Taps Rogers; Prospects Iaquinta, DeBlass Win at ROC 37

---

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- After a 30-minute delay in the main event of Ring of Combat 37 to wait for emergency medical staff, headliners Deividas Taurosevicius and Ronnie "Bam Bam" Rogers took to the cage at the Tropicana Resort and Casino.

When the ambulance arrived, the fight belonged to the Lithuanian, who took the Ring of Combat North American featherweight title in the featured bout of an 11-fight bill on which no fight saw the scorecards.

Taurosevicius, 34, was able to sink in a rear naked choke at 2:24 of the second round to seal the victory.

"I thought, 'I have to go for a submission here. I'm a submission fighter, no more decisions,' I learned that," Taurosevicius told Sherdog.com after the bout.

The first round was a grappling affair as the two traded top position, but "Taurus" ended the round with a flurry of punches from mount, and the Anderson, S.C., native was saved by the bell.

In the second, Taurosevicius took advantage, thoroughly dominating position throughout the round. From there he rolled "Bam Bam" over and it was only a matter of time before he wrapped his arm around Rogers' neck and ended the fight.

"He's a tough guy, and I could feel his strength, but I'm a high-level black belt; his guillotines were nothing," boasted the victorious Lithuanian after the bout.

The Long Island-based WEC veteran is now 13-5, snapping a streak of consecutive losses to Wilson Reis
and L.C. Davis.

Lightweights Gabriel Miglioli and Al Iaquinta rematched for the vacant ROC North American lightweight title, and the unbeaten Serra-Longo rep Iaquinta replicated his June split decision win.

Iaquinta landed a high kick that staggered his opponent and he quickly swarmed on him, landing vicious blows until referee Keith Peterson stopped the fight just 26 seconds of the first round. There were some questions about whether or not the head kick from Iaquinta was also an eye poke but the debate bore no fruit.

With the win Iaquinta, 24, moves to 5-0-1 in his young career.

In a battle for the vacant ROC North American light heavyweight title, Bayville, N.J.'s Tom DeBlass knocked out Mike Stewart with his powerful right hand at 3:07 of the first round, moving to 5-0 in his pro career.

DeBlass, a Ricardo Almeida understudy, was clearly the aggressor on the feet throughout the bout landing clean, hard shots on his foe. DeBlass finally staggered Stewart with a right hand and landed follow-up punches on the ground to seal the deal.

UFC veteran Chris Liguori and sub-.500 New Yorker John Salgado engaged in a back-and-forth scrap at 160 pounds, but in the third, Liguori landed a vicious right hook to knock Salgado stiff.

Liguori was able to weather a tough first round in which he was on the bottom for much of the round. In the second round Salgado was visibly tired and "The Story" was able to batter his opponent against the cage for much of the round.

By the third round Salgado had visibly slowed while Liguori was still light on his toes, setting up a fight-ending right hook to the chin at 4:12 of the third round, moving to 13-9 in his campaign.

BJJ World Championships bronze medalist Eduardo Telles showed true heart to overcome the early salvo of Renzo Gracie pupil Matt Ruskin. Telles was on queer street early as Ruskin landed big shots on his chin, but Telles showed the composure to weather the storm to gain the tap via armbar at 3:10 of the opening round.

In a middleweight tilt, Elkridge, Md.'s Aung La Nsang defeated Casey Manrique 63 ticks into the second round.

The Crazy 88 product dominated from top control the entire bout, attaining crucifix position in both the first and second rounds; he was finally able to finish "Not The Face" from the crucifix early in the second when he finally fully trapped Manrique to leave him unable to answer with blows of his own.

Team Bombsquad bantamweight Brian Kelleher battered his opponent Mike LaDuke until the doctor was forced to stop the bout at 3:14 of the third round. "Boom" landed effective ground and pound throughout the fight which opened a laceration above LaDuke's eye and eventually ended the fight in favor of the Ithaca, N.Y., native.

Undefeated Serra-Longo featherweight James Jenkins quickly tapped Cody Castillo with a standing guillotine choke at 24 seconds of the first round. Castillo buried his head in the chest of Jenkins while flurrying and Jenkins quickly grabbed his neck and tapped him out.

Another Serra-Longo product, Ed "Flash" Gordon, used his wrestling to survive two close submission attempts from his opponent Steven Edwards, achieving a doctor stoppage after two rounds in their light heavyweight contest. Edwards almost locked up a dangerous kimura in the second round but Gordon was able to survive to hear the clanging of the bell.

At a 260-pound limit, New Jerseyian Chris Birchler made quick work of wing chun practitioner Shawn Obasi, attaining forcing Obasi to verbally submit to lukewarm strikes from back mount at 2:47 of the first frame.

In the opening bout of the night, featherweight Tom English knocked out Carlos David Oliveira at 1:59 of the first round. The Long Island native landed a big right and followed up with a brutal right hand on the ground which forced referee Gasper Oliver to intervene.

A potential 130-pound women's bout between Michelle Ould and Munah Holland was scrapped when Ould injured herself in the locker room before the bout.

A welterweight contest between Patrick DeFranco and Shedrick Goodridge was also scrapped when DeFranco failed to make weight.