According to a Jan. 31 report from Yahoo! Sports, Long Island-based UFC star Gian Villante once delivered a brutal sack to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
The sack came in 2006, during a game between the Hofstra Pride and Delaware Blue Hens.
Villante was a linebacker with Hofstra at the time, while Flacco was playing for Delaware.
"It is pretty cool to think that I put a quarterback who is now in the Super Bowl flat on his back," Villante, a fast-rising light-heavyweight who recently inked a deal with UFC, told Yahoo! Sports.
"I got him pretty good and when I watch the game with a bunch of friends, I will make sure I tell them that I took down the guy who is starring in the Super Bowl."
Villante admits he wasn't exactly convinced from Flacco's 2006 performance that he would go on to become an NFL star.
"Joe was always a good athlete and you could tell he made smart decisions," Villante said. "At that level a lot of people have potential and you have no idea who will make it and who won't. I remember when he ran he looked kind of funny because he was so tall but he was deceptively quick."
Villante, a graduate of Levittown's MacArthur High School, says he'll be cheering for Flacco when the Baltimore Ravens meet the San Francisco 49ers in the 2013 Super Bowl.
"I would have loved to be there but I am going to be rooting for the Ravens because of Joe," Villante said. "To me, playing in college created a kind of bond, not just with your teammates but also with the guys you played against. We were all in it together, all trying to get better, all trying to make it.
"It gives me pride to think that I played against someone like him who has gone on to such great things and for that reason I'm going to be a Baltimore guy on Sunday."
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