Jerry Milani sent along the following:
ANACONDAS, SABRES WIN AT INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE LOS ANGELES
Homestanding L.A. Squad Earns Sweep over `Claws; `Adopted’
Angelenos Win 3-2
LOS ANGELES, March 17, 2007 – The Los Angeles-based Anacondas and
Tokyo-based Sabres claimed victories at the International Fight League card
at The Forum in Los Angeles tonight. The Anacondas (2-0) took over
first place in the IFL, the world’s first team-based mixed martial arts
league, by virtue of their 5-0 sweep over the Razorclaws, while the
Sabres, whose members train in Los Angeles, remained right on their heels
with their 3-2 triumph.
Prior to the bout, the Anacondas announced that champion trainer Shawn
Tompkins would take over the reigns as the team’s head coach,
replacing Bas Rutten, who will take an expanded role in the IFL, including
serving as co-host of the weekly “IFL Battleground” television series
on MyNetworkTV.
In the first matchup, Brian Ebersole (San Jose, Calif.) of the
Razorclaws (0-2) and Alex Schoenauer (Las Vegas) of the Anacondas slugged it
out in an action-packed light heavyweight bout, with Schoenauer taking a
split decision to give the hometown favorites a 1-0 edge. Middleweight
Benji Radach (Coconut Creek, Fla.) made it 2-0 in favor of the
Anacondas with a first-round TKO over Brian Foster (Moreno Valley, Calif.) via
guillotine choke. Lightweight Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) then
clinched the victory with a workmanlike unanimous decision over Josh
Odom (Tallahassee, Fla.). Jay Hieron (Las Vegas) submitted Donnie Liles
in a welterweight bout to move the advantage to 4-0, before Krzysztof
Soszynski (Winnipeg, Manitoba) finished off the whitewashing with a
unanimous verdict over Dan Christison (Las Vegas) in the heavyweight tilt.
The sweep was the second in league history, matching the Anacondas’
effort in September 2006.
Lightweight Savant Young (Los Angeles) got the Sabres (2-0) off to a
rousing start with an early second-round KO of Adam Lynn (Huntington
Beach, Calif.), Antonio McKee (Lakewood, Calif.) took a unanimous
welterweight decision over Rodrigo Ruas (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to stake the
Sabres to a 2-0 advantage. After Jeremy Williams (Laguna Niguel, Calif.)
executed a first-round triangle choke of Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Tokyo) to
cut the Condors’ (1-1) deficit in half with the TKO win, Vladimir
Matyushenko (Belarus) secured the Sabres’ team win with a first-round TKO
of Justin Levens (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) in the light heavyweight
matchup. Condors heavyweight Antoine Jaoude (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) turned
the tables on Wayne Cole (Oklahoma City) with a second-round KO for the
final 3-2 margin.
In the preliminary bouts which featured the alternate fighters for each
team, Conor Heun of the Anacondas defeated Clint Coronel of the
Razorclaws by split decision, while Zac George of the Sabres topped Danny
Suarez of the Condors in a unanimous decision.
The IFL next visits Moline, Ill., on April 7, with the Tiger Sharks
taking a 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, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL
Finals will then be held at The Forum on Saturday, September 15.
The 10 venues for the 2007 season (The Forum will host two events) will
scale to between 7,000 and 13,000 seats, which has been consistent with
the IFL’s plan of managed growth.
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
International Fight League
The Forum, Los Angeles, March 17, 2007
Anacondas (Los Angeles) def. Razorclaws (San Jose), 5-0
205 lb.: Alex Schoenauer, Anacondas, def. Brian Ebersole, Razorclaws,
via decision (split), after 3 rounds
185 lb.: Benji Radach, Anacondas, def. Brian Foster, Razorclaws, via
TKO (guillotine choke), 1:04, 1st
155 lb.: Chris Horodecki, Anacondas, def. Josh Odom, Razorclaws, via
decision (unanimous) after 3 rounds
170 lb.: Jay Hieron, Anacondas, def. Donnie Liles, Razorclaws, via
submission (guillotine choke), 2:49, 1st
265 lb.: Krzysztof Soszynski, Anacondas, def. Dan Christison,
Razorclaws, via decision (unanimous), after 3 rounds
Sabres (Tokyo) def. Condors (Southern Calif.), 3-2
155 lb.: Savant Young, Sabres, def. Adam Lynn, Condors, via KO
(strikes), 0:21, 2nd
170 lb.: Antonio McKee, Sabres, def. Rodrigo Ruas, Condors, via
decision (unanimous) after 3 rounds
185 lb.: Jeremy Williams, Condors, def. Kazuhiro Hamanaka, Sabres, via
TKO (triangle choke), 0:59, 1st
205 lb.: Vladimir Matyushenko, Sabres, def. Justin Levens, Condors, via
TKO (ref stoppage), 3:53, 1st
265 lb.: Antoine Jaoude, Condors, def. Wayne Cole, Sabres, via KO,
0:56, 2nd
Preliminary Bouts
LW/155: Conor Heun, Anacondas, def. Clint Coronel, Razorclaws, via
decision (split) after 3 rounds
LW/155: Zac George, Sabres, def. Danny Suarez, Condors, via decision
(unanimous) after 3 rounds
IFL Standings Through March 17
Team Overall Match Pts.*
Anacondas 2-0 8-2 60
Sabres 2-0 6-4 54
Pitbulls 1-0 4-1 37
Lions 1-0 3-2 27
Wolfpack 1-0 3-2 27
Condors 1-1 5-5 47
Dragons 0-1 2-3 20
Scorpions 0-1 2-3 17
Tiger Sharks 0-1 2-3 17
Silverbacks 0-1 2-3 13
Red Bears 0-1 1-4 10
Razorclaws 0-2 2-8 20
*Tiebreaker
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