By Robert Rousseau
March 1, 2008:
The International Fight League got things going on Feburary 29, 2008 with a seemingly great card at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before going into that, however, it would seem prudent to note a major change to the IFL team concept coming into 2008. Namely, teams with no real connection to one another are out. Instead, camps are in. Smart move?
You bet. So, by the way, was having three championship bouts at this IFL Las Vegas “New Blood New Battles” event. Would the event live up to the hype?
There’s only one way to find out. A review Submit To MMA style.
Fight of the Night : Matt Horwich vs. Ryan McGivern—Horwich was the favorite coming into this fight despite the fact that he had lost to McGivern in the past. Well, guess what?
Ryan McGivern proved to be the better fighter even today.
Horwich won the battle inside and nearly won the bout in the second round with a strong omoplata attempt that likely would’ve worked had he not run out of time. But McGivern’s hand speed and ability to land punches at will in combination with some strong takedowns was the difference in this bout.
Ryan McGivern is clearly a fighter to watch.
Ryan McGivern via unanimous decision.
Knockout of the Night : Roy Nelson vs. Fabiano Scherner—Before the match, Roy Nelson said, “my ultimate goal as a fighter is to simply be number one in the world.” Well, he did nothing in this fight to make people feel as if that weren’t possible.
The story on what happened here is simple. Roy Nelson took Scherner down twice early in the round. Once he got him into the corner, he rained down two straight ridiculously powerful right hands.
And the referee stepped in.
Roy Nelson wins via TKO at 3:20 of round one.
Submission of the Night : Alexandre Ferreira vs. Lew Polley— Ferreira came out and dizzied his opponent with three straight punches. Then he sunk in the standing guillotine. A very dominant performance that will have people talking.
Alexandre Ferreira wins via standing guillotine after 20 seconds in round one.
THE REST
Ryan Schultz of Team Quest defeats John Gunderson of the Lion’s Den via unanimous decison
Ian Loveland defeats Dennis Davis via guillotine choke after 58 seconds in round two
Rafael Dias of the World Class Fight Center defeats Santino DeFranco of Team Tompkins via guillotine choke at 2:03 of round one
Josh Haynes of Team Tompkins defeats Leopoldo Serao of the World Class Fight Center via unanimous decision
Jake Ellenberger of Team Quest defeats Pat Healy of the Lion’s Den via unanimous decision
Some Fighter Biographies from Submit To MMA
Dan Henderson Biography and Fighting Information
Lyoto Machida Biography and Fighting Information
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