Planet Tapout 08.07.07: Wrapping Up The IFL Semis!
Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 08.07.2007
So you didn't go to East Rutherford for the IFL Semifinals. So you have no idea who won the team match-ups. It's ok! It's not too late! In the latest edition of Planet Tapout, Lotfi Sariahmed goes through all 14 fights and gives you his thoughts on all the bouts. He also lets you know about the stuff you won't see! All that and more in the latest edition of Planet Tapout!
Welcome to the best place for IFL information from a guy named Lotfi. It's Planet Tapout and I am your host, Lotfi Sariahmed. So take your shoes off (just so we keep everything clean), and relax as we delve into this week's edition of the show. Before we get started we should get into the mailbag.
Mailbag!
The Planet gets some love from all the way in Finland as Kimmo shares some thoughts on Planet Tapout two weeks ago on steroids
Hi!
Great piece. I'm not going to flame you - I agree on what you say. Unless
UFC (and the smaller organizations) act on the steroid issue fast and with
real sanctions, the sport will soon have to deal with another problem like
the past ban-from-PPV. There is already more than enough opposition; there
is no need to give anyone any more ammo.
If UFC wants to give the right signal about being serious with the issue,
vacating Sherk's title would be a good start (assuming he is really found
guilty of taking steroids...). Also, they need to establish sanctions for
steroid use and implement a testing system for the fighters (the ideal would
be a system of surprise tests during training, but hoping for that might be
a little optimistic...). Also, some kind of guaranteed pay (even if one
can't fight in a given event) and medical insurance are sorely needed
If, on the other hand, Dana & co decide to continue as if nothing had
happened, well... MMA is on a roll right now. But unless this issue is taken
seriously, the roll might stop sooner and harder than anyone would like.
Keep up the good work, love reading your articles.
I'm not going to lie. When I saw that Kimmo was from Finland I got excited. I'm pretty sure that has to be my favorite Scandinavian country right now.
I'm right there with what the man from Finland said. MMA and the UFC still have more than enough opposition and resistance to becoming as big as it could be. Why open yourself up to more criticism by failing to address this problem? In terms of how to address the problem, the idea of surprise or random tests during the year is a great idea. During the post-fight press conference at the IFL semifinals, Renzo Gracie actually supported that idea. If I can actually type the Pitbulls press conference up you'll see what he said about the idea. But basically he would be ok with random testing at any point during the year.
The other issue Kimmo addressed in his email was potentially stripping Sherk of the belt. But after the latest news with Sherk, stripping him of the belt might not happen for a while. He's filed for an extension with the California State Athletic Commission basically saying he hired a lawyer for the case and there hasn't been enough time for them to put their case together. So Sherk's hearing was rescheduled for October and now the UFC is posed with an interesting question. Can it afford to wait that long? Logic states that the UFC needs to wait for the decision on Sherk to come down before acting. But when has logic ever worked out? Will the backlash from the media be that severe that it would have no choice? I don't think so but again, who knows? I think the UFC lucked out more than anything because they have B.J. Penn ready to fight for the belt along with four potential opponents.
Joe Stevenson fights Kurt Pellegrino on the UFC 74 card on August 25th. If Stevenson wins, the UFC would have a tailor made #1 contender for the winner of Penn v. Sherk, or a fighter who could step in for a bout with B.J. Penn. There's also the bout between Din Thomas and Spencer Fisher at the UFC Fight Night 11 card in September. Whoever wins that bout could step in for a shot at the title. The UFC also has the option to pit the winner of Stevenson v. Pellegrino against the winner of Thomas v. Spencer if B.J. Penn decides to go back up to 170. So the UFC has all its bases covered.
So that's it for the mailbag this week. Now it's up to Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Aland Islands, Norway and Sweden to step up and match Finland's e-mail. Send me love, hate, musings, recipes or anything else to PlanetTapout@gmail.com. You could become one of Planet Tapout's favorite countries! With that out of the way, lets get this underway shall we?
Quick! Which two teams made the IFL finals? If you said the Colts and the Bears I need you to go back and read that sentence again. I'll wait…
Now, if you said the Silverbacks and the Pitbulls good job. I'll pretend that it was because I helped educate the fans and open them up to the International Fight League. Damian Sarcuni, Jose Chavez and I were all at the event. Just because it wasn't on TV doesn't mean you can't know what went on. Of course there was our play-by-play but if that isn't your thing don't worry. Your favorite Planet Tapout columnist is here for the informal IFL recap. There were 14 total fights on the card so you have to stay with me here. Ok? Ready? GO!
LC Davis (Silverbacks) defeated Connor Heum (Anacondas) by split decision
There were MAYBE 200 people in the building at the start of this match. Mind you that's to be expected…but damn was that place empty. Heum fought a really weird fight while Davis just beat him up standing. Heum had no stand-up skills while Davis had no ground skills. Davis won because the fight stayed on the feet longer than it was on the ground. On a side note, Heum was the best dressed of the Anacondas in the post fight press conference.
Jason Palacios (Sabres) defeated Joe Sampieri (Pitbulls) by rear naked choke submission at 3:21 in the 1st round.
After the fight Renzo Gracie said that this fight was a good example of how jiu-jitsu is the backbone of MMA. Sampieri is a great muay-thai fighter with ok jiu-jitsu but Palacios has great jiu-jitsu. Palacios was non-stop in this fight and overwhelmed Sampieri. He eventually took his back and got the choke and that was all.
Lyman Good (Tiger Schulmans Karate) defeated Mike Dolce (Wolfpack) by unanimous decision.
This was the first fight that really got me into the event. There was a huge contingent of Tiger Schulmans students who made the trek to Continental Airlines Arena to see their guy fight. They were loud from start to finish with chants of TSK and I compare it to a bit of an ECW feel for those wrestling fans out there. Dolce won the first round but Lyman shook off the jitters after the round winning the 2nd and the 3rd to take the fight. Exciting for a prelim.
Dante Rivera (Pitbulls) defeated Nassim Levy (Tiger Schulmans Karate) by (T)KO due to strikes at 1:15 in the 3rd round
The TSK was in full force again supporting Levy but this time they were up against the Gracie contingent. Royce Gracie brought a bigger entourage from his academies to the event. So while Rivera and Levy dueled in the ring, the Gracie and TSK camps dueled in the crowd. As for the fight, it was just a clinic by Rivera. Levy had some spots but Rivera just dominated up to the finish at 1:15 in the 3rd round.
Mike Ciesnolevicz (Silverbacks) defeated Alex Schoenauer (Silverbacks) by split decision.
By the time the team bouts got started, we are about three-quarters full in the arena it looks like. It's a nice crowd for an event where max capacity is about 7500. As for the fight, the first round was absolutely dreadful. No one really did anything but if you HAVE to give the round to someone it belonged to Schoenauer. Then the controversy came in the 2nd round. I gave it to Ciesnolevicz but a lot of people there gave it to Schoenauer. Then the 3rd round was a bit anticlimactic outside of a Ciesnolevicz head kick. It was that kick that actually gave him the round and the fight. Schoenauer said he thought he won the fight at the press conference. I agree with the split decision going to Ciesnolevicz but not by much. This was a fight between two guys who didn't want to make a mistake.
Rory Markham (Silverbacks) defeated Chris Clements (Anacondas) by TKO due to strikes at 1:17 in the 1st round.
We knew there were going to be fireworks in this fight but the bout ended too quickly. Markham knocked him down but Clements was avoiding punches almost right after Markham started some ground and pound. Give Markham credit for the knockout but it was a questionable stoppage at best.
Bart Palaszewski (Silverbacks) defeated Harris Sarmiento (Anacondas) by submission due to guillotine choke at 1:06 in the 3rd round.
Sarmiento put on a nice fight given that he only took this bout a couple of days before. He won the first round and was doing well hanging with "Bartimus" in the 2nd and 3rd. But Palaszewski was just too good. He took advantage of Sarmiento trying to get up off the mat. Sarmiento was on all fours and Palaszewski quickly slapped on the guillotine and that was it. Palaszewski v. Horodecki II is going to be a lot of fun.
Benji Radach (Anacondas) defeated Gerald Harris (Silverbacks) by TKO due to strikes at 3:03 in the 1st round.
The fight went how everyone expected it to…sort of. Harris was actually able to pick Radach up and slam him on the mat ala Matt Hughes twice in the 1st round. But he couldn't really do too much with it as Radach always positioned himself beautifully on the way down. Radach showed why he is the best middleweight in the IFL with this fight. There was a nice TKO here to end it too. Harris was looking for a single leg takedown and had Radach's leg. But as he was driving forward he didn't have the leg tight enough. So Radach was able to get the leg out and clip him with a right hand on the chin to send Harris out. It was fun to watch.
Ben Rothwell (Silverbacks) defeated Krzysztof Soszynski (Anacondas) by TKO due to strikes at 0:13 in the 1st round.
To quote Soszynski, he "went straight at the #1 heavyweight in the IFL. I don't think I even had my chin down." When that happens you'll be on the wrong end of the quickest KO in the IFL's history. It's ok though. Soszynski had a real nice lady friend with him at the press conference. And it was his birthday too.
Dan Miller (Pitbulls) defeated Dave Phillips (Sabres) by guillotine choke submission at 1:30 in the 1st round.
The Renzo Gracie academy students started making themselves heard again. This was the reason why they were here and Dan Miller got a HUGE pop from the crowd. Miller fought a great fight constantly putting pressure on Phillips. He eventually got the submission and Phillips basically stormed out of the arena. Savant Young actually said at the press conference that when he (Phillips) left it hurt the morale of the team. Nice fight for Miller.
Bryan Vetell (Pitbulls) defeated Wayne Cole (Sabres) by unanimous decision.
When I saw the weigh-in results I did a triple check to make sure I was reading it right. Cole was giving up almost 50 pounds to Vetell. Cole said he wanted to let Vetell wear himself down but Vetell was just too strong. He delivered crushing knees in the clinch and outside of maybe two instances the entire fight; Vetell just dominated. Cole said he'd be going down to 205 after this fight to "bully some of those guys around."
Deividas Taurosevicius (Pitbulls) defeated Savant Young (Sabres) by unanimous decision.
Before the fight we were given the attendance number for the night. It ended up being 7077, very impressive considering all the late changes to the card with injuries and such. This is the part where Damian got all excited because he knew Taurosevicius from the Bodog show he covered for the site. Savant Young said after the fight that he expected this fight to go a 4th round. But to be honest I'm not sure what fight he was in. On my card Taurosevicius took all three rounds and only the first round was really questionable. Taurosevicius is a vicious fighter and Renzo talked about him always being angry. I'm interested to see who will fight Palaszewski in the finals. Will it be Taurosevicius or Erik Owings who was out with an injury?
Antonio McKee (Sabres) defeated Delson Heleno (Pitbulls) by split decision.
It wasn't a great fight from any standpoint. McKee grounded out another win and that's fine. It's what he does. The news from this bout comes from that 2nd round. Heleno tagged McKee in the "man region" about the middle of the round and McKee was out for a LONG time. I was always under the impression that a fighter would be given five minutes to recover from a low blow and McKee was given that and more. But just when I thought this fight was going to be called for McKee, the ref talked to coaches, fighters and Kurt Otto and we restarted the fight. I'm still not sure what happened there. Then Heleno tagged McKee again at the end of the 2nd! It was insane. Mind you all the while, McKee has clearly won the first two rounds; the first off a takedown and the second on principle. Heleno came back and won the third but it wasn't supposed to be enough. Of course I say that and one of the judges actually scored the bout 30-27 for Heleno. So make of that what you will. This was a crazy bout for all the wrong reasons.
Vladimir Matyushenko (Sabres) defeated Tim Boetsch (Pitbulls) by unanimous decision.
Yes Boetsch fought a very nice fight. He really didn't have anything to lose and left it in the ring against Matyushenko. Yes Matyushenko looked beatable in this fight. Does this mean he can be picked off now? No. I think this was Matyushenko really just trying out some new things for this fight since his team had already lost. He should still win the Grand Prix at light heavyweight with almost no problem.
As for the press conferences, the Silverbacks and Pitbulls were by far the most entertaining. It seems like that would be obvious, but when you read the Pitbulls one you'll know what I mean. I'll do my best to get you the Pitbulls press conference as soon as I can. It was really the Renzo Gracie show.
Overall it was a fun show. Not all the fights were barn-burners but we had some nice action up and down the card. Yes, the IFL needs to do live television but that will come eventually...we hope. But if the IFL ever comes around your area you should go check it out. It'll be a good time had by all.
It's been fun, but that does it for another week of Planet Tapout! Next week I won't do IFL, I promise. I already have something in mind. Send me love, hate, musings, recipes and otherwise to PlanetTapout@gmail.com .
Make sure you come back next Tuesday for another edition of Planet Tapout! This week in MMA gives us some smaller shows including a K-1 event. Enjoy the fights everybody.
