Tom DeBlass, left, and Randy Smith.
“I just want to fight.” We hear that phrase a lot in MMA — some just talk it, others back it up with their actions. On Saturday, in Atlantic City, two guys who would rather keep fighting than let an opportunity pass them by will step inside the cage at Ring of Combat XXXIX.
New Jersey’s Tom DeBlass (6-0), the ROC light-heavyweight champion, saw numerous opponents agree to fight him and then back out. “My last opponent dropped out nine days ago,” he said Wednesday night. “We were scrambling.”
With the event’s date drawing near — and the ROC heavyweight title up for grabs — DeBlass said he and his trainers decided to jump up to heavyweight for one fight. Less than a week ago, they found a game opponent — veteran fighter Randy “The Wolf” Smith (13-9-1), who hails from upstate New York.
“I’m a fighter,” DeBlass said. “I don’t care — I’ll fight anybody.”
DeBlass, a black belt in BJJ, has fought all of his professional bouts at Ring of Combat, and has won by submission, TKO, KO, and decision. In December, he successfully defended his LHW title by defeating Davit Tkeshelashvili (8-4) by unanimous decision.
DeBlass, who is about 6 feet tall, said he planned to come into the fight around 215 pounds at the most, a bit on the lighter side for a heavyweight fight. Smith, on the other hand, stands about 6-feet, 4-inches tall, and will probably be about 235, he said Wednesday.
But DeBlass said that things like height, reach and weight will not be factors in this fight.
“His weight will mean absolutely nothing,” DeBlass said. “”I’m fast, “I’m strong, I hit as hard as any heavyweight.”
Smith, despite having more experience than DeBlass — and currently enjoying a two-fight win streak — apparently heard that DeBlass is favored in the fight. “I’m a huge underdog in this fight but right now I’m fighting the best I ever have … I love being the underdog,” he said.
Of DeBlass, Smith said, “He is a tough guy; he is well rounded.”
DeBlass said he plans to use his well-rounded skill set in the fight, saying he was not going in with a specific game plan, but would rather allow the fight to progress naturally, and then simply react to wherever it goes.
“I just see me winning,” he said. “Randy probably wants to keep it standing; I welcome that, that’s no problem. … No disrespect, but no one he’s fought before is at my level.”
And not to look past Smith, but DeBlass believes it may be his last fight in a regional promotion.
“I’ll be very surprised if after this fight, if I’m victorious, that I’ll be fighting in this area again,” he said.
