'The Neighborhood Legend' Ready for 'Monster' at EFC: Mania
Christopher Vallaro (5-2) says he's not treating his upcoming fight as anything special, but it's not easy to rattle a tough Italian from Brooklyn who's earned the nickname "The Neighborhood Legend".
Vallaro is set to face Paterson, New Jersey's "Monster" Mohammad for the EFC Light Heavyweight Championship in the main event of The Darwish Brothers Presents: "Extreme Fighting Championships: MMA MANIA" on Saturday, May 18, in the Xanadu Theater at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City
Tickets for "Extreme Fighting Championships: MMA MANIA" are priced at $46, $67, $100 and $125 Cageside and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com, by calling 800-745-3000, at the EFC website: www.efcmma.com, or at the Trump Taj Mahal box office on fight night.
"A fight is a fight, that's how I see it," revealed Vallaro, "but this one is a little sweeter because after I win, I will get a pretty belt for doing it. The belt is more for spectators to understand that I'm the top fighter in this league at the weight though."
The confident and intelligent Vallaro studied Health Science in college and is the general manager and a certified personal trainer/strength coach at a fitness facility. Between work and twice-daily training sessions at Ardon Sweet Science Gym in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, he even helps out his training partners.
"I help a lot of my teammates with their conditioning plans. Besides being well-rounded, my biggest strength as a fighter is my overall conditioning. I always outshine my opponent in conditioning and that's usually the deciding factor in the fight. I'm a pressure fighter. I put pressure on my opponents and eventually they break."
So what does he think of facing a "monster" this Saturday?
"I know he's an MMA guy by trade," said Vallaro of Mohammad. "That means he doesn't have a speciality. From watching his fights, I'm not impressed with him, but every fighter gets better with every fight, so I can't go in like a madman. I see the fight going down with me being victorious. There are a lot of ways I'll be able to win. I just have to do what I normally do and fight how I normally fight. The first mental or physical mistake he makes, I'm capitalizing on it. And it'll be a very tough time for him to get back on his feet."
Event promoter Hani Darwish says Vallaro may be playing it cool a bit on the fight.
"This fight is a toss-up. Both these guys are hugely popular for a reason. This is a true New Jersey super fight. They're both tough, tough guys who can fight hard. They're both always in great fights. I'm expecting an all-action war in there and the winner will be who wants it more."
Vallaro says he earned his nickname by taking on older men, feared by others, in the streets of Brooklyn until "neighborhood politics" voted him a local legend.
He found his way to the cage in the same way as so many others.
"When I was a kid, my cousin and I would rent martial arts movies. I was always a fan. Then I saw UFC 2 and realized they were the best fighters in the world. I love competition. I said to myself if this is the sport with the best fighters in the world, then I want to compete and prove myself."
