The much ballyhooed network debut of the International Fight League didn’t quite go the way any of us thought it would. Thankfully, there’s also the season debut of the IFL on FSN, which focused more on actual fighting and less on the overhyped LISTEN TO ME SAY IN THIS DEEP VOICE HOW COOL WE ARE.
FSN gave us three out of five full fights, including the fight everyone was waiting for between the two undefeated lightweights. So let’s have at it.
QUAD CITY SILVERBACKS VS. LOS ANGELES ANACONDAS
This contest was from the season opener on February 2nd and there were two changes to the roster. Anacondas’ heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski was injured in training, so he was replaced by Matt Thompson. Silverbacks’ welterweight Rory Markham was still recovering from eye surgery, so replacing him was Victor Moreno.
Ben Rothwell def. Matt Thompson – R2 TKO
Does Ben Rothwell remind anyone else of Kubiak from the old “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” show? Anyway, the big story in this match was that it was the first time Rothwell ever saw a round two. He usually finishes people off in a minute or so, but Thompson held his own – even landed a few decent shots. But once he went down in the second rounf and Thompson started raining down his punches, there wasn’t much else for the referee to do. Big Ben’s undefeated record remains in tact.
Jay Hieron def. Victor Moreno – R1 Tapout
This was Victor Moreno’s IFL debut. It’s a shame it didn’t last long. Hieron was simply the better fighter. After a series of punches and kicks, it went to the ground where Hieron slipped on the rear naked choke. It was goodnight Irene time after that.
Benji Radach def. Ryan McGivern – R2 TKO
They only gave us the highlights of this fight, which Radach won in the second round by punching McGivern repeatedly in the head. What stood out here was the mini-feature on Radach (who was making his Anacondas debut). He’s just recovering from a series of injuries that went from having a Spider-bite, to a herniated disc, to a torn meniscus, and finally to having a staph infection. He also apparently disarmed a robber one time too.
Chris Horodecki def. Bart Palaszewski – Split Decision
This was a close one, and no one is ever satisfied with split decisions. “Bartamus” almost ended it in the first round with a guiotine choke, but “the Polish Hammer” was able to slip out of the ring and was literally saved by the bell, because he looked loopy. But where round one was easily Palaszewski’s, the other two could have gone either way and was left to the discretion of the judges. Without knowing the specifics that the fights are judged on, I’d almost have to give it to Palaszewski just because he was so dominate in the first round. Horodecki was happy with the decision. Palaszewski stormed away from the ring and said in his post-fight interview that he was robbed. However on the way out, he took the time to sign someone’s autograph. I thought that showed class.
With the victory, the Anacondas handed the Silverbacks their first defeat. We were informed the light heavyweight Mike Ciesnolevicz won a split decision over Alex Schoenauer.
This was a definite improvement over the MyNetwork TV debacle, and when you get to see the actual competitions you see that the fighters are a lot better than “Battleground” made them out to be. If you were as offended as everyone else was, it’s worth giving the IFL a second chance.
