Archive for December, 2007

Ryan Schultz talks about fight with Chris Horodecki: Both fighters start carefully, trading punches from distance. Schultz shoots in for a takedown and puts Horodecki down. “The Lion” goes to work inside Horodecki’s guard, posturing up and landing some heavy right hands from the top. Horodecki is unable to break his posture as Schultz moves to half-guard and continues raining down huge right hands. Horodecki is in serious trouble, and when he fails to respond to Schultz’s punches the referee moves in to stop the bout. Read the rest of this entry »

- Georges St. Pierre beats Matt Hughes via Submission in Round 2.
- Chuck Liddell beats Wanderlei Silva via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) 3 Rounds.
- Eddie Sanchez beats Sao Palelei via TKO (ref. stoppage) in Round 3.
- Ryoto Machida beats Sokoudjou via Submission in Round 2.
- Rich Clementi beats Melvin Guillard via Submission in Round 1.

Ryan “The Lion” Schultz (North Platte, Neb.) knocked out previously undefeated 20-year-old Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (London, Ontario), capping an exciting night of action by winning the lightweight (155-lbs.) championship at the inaugural International Fight League World Grand Prix finals, held tonight in front of 5,731 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Four other Championship belts also took place, including victories by Roy “Big Country” Nelson (Las Vegas) at heavyweight (265-lbs.), Wagnney Fabiano (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) at featherweight (145-lbs.), Jay Hieron (Las Vegas) at welterweight (170-lbs.), and Matt Horwich (Portland, Ore.) at middleweight (185-lbs.). Read the rest of this entry »

The International Fight League, HeadBlade and Real Fighter Magazine are combining with the group Tickets For Troops to assist local military vets and New York City Police and Fireman affected by the tragedies of September 11 at next week’s IFL World Grand Prix at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. HeadBlade and Real Fighter have purchased a block of tickets for the groups to attend the December 29 event as their guests. In addition to those attending, IFL athletes and coaches will visit the SubVets Groton Base in Groton, Conn., prior to the event at Mohegan Sun, and will be signing a large number of cards to be sent to troops overseas over the coming months. Read the rest of this entry »

On Thursday, December 27, anyone who has ever been curious about what it’s like to hang out with the “Axe Murderer” will get the chance, as Rachelle Leah goes behind-the-scenes to take an inside look at the lifestyle and training methods of UFC® light heavyweight fighter Wanderlei Silva in UFC All Access. Leah visits Silva as he prepares for his long-awaited return to the UFC in his showdown with the Iceman, Chuck Liddell, at UFC 79: Nemesis on Saturday, December 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The matchup is one of the most anticipated fights in the history of mixed martial arts, as Liddell and Silva, two legendary figures, share the Octagon for the first time to settle all debates about who the more dominant fighter is. The bout is crucial to the careers of both men, each at a crossroads in the light heavyweight division. Read the rest of this entry »

HDNet’s presentation of “HDNet Fights: Fedor Returns” has been set for 6:00 a.m. ET. The broadcast, which will be coming to viewers LIVE from Tokyo, Japan will include the entire Yarennoka event, including the return of Fedor Emelianenko – considered by many to be the best fighter in any weight class.

Fedor’s opponent for this upcoming match is Korea’s Hong-Man Choi. At 7-feet, 2-inches tall and 360 pounds, Choi is known as “Techno Goliath.” Read the rest of this entry »

The International Fight League and Alfred Haber Distribution (AHDI) today announced that HBO Latin America, one of the fastest growing entertainment channels in Latin America will begin showing IFL content beginning in 2008. It is the IFL’s first Spanish Language partnership, and will cover Latin America, Brazil and the Caribbean. Read the rest of this entry »

Mack Kay: Matt Serra is out with an injury for the Dec 29 fight against Matt Hughes (the most dominant welter weight in UFC history).

Hughes is a machine. He has won 41 fights with the same wrestling style over his career which says something for the guy. Most fighters with one style get picked apart early in their career but Matt has proven he can overcome almost anyone. He’s a strong, hard working, tough farm kid with a “Must Win” mentality. And all the power to him!!!! He had a ton of fans prior to the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter series where he coached and then came off as cocky and a bully. Call him what you will, anyone with wins over BJ Penn, Carlos Newton, Georges St Pierre & Hayato Sakurai is a machine. No matter what happens in the future he is a champion and a role model for MMA fighters. His work ethic and ability to find a way to win are incredible and as a competitor you just have to respect the guy. Read the rest of this entry »

M. Kay: Having a hard time picking a winner on this one! There is an interesting background to it all. This fight has been in the works since early `06 and likely prior to that, we just do not know about. It has the makings of a great war and hopefully can live up to the hype!

Back in July 2006 at UFC 61 Dana introduces Silva to the UFC crowd and brings him in the cage. This is prior to the whole Pride purchase so this was a huge event at the time as there was always question as to which organization had the better fighters. Wandy gets the mic and says he wants to the fight the best in the UFC, ie Mr. Iceman, so in comes Chuck and they have a little stare down. The announcement was for the fight to be in November with one stipulation, Chuck had to beat Renato Sobral `Babalu` in August and retain his title. *Side note: Babalu got fired from UFC for not relinquishing a choke hold in a later fight after the ref told him to stop when his opponent tapped, serves him right!*

August came and went and Babalu, a Jiu-Jitsu black belt tries to go toe to toe with Chuck. As expected he took a little nap in the ring and now the fight with Silva should be a go for November, except for one big problem. Wanderlie got kicked in the head with bad intentions by Cro-Cop in September at the Pride Open Weight tourney. Read the rest of this entry »

Sensational news for Mixed Martial Arts fans in Hawaii. ICON Sport, Hawaii’s original MMA brand and leader since 1995, is about to get bigger – and better. ProElite, Inc. [PELE.PK], an entertainment and media company dedicated to producing world-class MMA events, today announced the acquisition of ICON Sport, Hawaii’s first and most lucrative MMA organization.

The formal announcement of the new partnership was made by Gary Shaw, President of EliteXC, the respected live fight division of Los Angeles, Calif.-based ProElite, Inc Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK, December 14, 2007 – Veteran Ryan “The Lion” Schultz (North Platte, Neb.), will replace John Gunderson (Medford, Ore.) in the International Fight League World Grand Prix lightweight championship against undefeated (11-0) star Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (London, Ontario) on Saturday, December 29, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Five Championship bouts will be contested that night, believed to be unprecedented in North America. Read the rest of this entry »

The International Fight League and PaltalkT, the leading real-time, video-based online community, today announced a partnership designed to expose IFL content to a larger worldwide audience and to allow the millions of Paltalk members to get up close and personal with the league’s athletes and coaches. Read the rest of this entry »

John “Guns” Gunderson (Medford, Ore.), standout for the Lions, will replace Shad Lierley (Seattle) in the International Fight League World Grand Prix lightweight championship against undefeated (11-0) star Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (London, Ontario) on Saturday, December 29, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Lierley broke a toe in training and is unable to compete at the event, at which five Championship bouts, believed to be unprecedented in North America, will take place. Read the rest of this entry »

A fighter responsible for perhaps the most dramatic, unlikely, snatching-victory-from-the-brink-of-defeat finishes in the history of Mixed Martial Arts, Scott Smith, has signed a long-term contract with Los Angeles-based ProElite, Inc.’s live division, EliteXC.

The announcement was made today by EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Read the rest of this entry »

Spike TV’s live telecast of “The Ultimate Fighter®: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra” finale on Saturday, December 8 (9:00-12:12am) drew 2.5 million viewers and reached more men in the hard-to-reach demographics of 18-34, 18-49, and 25-34 than anything else on television (broadcast or cable) in its timeslot. The telecast peaked with an impressive 2.9 million viewers at 11:30pm despite head-to-head competition from the Mayweather-Hatton pay-per-view boxing event.

Based on the ratings, more young men preferred the epic battle between UFC® fighters Roger Huerta and Clay Guida to Russell Crowe’s epic battles in “Gladiator” on TNT or the incredible athleticism of “The Ultimate Fighter” victor Mac Danzig to Keanu Reeves as Neo in the “Matrix” on A@E on Saturday night. Read the rest of this entry »