Massenzio let his fight with CB slip away, but is now healthy and ready for more.
It’s been a while since 26-year-old Mike “Master of Disaster” Massenzio (11-3-0) has been able to do what he loves most.
Fight.
The middleweight warrior born and raised in Paterson, NJ has been wrestling since age 4 and won the JUCO national championship in 2004.
Massenzio entered into a few Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments in 2003 and 2004, and in August 2004 he won in the Absolute division in two weight classes — 180-189 and 190-199.
“Ever since I first saw UFC as a kid I knew it was always something I wanted to do,” Massenzio recalled fondly. “I wrestled all the way through college and could’ve gone Division I. But I wanted something else.
“I’d been wrestling my whole life and after doing the BJJ tournaments I wanted to get into MMA. I really loved it and felt like this was where I needed to be, this was what I wanted to do.”
Massenzio’s first MMA bout was in April 2004, and the choice to make it a career was natural.
He climbed up through smaller venues to fight in UFC during September 2008 debuting in the Octagon at Fight Night 15 with an impressive submission win over Drew McFedries via kimura.
“I love what I do and came in hungry, fighting in UFC is great it’s the biggest stage in the world for MMA,” Massenzio said. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else for a living and I wanted to show everyone I was serious.”
A few months later at UFC 92 in Dec. 23, 2008, Massenzio found himself facing someone from his wrestling days. CB Dollaway, a finalists during the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
But to Massenzio, Dollaway was the only man to beat him during his time as a collegiate wrestler. Massenzio came into the fight with a blown out left knee as was evident by the mummy-like amount of tape on his leg.
The fight ended with some controversy. Early in the first round, Massenzio cracked Dollaway with a solid straight left, followed by a left hook. Massenzio pulled the fight to the ground, sinking in a guillotine.
As Dollaway is in the guillotine he makes a motion with his left hand that can only be describe as a tap for literally a few seconds.
But he slips out moments later, and pulls out the win against Massenzio at 3:02 of round one.
Massenzio has never seen the tape and could care less for the speculation. He spoke of it as a humble professional only looking forward.
“I’m a gamer the whole fight was a learning experience and I’ve got no excuses he was just the better man that night,” he said. “That was a big fight for me, I kept up as long as I could but after I rocked him I got a little over anxious.”
After the fight Massenzio was forced to undergo surgery for his left knee and an old neck injury.
Between the two he was laid up for nearly six months. Unable to train as he’d been doing his whole life Massenzio had time to reflect as he healed.
“I did what the doctors told me to do. I had to do a lot of physical therapy and let my body rest for the first time in years,” Massenzio said solemnly. “I think that it was good in a lot of ways, looking back I don’t think I’ve ever stopped for more than a couple weeks in my whole life since I started when I was about four.
“So having months off gave me time to rest and really let my body heal.”
Now Massenzio has been back to training for about 10 weeks. Working out of his own gym Iron Horse MMA in Garfield, NJ with strength coach Phil Ross, practicing his Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Edson Carvalho.
He is also working with Team BombSquad, and is preparing to fight whoever. He’s just hungry to be back in the cage.
“I feel great I’m back to full strength just training waiting for a fight,” Massenzio said.
A rematch with CB Dollaway could always be a possibility but Massenzio isn’t one to look back or hold grudges.
“It’s the past it happened it’s done,” he said of his bout with Dollaway. “If it’s meant to be we’ll fight again. Not to say I wouldn’t like to fight him again but it doesn’t have to be him at this point I just want to fight anyone.”
Massenzio is clearly eager to return to what he does best and is hoping to get a fight by the end of the year. With about eight more UFC events left for the year it’s a distinct possibility Massenzio will be back in the octagon before the end of 2009.
A hungry fighter with talent and skill is what keeps the sport going strong. With any luck it will happen soon and Massenzio can show the fans why this is what he loves to do.
