I’ll Hit It! 5.23.07: IFL Chicago
Posted by Don Abato on 05.23.2007
It’s hype week for UFC 71. So before Chuck, Rampage and Dana take over the collective consciousness of the MMA world let’s get some conclusive thoughts from last weekend’s IFL Chicago event.
It was the first taste of the International Fight League for Chicago-area fight fans. It seemed like the crowd of more than five thousand enjoyed themselves. But you wouldn't know it by their reaction to the final fight of the card, the Superfight between pioneers Maurice Smith and Marco Ruas.
Maurice Smith showed a quick flash of what made him dangerous back in the day, a tease of what used to be, a small hint of the skills the ex K-1 fighter brought to the NHB arena(yeah, remember when we called it no-holds barred back then.) "I'm a bad old man," he reminded the press. Key word: Old.
The match-up moved with the slowest of slow paces. Think Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski Part III on Geritol, not exactly heart pounding action. The crowd bood during that fight, the reception to this one was the same. But what should you expect when Smith, 46 years old, takes on a 46 year old Ruas? You pretty much saw how a fight would go down when it is between two gamers in their mid forties. Breaking news: not everyone is Randy Couture.
"It does piss me off when people boo," said IFL Commissioner Kurt Otto. "At 45 years old sometimes it takes a little long for the car to startup."
Mo' Smith and his old self put on enough of a licking for the corner of Ruas to throw in the towel in the fourth round. There are no delusions dancing in Smith's head though. "I don't mind fighting guys who are my age. I think its good. I think there should be a master division for certain athletes that are 55, 40 it'd be great. You can have a boring fight with young guys. It's not the age it's the matchup."
Maybe he has has point? After all golf has the Champions Tour. However five rounds may be a bit much. Antione Jaoude, the heavyweight on Marco's Condor roster, has a good suggestion, "i think this for this kind of fight it must be 3 rounds, 4 minutes. It will be a very good time for both."
A good time, huh? I don't know if a 50 year old Maurice Smith and Marco Ruas getting together for part 3 of this series is a good thing or a good time. But how about this: 93 year old BJJ Grandmaster Helio Gracie vs 70 year old BJJ black belt Dan Inosanto?
Mark him down
The IFL may have its new star in the making in welterweight Mark Miller. He put UFC veteran Josh Neer away with a crushing right hand just 54 seconds into the fight. Miller, a native Chicagoan, showed no fear and no nerves in front of his home crowd.
"To knock out Josh Neer was very exciting, especially in front of the home crowd," a calm Miller said. "There was a lot of added pressure for me to perform in front of the home crowd but I kinda like it. I feed off pressure so I perform well under pressure. It was very gratifying because I know he's a well-known fighter."
You know what may be even more gratifying? If Miller makes it into the league's Grand Prix and does well. He's certainly ready to go toe-to-toe with the league's best 170 pounders.
"I think if you're gonna fight, you don't wanna fight nobody. In the end everybody will say, "yeah, he had a good record but he never fought anybody." You definitely wanna set your sights towards the top because win or lose at least you're getting in there with top quality competition and you're gonna go bang with them." Sounds like someone is ready to kick some @ss.
The wrath of "Roth"
Quad Cities Silverback heavyweight Ben Rothwell pretty much cemented his spot as one of IFL's "A-listers." He tapped Chicago Red Bear heavyweight Travis Fulton with a kimura to remain undefeated in IFL competition. Hailing from nearby Racine, WI he easily drew the most roars from the crowd.
He couldn't help but smile afterwards, "I had a blast it was great."
Rothwell may gain even more fans, especially among BJJ/rubber guard enthusiasts, when they see the fight on TV. He had Fulton in his guard and actually slid his shin up for a go-go-plata attempt. Not something you would expect from a heavyweight MMAer.
"The Roth-o-plata," he joked. "I kinda wanted to hit that so I could tell everybody that." Humor aside, Rothwell showed himself to be the typical MFS fighter(and that's a good thing.) "I got to show everybody that yeah, I can get off my back, I can work things, I do have ground and pound, and I can hit submissions. In one aspect I didn't go out and knock him out in the first few seconds but I got to show some skills."
"We work everything, we pride ourselves at the Miletich camp. We're always trying to work on things. People thought us as big plodding kickboxing heavyweights and that was it. Well obviously there's no truth to that. There's a lot more going on than that."
Playoffs? You talkin' about playoffs?
No, it wasn't Jim Mora you just heard shrieking about the playoffs, it was Pat Miletich. After beating the Red Bears 3-2, the Silverbacks(defending IFL champions) kept their playoff hopes alive, although a more convincing win could have clinched a berth. Talk of the post-season was something more suited for the NFL or Major League Baseball before the team concept of the International Fight League came about.
"It's a unique situation for MMA. Get used to it because it's here to stay," remarked Coach Miletich. "We obviously pray we make it into the playoffs but we'll see what happens with the statisticians."
It's quite a departure for this ring sport. Usually a combatant's fate was in his own hands. But phrases like "the team controls our destiny," usually reserved for team sports like football, now apply to MMA.
"It sucks, but gamblers will have a hey day right, that's when we get big, even bigger," Miletich smiled. Yeah, and when that happens your contract negotiations will be about big deals, or in his words, "Even bigger."
The Southern California Condors also stayed in the hunt for a playoff berth after beating the Razorclaws 3-2.
I'm just a bill
The Illinois state senate is expected to pass a bill to officially regulate MMA events. Illinois and Chicago Red Bears fighters Jay Estrada and Mark Miller both have experience fighting on smaller shows around the state. They have good points on the importance of regulation.
"It's gonna help a lot of the fighters from fighting on these small shows getting screwed over by a lot of shady promoters," Miller declared. "Its not gonna happen cuz it can't. It'll be illegal. I think it's great for the sport and for the fighters."
Estrada adds, "I think its great for state of Illinois getting mma here, hopefully we get some other rules changed to make the fights more exciting." I like how Mr. Estrada thinks. Can you say knees to a downed opponent?
But some others disagree with the idea of the sport being regulated in the state. The day after IFL Chicago happened, a sports show on Chicago's 24 hour cable news station held a discussion about the topic. All the panelists(men over the age of 40) did not consider the move a good one. You can watch the entire discussion at Chicagosports.com. Just scroll down to the flash video player and look for the clip titled "Sportspage: Should Illinois regulate Mixed Martial Arts?"
Frankly speaking
Frank Shamrock's team, the San Jose Razorclaws, ended its season winless with an 0-3 record. Not the outcome Shamrock wanted. But it's been a busy year for Frank: he fought and got disqualified against Renzo Gracie earlier this year in Elite XC, and he's preparing to meet Phil Baroni in EliteXC/Strikeforce in June. How does a coach/fighter balance his team needs with his own training requirements?
"I'm a busy guy and haven't been that available. I let these guys down," Shamrock admitted. "These guys go down as warriors. I'm gonna change it by being there. By training these guys personally. You saw the difference in our team between last time and this time."
"I'll do my part. I'll promise you guys next year will be a spectacular year for us." That's bulletin board material boys. He made a promise! We all know what can happen with promises in sports. With that said we should expect spectacular things from the Razorclaws next year.
But what should we expect when Frank squares off with the New York Badass? "He presents a challenge, but I'm up for it. I'm 34 years old and have plenty of punching and kicking days left in me."
Ugh, safe answer. Why couldn't we get more bulletin board material. At least some bulletin board material stronger than the "promise" for "spectacular things." I admit, I may be reaching with that one.
Speaking of reaching, we have reached the end of this article. IFL Chicago is officially wrapped up and off the radar. Time to focus on Rampage vs Liddell. I just watched Rampage playing around with Rachelle Leah on UFC All Access. Hey, wasn't there some sort of curse for fighters appearing on that show?
