Gian Villante wins second Ring of Combat title
Gian Villante, a heavyweight mixed martial artist in Ring of Combat, trains at Bellmore Kickboxing MMA. Credit: Photo by Mark La Monica
Dropping weight is still relatively new for Levittown's Gian Villante.
An All-American wrestler at MacArthur High School and an All-American football player at Hofstra, Villante was always right around the weight he needed to be for wrestling.
As a mixed martial artist, things are different. Villante won the heavyweight title at Ring of Combat last February at 225 pounds. But for a successful future in MMA, Villante decided to drop to light heavyweight for his last two fights.
The move was met with the same results. Now a 205-pounder, Villante pounded away at Joseph Keneth Reyes to win the light heavyweight title Friday night at Ring of Combat 33 in Atlantic City.
There wasn't too much to this fight. A mere 63 seconds, which can be considered long for Villante (7-1). He has a tendency for first-round knockouts early in his career.
Villante got Reyes down, moved to the mount and controlled his opponent's body long enough to ground and pound. Referee Dan Miragliotta eventually stepped in to end the fight.
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