Luke Cummo is a unique fighter in the world of MMA. Intelligent, thoughtful, and certainly a bit unconventional. After early success on the Ultimate Fighter 2 and wins over Jason Von Flue and Josh Haynes, the Serra-Longo fighter had issues getting past Luigi Fioravianti and Tamdan McCrory. Now a free agent, Cummo is still adhering to his vegetarian diet and gearing up for a possible return in Japan. Watch.

So what does it take these days to generate over 220,000 views for a single Youtube video? Well, you can be a European TV host and lose your lunch with cameras rolling, maybe throw the name “Snookie” in the clip title and hop on the Jersey Shore TV show bandwagon, or … you can take a far more difficult path to internet stardom, as Tiger Schulmann fighter Nick Pace did, by delivering one of the top 10 knockouts in Mixed Martial Arts for 2009. (Pace KO video below)

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The UFC’s Ricardo Almeida has an immense challenge ahead at UFC 111 Vs. the rising Matt Brown. Not only will Almeida be dropping down in weight class to 170lb, but he will be faced with the emerging all-around talents of Brown under the tutelage of Matt Hume. During my last visit to Almeida’s gym in central Jersey, he shared this tip per working off the back defending the ground and pound.

Since I will be on FoxFightGame.com tonight with Frankie Edgar, I thought I would honor the great Jersey fighter by digging up some old footage I posted months ago. Under the tutelage of training guru Martin Rooney, they are put through a workout tailored for the highest level MMA fighter. Martin Rooney trains many of best MMA fighters in the world and runs a highly successful pre NFL combine program for players seeking to be drafted.

Kurt Pellegrino is known for being one of best wrestlers in New Jersey high school history, for his current three fight win streak featuring a win over Josh Neer at UFC 101, and for his numerous tattoos. What does all the ink mean to Batman? Check out this video breakdown from the man himself.

Tyson Griffin’s last seven fights have gone to a decision, most recently with a win over Rafael dos Anjos. At UFC 103 in Dallas, he will be seeking to take control away from the judges with a stoppage victory over veteran Hermes Franca.

TriStateFighter.com spoke with Griffin earlier this summer at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas about Franca … the need to ‘fight exciting’ … and the one rule in MMA he would have changed or altered.

Team Ricardo Almeida’s Chris Liguori is on deck to defend his 155lb belt at Ring Of Combat 26 on Sept. 11 in Atlantic City. Liguori has had a roller coaster MMA career with stops in the UFC, Elite XC, and Ring Of Combat. He has wins over Matt Brown, Dorian Price, Jim Bova, and Ryo Nakajima and losses to Jim Miller, Marcus Aurelio, and Jorge Santiago. Liguori has been Frankie Edgar’s primary training partner during his recent rise, and at 26, is now concentrating on another shot at the big time.