Former Army Ranger, Ultimate fighter Alumni ,and VH1 reality TV star Jeremiah Riggs(AKA "Big Rig") has been settling himself quite nicely on the reality TV show circuit. Now he is ready to hit the MMA scene again. Riggs first venture is to fight “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni in his first endeavor back in the cage in over a year. In a recent interview with aroundtheoctagon.com, Big Rig talked about many subjects. His fight with Baroni was paramount and is something that Jeremiah Riggs feels would be a great step in his blossoming career.
Despite his TUF7 not going as planned and losing a decision in his preliminary fight, Jeremiah Riggs has been a standout personality on every show he has been on catching the eye of many fans, fighters, and TV executives with his country boy persona and talent.
Big Riggs was recently brought in for the cast of VH1's "Daisy of Love" where his personality shone through and his fan base grew even more as he competed to win the heart of Daisy de la Hoya. He made it the last few episodes of the show, with a great deal of accomplishments. Big Rig was originally not supposed to be the "cage fighter" on the show. The spot was reserved for Aric Nelson aka "Cage". It was decided Big Rigg take to the "Cage", as he had stood out as he entered the cage with "12 Pac." in a prior episode of the hit TV show that Daisy insisted the guys have an MMA fight for her. He won the fight impressively, in spite suffering a broken nose.
Jeremiah's Reality TV career is growing in leaps and bounds, but his focus is as a Mixed Martial Arts career first and foremost. MMA is his one true Love. Since his TUF run, Jeremiah has surrounded himself with champions of the sport and trains on a daily basis with "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler, Matt Hughes and legendary coach Marc Fiore. Fiore, who regulars at Matt Hughes HIT squad is considered to be one of the best mma coaches in the industry. This intensive training has taken Big Rigg’s already impressive MMA game to a new level. His strength has always been his striking skills, while training with the HIT squad he has improved on skills he may have previously been lacking.
Now, Big Riggs has his heart set on a match with Onto Baroni. There is no animosity between Big Riggs and the New York Bad Ass, however Baroni was recently defeated by Joe “Diesel” Riggs on Strikeforce’s June 6th card by decision. Big Riggs, wants to fight Baroni and wants a Knock Out!, which is something “Diesel” failed to do in his 3 round bout. "This could be a very marketable fight" says Andy Mcloughlin of JAGS MMA Sports Management. The better of two worlds, whether you love or hate him, Phil Baroni sells tickets! On the other side you have Big Riggs, one of the most popular stars on reality TV with a huge fan following. “People tend to overlook the fact that, although he is on VH1, he is a tough son of a bitch and trains his ass off to be a better fighter at a world class camp” says Andy Mcloughlin of Jags Sports Management. This should be an all out war!
Jeremiah Riggs had this to say when interviewed, "I don't know if Baroni will fight me, I hope that he would, we'll see, if he doesn't want it, it's on him. I think a New York Badass would be up for some southern hospitality. If he doesn't, I'm still going to go out there and fight whoever is put in front of me. I want to fight the best guys. I want to test my skills against the best in the world. Coach Fiore and Matt Hughes have spent a lot of time with me and I know I'm ready to fight the best."
In a recent story on MMAJunkie.com Baroni began complaining about not fighting Nick Diaz in an upcoming Strikeforce event, Jeremiah may not be a top name in Strikeforce but if Phil wants a fight, Big Rig is waiting!..
