WOLFPACK, PITBULLS WIN INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE OPENERS IN ATLANTA
Lawler/Pamplona Wins Superfight; Pitbulls Take Possession of First
Place With Win
ATLANTA, February 23, 2007 – The Wolfpack, coached by Matt Lindland and
based in Portland, Ore., and Pitbulls, coached by Renzo Gracie and
based in New York, won their 2007 International Fight League debuts in
front of 5,057 at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. UFC veteran
Robbie Lawler defeated Brazilian upstart Eduardo Pamplona by TKO in the
Superfight which followed the team competition.
The Wolfpack topped the Dragons (Toronto), coached by Carlos Newton,
3-2, while the Pitbulls subdued the Red Bears (Chicago), trained by Igor
Zinoviev, by a 4-1 margin. The victory moved the Pitbulls into first
place after the first round of IFL competition.
The Atlanta card marked the first event in the Southwest for the IFL
(OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial
arts league, and is part of the full 11-event IFL 2007 schedule, the
most comprehensive advance schedule in the history of fight sports.
Waggney Fabiano (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) started the Dragons off on the
right foot with a first-round choke-out of fellow lightweight Ian
Loveland (Portland, Ore.). The light heavyweights were up next, with John
Krohn (Gresham, Ore.) evening the score by out-pointing Wojtek Kaszowski
(Toronto) via unanimous decision. Middleweight Matt Horwich (Gresham,
Ore.) put the Wolfpack ahead by submitting Brent Beauparlant (Montreal,
Quebec) with a kimura in the second round. Welterweight Mike Dolce
(Portland, Ore.) secured the victory for the Wolfpack by knocking out
local product Jim Abrille (Atlanta) with a spectacular flurry of shots just
19 seconds into the first round. Rafael Feijao (Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil) won the heavyweight matchup, scoring a second-round TKO of Devin Cole
(Medford, Ore.) for the final 3-2 count.
Next, Erik Owings (New York) grounded-and-pounded Peter Kaljevic
(Montenegro) before choking out his lightweight opponent to stake the
Pitbulls to a 1-0 advantage against the Red Bears. Delson Heleno (Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil) made it 2-0 in favor of the Pitbulls with a convincing
unanimous decision over Mark Miller (Chicago) in the welterweight bout.
Then, middleweight Fabio Leopoldo (Sao Paulo, Brazil) took out Chris
Albandia (Chicago) via submission in the first round to clinch the
Pitbulls’ win. Tim Kennedy (Atlanta) got the Red Bears on the board with a
solid triumph over Dante Rivera (New York), via submission in the
second round. Bryan Vetell (New York) pushed the final margin to 4-1 with a
heavyweight triumph over Mo Fowzi (London), gaining the first-round
submission by keylock.
The IFL is the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial
arts league. Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 have completed the first
of their three respective 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 in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.
The IFL next moves to The Forum in Los Angeles, where the Condors
(Southern Calif.), coached by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Marco Ruas, take on
the Sabres (Tokyo), coached by Japanese world-class trainer and
bodybuilder Ken Yasuda, and the Razorclaws (San Jose), coached by MMA champion
Frank Shamrock, battle the Anacondas (Los Angeles), coached by MMA
champion Bas Rutten.
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 Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga., February 23, 2007
Wolfpack (Portland), def. Dragons (Toronto), 3-2
155 lb: Wagnney Fabiano, Dragons, def. Ian Loveland, Wolfpack, via
submission (side choke), 0:50, 1st
205 lb: John Krohn, Wolfpack, def. Wojtek Kaszowski, Dragons, via
decision (unanimous), after 3 rounds
185 lb: Matt Horwich, Wolfpack, def. Brent Beauparlant, Dragons, via
submission (kimura), 0:28, 2nd
170 lb: Mike Dolce, Wolfpack def. Jim Abrille, Dragons, via knockout,
0:19, 1st
265 lb: Rafael Feijao, Dragons, def. Devin Cole, Wolfpack, via TKO
(strike), 0:26, 2nd
Pitbulls (New York) def. Red Bears (Chicago), 4-1
155 lb: Erik Owings, Pitbulls, def. Peter Kaljevic, Red Bears, via
submission (rear naked choke), 3:03, 2nd
170 lb: Delson Heleno, Pitbulls def. Mark Miller, Red Bears, via
decision (unanimous), after 3 rounds
185 lb: Fabio Leopoldo, Pitbulls, def. Chris Albandia, Red Bears, via
submission (guillotine choke), 1:48, 1st
205 lb: Tim Kennedy, Red Bears, def. Dante Rivera, Pitbulls, via
submission (strikes), 2:20, 2nd
265 lb: Bryan Vetell, Pitbulls, def. Mo Fowzi, Red Bears, via
submission (keylock), 0:45, 1st
Superfight
185: Robbie Lawler def. Eduardo Pamplona via TKO (strikes), 1:36, 2nd
IFL Standings Through Feb. 23
Team Overall Match
Pitbulls 1-0 4-1
Anacondas 1-0 3-2
Condors 1-0 3-2
Lions 1-0 3-2
Sabres 1-0 3-2
Wolfpack 1-0 3-2
Dragons 0-1 2-3
Razorclaws 0-1 2-3
Scorpions 0-1 2-3
Silverbacks 0-1 2-3
Tiger Sharks 0-1 2-3
Red Bears 0-1 1-4
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