Jerry Milani sent along the following:
ROTHWELL, MARKHAM, GUNDERSON, BLACKBURN AMONG NOTABLES ON INTERNATIONAL
FIGHT LEAGUE MOLINE CARD APRIL 7
Veteran Hoger To Fill In For Silverbacks At Light Heavyweight; Jeff
Curran, Kevin English To Tangle In Superfight
NEW YORK and MOLINE, Ill., March 27, 2007 — The International Fight
League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed
martial arts league, returns to the site of one of its most successful
events, The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline on Saturday, April 7,
with an 11-bout card, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The rosters feature the
local favorites and defending champion Silverbacks, coached by Pat
Miletich, taking on Ken Shamrock’s Reno-based Lions. The Tiger Sharks, led
by MMA and kick-boxing champion Maurice Smith and based in Seattle,
battle the Red Bears, who are coached by Igor Zinoviev and call Chicago
home. Popular lightweights Jeff Curran (Crystal Lakes, Ill.) and Kevin
English (Lake Station, Ind.) will compete in a Superfight following the
team competition.
Both of the matchups have important post-season implications. The
Silverbacks (0-1 team, 2-3 individual), who won the 2006 IFL World Team
Championship, need the victory to have any hope of advancing to the
playoffs. They will depend on standouts Rory Markham at welterweight, Ben
Rothwell at heavyweight, and Bart Palaszewski at lightweight. Former UFC
light heavyweight Sam Hoger fills in for the injured Mike Ciesnolevicz
in a key bout against the Lions’ Vernon White. Shamrock’s squad
(1-0, 3-2) also features undefeated heavyweight Roy Nelson and
lightweight John Gunderson, who has won his past eight MMA matches.
For the Tiger Sharks (0-1, 2-3) and Red Bears (0-1, 1-4), victory is
essential to remain alive for the four-team IFL postseason. Maurice
Smith’s Seattle-based team is paced by welterweight Brad Blackburn and
heavyweight Reese Andy, while the Red Bears will depend on Chicago
natives Mark Miller at welterweight and Chris Albandia at middleweight as
they go for their first victory of the season.
The evening is part of the full 11-event IFL 2007 schedule, the most
comprehensive advance schedule in the history of fight sports. Below are
the matchups for Moline (bout order to be determined by coaches’
choice prior to weigh-in):
Tiger Sharks (0-1, 2-3) vs. Red Bears (0-1, 1-4)
LW/155: Shad Lierley (Seattle) (1-0 IFL, 1-0 overall) vs. Mike Correy
(St. Louis) (0-0, 4-1)
WW/170: Brad Blackburn (Olympia, Wash.) (2-1, 9-8) vs. Mark Miller
(Chicago) (0-1, 5-2)
MW/185: Bristol Marunde (Sequim, Wash.) (0-2, 2-4) vs. Chris Albandia
(Chicago) (0-1, 5-4)
HW/265: Allan Goes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (2-0, 9-4-2) vs. Homer
Moore (0-0, 24-7-2)
HW/265: Reese Andy (Billings, Mont.) (3-1, 5-1) vs. Adam Maciejewski
(0-0, 5-2)
Lions (1-0, 3-2) vs. Silverbacks (0-1, 2-3)U
LW/155: John Gunderson (Medford, Ore.) (1-0, 11-4) vs. Bart Palaszewski
(Wonder Lake, Ill.) (5-1, 25-8)
WW/170: Pat Healy (St. Louis) (1-0, 17-11) vs. Rory Markham (4-1, 10-2)
MW/185: Daniel Molina (Carson City, Nev.) (0-1, 6-6) vs. Ryan McGivern
(Bettendorf, Iowa) (3-3, 9-4)
LHW/205: Vernon White (East Palo Alto, Calif.) (0-0. 24-30-2) vs. Sam
Hoger (Eagle River, Alaska) (0-0, 6-3)
HW/265: Roy Nelson (Las Vegas) (1-0, 7-0) vs. Ben Rothwell (Kenosha,
Wis.) (5-0, 20-5)
Superfight
Kevin English (Lake Station, Ind.) (0-0, 9-3) vs. Jeff Curran (Crystal
Lakes, Ill.) (0-0, 25-8-1)
Tickets are available through www.ifl.tv or via Ticketmaster at
www.ticketmaster.com, by telephone or at Ticketmaster outlets.
Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams
— each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing. The
team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the
team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling
meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the
bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three,
four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena
experience for local fans.
Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season
events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will
advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2,
2007 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007
IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday,
September 15, 2007.
About the IFL
International Fight League (IFL) is the world’s first professional
mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York,
NY and offices in Las Vegas, NV. For more information about IFL,
please see: www.ifl.tv
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