By: Davy James – Staff Writer
What began as a hobby and a means to stay competitive has taken a South Brunswick resident to the bright lights of Las Vegas and the spotlight of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Ricardo Romero, 32, of Dayton, won his debut fight with UFC on July 3 earning a submission victory over Seth Petruzelli via an armbar in the second round. The fight was broadcast nationally on Spike TV during the preliminary fights for the Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin Heavyweight Championship pay-per-view fight last month.
"Being in the UFC is a huge thrill and a great opportunity," Mr. Romero said. "When I found out my fight was going to be broadcast on Spike, I thought to myself everything is on the line here so I better be ready." Mr. Romero, who graduated from South Brunswick High School in 1996, was a standout wrestler for SBHS and began training in mixed martial arts a few years ago as a way to keep his competitive fire burning. He began fighting for Atlantic City-based mixed martial arts organization Ring of Combat, where he had a record of 10-1.
Mr. Romero said the influence of UFC veteran Kurt Pellegrino helped him to strive to reach the major leagues of MMA.
"He told me you’re ready and there’s not much else Ring of Combat can offer you," Mr. Romero said. "It’s time to move on if this is what you want to do, so with his encouragement I took some steps forward, got an agent and hit the ground running."
Mr. Romero’s agent soon arranged for him to get a fight in UFC, with only about a month to train. After another fighter dropped out of a preliminary bout on Spike, Mr. Romero found out his fight would be broadcast on the cable network in front of millions of viewers.
"It’s one of those things where someone else’s misfortune was my good luck," Mr. Romero said. "Knowing I was going to be fighting on national television got me going inside. But I thought this is my first fight, I need to just worry about fighting and not worry about those other things."
Because each fighter in UFC typically specializes in a different fighting discipline, such as muay thai, jiu-jitsu or wrestling, Mr. Romero said each fighter requires working on different disciplines at all times.
"People say to me a lot, ‘how do you fight and how do you want to get punched?’" he said. "Well I don’t train to get punched and that’s the reason you train. This is just like any other sport, and it is a sport, where you have to train yourself for different situations. It’s not a bar fight or the barbaric blood sport some people make it out to be."
After arriving in Las Vegas the week before his fight, Mr. Romero said he was too focused on the job at hand to get caught up in the bright lights and big stars the venue had to offer.
"I stayed in my own little world and didn’t get caught up in saying, ‘oh, there is so and so’ because I’m going to have world class athletes around me there so I better get used to it," he said. "I thought I’ve made it to the big dance and I have something to prove."
During the first round of his fight, Mr. Romero took some heavy shots and was in trouble after suffering a broken jaw. Mr. Romero said when a fighter is in the zone, moves, strikes and combinations flow without having to think about it. He said during the first round he could feel his actions weren’t flowing and he was thinking too much about what he was doing.
"Every time I got hit I’m thinking, ‘oh, that’s not good,’" he said. "Right at the end of the first round I noticed blood started coming out of my mouth and I thought, ‘oh, that’s not good.’ I tried to close my mouth and I could feel the bottom of my jaw poke into the top of my jaw and I went, ‘oh man, my jaw is broken.’"
On top of the broken jaw, Mr. Romero also tore his pectoral muscle during the fight, but instead of retreating or quitting, he kept his mind on what he had to do to win. After realizing his opponent was weak in defending on the ground, Mr. Romero knew he had an opportunity.
"Once I was able to get my mind straight and get my flow going, things went better and I started flowing from move to move," he said. "I sensed where his body was going and then I go for what I think is there."
After forcing Mr. Petruzelli to tap out with an armbar, Mr. Romero said he wished he was more coherent to enjoy the magnitude of what he had just accomplished during his in-ring post fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
"All I remember thinking is, ‘why is Joe Rogan still talking to me and why won’t they let me leave?’" Mr. Romero said. "I could barely move my mouth and I had torn my pec, but I wish at the end I was able to shout out my gym, my trainer, my family and friends. I knew a lot of people in South Brunswick and North Brunswick were watching and I had supporters and family in New Jersey, New York and Puerto Rico. I wish I could’ve thanked them."
Though pain and injuries are part of the MMA world, Mr. Romero said this was the first fight where he felt he was in trouble.
"This was the first time I ever really got hurt," he said. "With all the fights I had, luckily the punches I’ve taken haven’t been that detrimental except for getting my head ringing. You get this big adrenaline rush."
Mr. Romero credited his trainer Brian Katz and his gym Advanced Martial Arts in North Brunswick for helping him reach the top of the MMA world. He said after the fight, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva congratulated him and said they want to see him back in the UFC octagon, which meant a lot to Mr. Romero. He said he currently has three fights left on his four-fight deal with UFC.
Mr. Romero is also trying to juggle fighting in UFC with his day job as a broker on Wall Street on the Mercantile Exchange. He said it was hard to do his job with his jaw wired shut for six weeks, but was able to do most of his work on a computer. Mr. Romero said his coworkers were surprised he returned to work in his condition, but he said his consistency in always showing up for his job allows him to take time off for fights.
He credited his boss for supporting him and allowing him to chase his dream, while balancing both careers.
"When you’re training all the time you have no life," he said. "I leave one job then go to my other job. Your personal time disappears quickly and that’s the hard part."
Mr. Romero said he’s on the road at 7 a.m. to his day job in Manhattan then arrives back home between 4 and 5 p.m. with little time to relax before going to train at the gym.
"Now that I reached UFC we’re going to approach this more as a business than a hobby and put more into it, so to speak," he said.
After reaching the biggest stage in MMA, Mr. Romero said he wants to see how far he can take his former hobby.
"I want to be the best but right now I’m taking one fight at a time," he said. "I want to improve and beat the opponents at my level one at a time. With all the time I’m putting in to this, I’m shooting for the top and whoever has the light heavyweight belt when I get there."
Mr. Romero said ultimately his health will be the deciding factor in how far his MMA dreams take him. After the injuries he suffered in his last fight, Mr. Romero said his next fight with the UFC should come sometime early in 2011.
"If I stay healthy, I’d still like to compete," he said. "If I’ve taken too many losses or too many hard hits I don’t have a problem bowing out. I always wanted to try running a triathlon so I’ll probably try that when I get older."

