Boxers Winky Wright, Jeff Lacy and Antonio Tarver dominated Tampa Bay badassery until last year, when each experienced signifi-cant career setbacks. It’s time to hand over the badass award to a mixed martial artist. The sport — often called MMA — is experienc-ing a boom in popularity internationally, and that includes Tampa Bay. Berto stands 5 foot 9 and weighs 154 pounds. Unlike a lot of MMA practitioners who try to wrestle their opponents to the ground and hug them to death, Berto likes to throw punches and kicks. Af-ter dominating the local Real Fighting Championships, he won two matches on the national scene this year as part of the Elite XC se-ries. The 24-year-old transplanted Haitian is a nice guy with a winning smile, but did we mention that you shouldn’t mess with him?
This article appears in Sep 12-18, 2007.
