Teams for the Rings in IFL World Championship Finals on “IFL Battleground” Monday
For the past seven months, “IFL Battleground” viewers have followed the 12 teams from the International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, through the regular season and the 2007 World Championship semifinals. This Monday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT), the program chronicles the highly-anticipated finals matchup between Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls and Pat Miletich’s defending champion Quad Cities Silverbacks. “IFL Battleground” airs every Monday night, with a replay on Saturday, on MyNetworkTV.
The Pitbulls, undefeated during the regular season, defeated the Tokyo Sabres, 3-2, to advance to the finals. The Silverbacks, who won both the 2006 Legends Championship and World Team Championship, topped the No. 1-seeded Los Angeles Anacondas to qualify for the finals. The Silverbacks defeated the Pitbulls, 3-2, in Moline, Ill., in September 2006 in the only other matchup between the teams.
Matchups and personalities featured in the episode include:
. Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania), who has worked his way into the starter position for the Pitbulls, challenges Palaszewski (Wonder Lake, Ill.) in the lightweight division.
. Heleno (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), a Capoeira and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master with the descriptive nickname of “Pe de Chumbo,” — or “leadfoot” — for his devastating kicks, takes on Jake Ellenberger (Omaha, Neb.), filling in for injured star Rory Markham at welterweight for the Silverbacks.
. Middleweight Leopoldo (Sao Paolo, Brazil) returns after suffering a shoulder injury in the last regular season bout for a rematch with the Silverbacks’ Ryan McGivern (Bettendorf, Iowa), a civilian Army engineer who also missed his team’s semifinal bout, but for a different reason - the newlywed McGivern was on his honeymoon.
. Another rematch is on tap as Pitbulls’ light heavyweight Andre Gusmao (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) puts his strong striking and ground skills to use against Mike Ciesnolevicz (Williamstown, Pa.), whom Gusmao defeated by second-round TKO in 2006.
. Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez (Staten Island, N.Y.) makes his IFL debut, substituting for injured Pitbulls heavyweight Bryan Vetell against undefeated IFL star Ben “The North Star” Rothwell (Milwaukee, Wis.).
Viewers can find their local MyNetworkTV affiliate at www.mynetworktv.com/stations.php.
About the IFL
International Fight LeagueT (IFL) is the world’s first professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York and offices in Las Vegas. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv.
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Posted September 19th, 2007 l 144 Views
