It will have been nearly four years to the day since Xavier Saccomanno manhandled Tim Brower the first time they faced off in an MMA cage. On November 21, on the stage that Brower helped found, the two will return to face each other at PFC’s Rock “N” Rumble event.
Saccomanno comes into the match with a 1-4 professional record. That one victory though, is over Tim Brower. But he has entered the cage since 2012. If fans are curious what he’s been up to in those two years, his answer speaks to a laser focus he now has.
He wants to fight.
“I’ve just been getting ready. Ready to get back and fight,” Saccomanno said.
Brower comes into the match 0-2 as a professional and hasn’t fought since 2011 when he was part of the original PFC debut with Full Force Fighting at the Paramount Theater. Brower, an executive behind PFC, has kept his plate full these three years outside of the cage but a return has never been far from his mind.
“I sold my interests in my company this last May and took the summer off. I’ve had time to focus on my family and my life and, looking at fighting, I’ve never had a chance to fully focus on any of the fights I’ve had. So this opportunity came up, on this card with the concert and everything we’ve worked on, and my schedule was free to focus fully on training so I wanted to try it. I wanted to finally see what I could do with a real effort,” Brower said.
Part of that ‘real effort’ took the shape of adding one of the most popular PFC roster members to his fight camp.
“I’ve had Tony Sims as my coach for this fight, and I’ve never had help like that and I’ve never had a full camp before. Now I’ll get to see what I can actually do with those tools in place,” Brower said.
Back to Saccomanno, who continued his theme when asked about changes going into this rematch.
“Changes? Not really. I’m ready to fight,” Saccomanno said.
One of the big questions on the table is whether or not the 44-year-old Brower is coming to this fight for the right reason. Is this just a vanity project to exact some revenge on Saccomanno? The notion makes Brower laugh while reflecting on his errors.
“Not at all. I like Xavier, a lot. He’s tough and just a great fighter and person. He’s a very cool guy and I think we’re just a good matchup. Last time I really did not do well and did not provide a good fight. This time I am going in to earn a victory,” Brower said.
As far as earning that victory goes Saccomanno wants Brower to remain open to all possibility of disappointment.
“He wanted a fight. I want to fight. Everyone gets a second chance. He’s hoping he gets a better outcome, but it might be a worse outcome,” Saccomanno said.
In truth Brower isn’t coming to the cage to prove anything to anyone but himself. His desires go beyond impressing the relationships he’s built as the self-made business man and mogul Colorado has come to know and respect. While Saccomanno may be the opponent on November 21, Brower is facing down his own shadow and that of time itself.
But that doesn’t mean he didn’t need to talk anyone into letting him fight again.
“It took a little convincing, to say the least.” Brower said laughing when remembering his discussion with his better-half. “My wife knew my age is definitely a factor going into this, but she wanted one guarantee to sign off. That if I was going to do this, I was going to give it my all.”
Giving it his all sounds exactly like what Saccomanno has planned as well.
“I’m coming into this for my family and for my son. I’m just wanting to come back and I have something to gain. I had something to lose last time. Now I have something to gain. I don’t care about being a spoiler. I want to fight. I’m ready to fight and when I am ready to fight, I am ready to fight and win,” Saccomanno said.
Neither man can hide their excitement when discussing how they see the evening going.
“It’s just going to be a lot of fun,” Brower said.
“The amateur Xavier, do any of you remember him? He was 10-1 at one point. That’s what you should expect. The guy that comes to fight and put people out. It’s going to be a show and I promise you…I promise you, it’s going to be great,” Saccomanno said.
Can Brower beat back the hands of time and possibly close out his career with his first professional win? Will Saccomanno put down the PFC executive again, on the biggest stage the promotion has yet created? The only way to find out is to be there to see this as well as the rest of the stacked R“N”R card and a P.O.D. concert at the National Western Complex on November 21.
Go to www.RnRMMA.com for tickets.
