411Mania's IFL Semifinals Preview Part 1!
Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 07.29.2007
Ladies and Gents the IFL semifinals are THIS THURSDAY! Get excited people! In 411Mania's continuing coverage leading up to the event, Lotfi Sariahmed previews the event starting with the team bout between the Quad Cities Silverbacks and the Los Angeles Anacondas!
Howdy everybody! There is no need for a double take at your calendar. Yes, it is Monday. We're a day early for Planet Tapout. But since Damian Sarcuni of MMA Smacktalk fame and I will be at the IFL Semifinals this Thursday, we felt a preview of the event was necessary. So here it is! We have the Los Angeles Anacondas taking on the Quad Cities Silverbacks in one team bout and the Tokyo Sabres taking on the New York Pitbulls in the other. It's titled Part 1 of our IFL Semifinals Preview because I'm taking a look at the Silverbacks v. Anacondas match-up here. Then the idea would be to look at the Pitbulls v. Sabres for Tuesday. So here's how I've decided to put this together. I'll breakdown the season's for each team and then give you the big story for each match-up. Then at the end of it all I will make my fearless prognostication doomed to go hopelessly wrong (better known as This Week in Fight Picks!). Sounds fun right? Lets get started.
VS.
The LA Anacondas started the season with a chip on their shoulder. They felt they were the team who should have been in the finals last year. The Anacondas lost to the Portland Wolfpack last season in the semifinals three bouts to two. But one of those bouts the Anacondas lost was at light heavyweight where Alex Schoenauer "tapped" to Aaron Stark. The Anacondas and a few other MMA pundits will tell you differently as the ref just blew the call.
So the Anacondas got the finals match-up they wanted with the 2006 champion Quad Cities Silverbacks at the beginning of the 2007 season. Fielding a line-up with a new middleweight, Benji Radach, and missing their heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski, the Anacondas pulled out a win 3-2.
The "uncrowned champs" of 2006 then went to Los Angeles to take on the San Jose Razorclaws in the IFL's event in March. All they did there was swept the team bout 5-0 winning all five fights. But the Anacondas did suffer one loss on the evening. Their coach Bas Rutten announced at the event that he would be leaving his position to take on other opportunities in the IFL. Since then he has become the face of the IFL. Shawn Tompkins stepped in for Rutten to take over as coach.
Tompkins first event as head coach for the Anacondas came at the June event in Washington where the Anacondas took on the Seattle Tiger Sharks. The Anacondas finished up their undefeated regular season and clinched the #1 overall seed for these playoffs beating the Tiger Sharks 3-2. As the score would suggest, it wasn't easy as their welterweight stalwart Jay Hieron was knocked out by Brad Blackburn and lightweight prodigy Chris Horodecki won a close fight against Shad Lierley. Now the Anacondas head into the semifinals for their second match-up with the Silverbacks this season. But a few key things are different this time around.
As for the Quad Cities Silverbacks in 2007, you could say they came back down to earth a bit. After steamrolling through the competition in 2006, 2007 saw the defending champs struggle to make it to the playoffs.
It started with the aforementioned loss to the Anacondas in their first team bout of the season at the IFL's Houston event. The once seemingly untouchable Bart Palaszewski lost in a controversial split decision to Chris Horodecki. So the Silverbacks left Houston that night in a very unfamiliar position, 0-1 and looking up at the competition.
The next event saw the Silverbacks take on Ken Shamrock's Lions in Moline, Illinois. It was a match at home for the team from the Quad Cities. On the surface it looked like an easy 4-1 victory for the home team. But it was anything but. Lightweight Bart Palaszewski followed up his fight with Horodecki with a tough fight against John Gunderson where he was on the right end of a split decision. Not only did "Bartimus" face a tough challenge against the Lions but heavyweight Ben Rothwell did as well. He narrowly escaped with a split decision victory against Roy Nelson.
The Silverbacks went into their final team bout of the season 1-1 with a 6-4 record in individual bouts. The defending champs were not guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and needed to beat the Chicago Red Bears 4-1 to be guaranteed in. But after Tim Kennedy and Mark Miller beat Ryan McGivern and Josh Neer respectively, the Silverbacks only managed a 3-2 win. The Silverbacks needed some help to get in and they got it, in the form of a New York Pitbulls win over the Toronto Dragons 3-2.
This Thursday brings up the rematch between two teams that many feel are the best in the IFL. But as I've already mentioned, a lot of things have changed this time around. Lets get to the individual bouts.
Where's Chris Horodecki you ask? Well, that's one of the first of many changes on what was supposed to be the money match of this card. Chris Horodecki broke his hand in the fight against Shad Lierley and was forced to pull off the card. Shawn Tompkins first named Adam DiSabato as Horodecki's replacement but he was injured in training as well. Forced to find someone on short notice, Tompkins has since turned to former STRIKEFORCE veteran Harris Sarmiento to take on Palaszewski. As a last minute replacement, Sarmiento puts the Anacondas in a better spot than DiSabato would have. I understand Tompkins initially chose DiSabato but Sarmiento (MMA record of 20-15) has much more experience than the Ohio native (MMA record of 3-1). Logic would state this would also make the bout more interesting. Palaszewski has looked human this season and Sarmiento could pull off the upset for the Anacondas.
Here's another bout where the big story is who isn't fighting as opposed to who is. The first time these two teams fought, everyone was excited for the fight between Jay Hieron and Rory Markham at welterweight. Well, that never happened. Markham was forced to pull out the first time due to injury and Hieron ended up beating Victor Moreno by first round submission. Now for the rematch it's Hieron who has to pull out. He suffered a rib injury in training forcing Tompkins to find another replacement for his team this time at welterweight. Tompkins ended up turning to Chris Clements for the spot. Clements is 4-1 and undefeated fighting in TKO promotion up in Canada. All four of his wins have come the way of (T)KO so there's no doubt Clements will exchange some leather with Markham. But he'll be facing a more experienced fighter in Markham and one who is chomping at the bit to get back in the ring. I talked to Silverbacks coach Pat Miletich about Markham and he kept saying how Markham is ready to go crazy after being out so long with an injury. Clements will definitely have his hands full in this bout.
This is another bout that's gone through some changes. It was supposed to be Benji Radach of the Anacondas taking on Ryan McGivern for the Silverbacks. But McGivern is getting married and according to Miletich, this was planned way in advance. So in McGivern's place steps Gerald Harris courtesy of Matt Lindland. He's another fighter who doesn't have a whole lot of experience. He has a 4-1 record overall and his one fight in the IFL came in a loss to Fabio Leopoldo of the New York Pitbulls. Miletich describes him as a guy who always attacks and presses the action and Harris will need to in this fight. Benji Radach has been tearing through IFL middleweights since he's come back to MMA. It's been one amazing comeback for Radach (Read the details in the interview we did with him after you finish reading. The link is at the bottom.). Bas Rutten wanted him with the Anacondas last season but he was still recovering from his injuries. Better late than never as Radach has become a stalwart for the Anacondas at middleweight. Radach will give Harris all he can handle and this has the potential to be a very exciting fight.
This is the only bout among the team bouts that's actually going to be a rematch from their first encounter this season. Back in February it was Ciesnolevicz pulling out a close split decision victory over Schoenauer. It doesn't seem like there would be much to this bout in terms of a back-story. But I asked Benji Radach about this fight and here's what he had to say:
I think Alex Schoenauer, if he's in great shape, can pull it off as well. His first fight with Mike C (Mike Ciesnolevicz) was really close. I think he (Alex) would have had the fight if he had pushed it a little more at the end. It seemed like he gave up and was ok with losing.
So the question seems to be which Schoenauer will show up to this fight? If he's going after Ciesnolevicz the Anacondas might pull this bout out. But if it's a repeat of the first match, the Anacondas could be in trouble. This could also be the second of three times these two could fight this season. Both Ciesnolevicz and Schoenauer made the World Grand Prix at light heavyweight as the three and four seeds respectively.
This should be a fun fight. "The North Star" Ben Rothwell is one of the best in the IFL's heavyweight division and one of the faces of the IFL. He has not lost a fight in the IFL with a record of 7-0 and a 25-5 record overall. Only one of his fights in the IFL has gone to the third round and that was the split decision victory over Roy Nelson. His first win in the IFL came against his opponent Thursday in Krzysztof Soszynski. Rothwell beat him by TKO in the first but Soszynski has been training hard working on his cardio and improving his all-around game as a fighter. But if you ask Rothwell it doesn't really matter. In a recent column on IFL.tv, Rothwell said of Soszynski's improvements, "It may seem like I'm crossing the line toward being disrespectful, but I'm not worried about it. I give him all the credit in the world. He's changed, he's a better fighter, and I say good. I don't want to fight the same guy again. I want a challenge, and I believe he's going to give it to me." Soszynski will have his chance to show how much he's improved on Thursday when he tries to upset "The North Star."
This Week in Fight Picks! Lightweight
Bart Palaszewski over Harris Sarmiento by decision
Sarmiento will make this fight interesting at times giving Palaszewski problems. But I can't see Sarmiento pulling off the upset. Palaszewski will continue to be solid but not spectacular.
Welterweight
Rory Markham over Chris Clements by (T)KO
Clements will come at Markham with that initial surge. He'll (Clements) throw leather looking for the knockout early. If Markham can withstand the early barrage, he'll overwhelm Clements at some point with his own barrage and win the fight. But I would not be surprised to see Clements steal a victory. Markham might come in too anxious and get caught.
Middleweight
Benji Radach over Gerald Harris by (T)KO
Harris will attack Radach early, just like Clements will Markham, looking to end the fight. He'll (Harris) look to take the fight to the ground and while Radach may think he's better than Harris on the ground he'll still have trouble. If Radach could avoid the takedown, I think this fight ends early. If not, I still think Radach takes it by decision.
Light Heavyweight
Alex Schoenauer over Mike Ciesnolevicz by decision
If Schoenauer can't come to fight for three rounds in this bout then we have bigger problems than an Anacondas loss. It'll be another close fight, but this time Schoenauer will close it out to give the Anacondas the win.
Heavyweight
Ben Rothwell over Krzysztof Soszynski by (T)KO
Soszynski may very well be a completely different fighter than his first fight with Rothwell. But in the end it won't matter. You can't teach size. Go back and look at their last fight on You Tube. Rothwell dwarfed Soszynski. He'll come into this bout with at least a three-inch reach advantage and be at least 30 pounds heavier if not more. How are you going to get a guy that size down to the mat?
Winners
Quad Cities Silverbacks 3-2
And as always, It's PlanetTapout@gmail.com for anything you may want to say or may want answered. Stay Tuned for Part 2 tomorrow and enjoy the fights everybody.
