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Anacondas vs. Silverbacks
©
Marc Wickert May
4, 2007 All
photos copyright IFL 2006 On
February 2, 2007, Bas Rutten’s Anacondas went to war with Pat
Miletich’s Silverbacks for one of IFL’s biggest MMA showdowns. One
of the most anticipated bouts in IFL history was between the two
unbeaten lightweights, Chris Horodecki and Bart Palaszewski. This bout
went to a split decision, with neither fighter managing to conclusively
dominate the other, and only the fans came away from the
knuckle-pounding shootout as outright winners. Horodecki vs. Palaszewski
II should be a cracker. Fans
were curious as to how Benji Radach, after such a long absence from
competition, would shape up for his first return bout – particularly
against the highly respected Ryan McGivern. Conspicuous
by his absence was injured Silverback, Rory Markham, who had Victor
Moreno standing in for him against Jay Hieron. And
many MMA enthusiasts were curious to see how ‘hired gun’ Matt
Thompson would go against the IFL heavyweight’s ‘main man’, Ben
Rothwell. If
the team result was not decided before the final bout, fans knew the
Schoenauer vs. Ciesnolevicz war was going to be a real nail-biter. This
team feud did not disappoint: Nor did the sizzling ring-card girls. The Battles Ben
Rothwell (6’5”) vs. Matt Thompson (6’6”) – Heavyweight Ben Rothwell entered this bout with a record for having been undefeated in the IFL, with none of his IFL bouts lasting more than one round. Matt Thompson was a stand-in for the injured Anacondas heavyweight, Krzystof Soszynski. A former Golden Gloves boxer, Thompson was a bit of a surprise package coming into this fight, but it was expected he’d be testing Rothwell’s handwork.
Round
One
Rothwell
opened the match with an inside kick to Thompson’s lead leg, then
forced him to the ropes with consecutive lefts and rights. They clinched
and Rothwell got off body shots. Thompson responded with knees to
Rothwell’s legs and Rothwell elected to stay with the rib-rattlers. 3.26:
Ben switched his attack to knees, but still targeted Matt’s left ribs. 2.49:
The ref separated them. 2.42:
Matt delivered a shin kick to Ben’s right leg and Ben countered with a
right fist before backing Matt up with another flutter of punches.
However this time Matt was circling rather than backing straight up to
avoid the oncoming Rothwell. 2.38:
Ben leg-kicked and Matt countered with the right hand. 2.30:
Matt leg-kicked and backed away. 2.27:
Ben unloaded more heavy
leather, which had Matt against the ropes. They clinched and Ben worked
Matt’s body some more. Rothwell was outgunning the boxer. The pair
proceeded to exchange knees from the clinch. 2.02:
Thompson caught Rothwell with a sharp right hook, then scored with
another right hook at 1.55, as Rothwell attacked Thompson’s body some
more. When they broke free from the clinch, it became apparent Thompson
was faring better with his long-range punches. 1.09:
Rothwell went for a right high-kick and Thompson returned a right fist. 1.05:
Ben tagged Matt with a left high kick, then followed with a right fist
that Matt mainly blocked. 1.03:
They clinched. 0.53:
Matt brought up a knee and
caught Ben in the face with his shin, before backing Ben up with
long-range punches. 0.47:
Ben forced Matt against the
ropes and discharged fists, knees and an uppercut, causing Matt to
clinch and hold on. 0.34:
Ben looked for the takedown, but Matt defended well and fought back with
uppercuts. Rothwell was landing his overhand right and delivering
punches at all angles, until 0.15, when Thompson caught him with a
powerful right fist. They clinched again and Rothwell dodged an uppercut
before the round ended. Matt Thompson had become the first opponent to
take Ben Rothwell past round one in the IFL. Round TwoBen
moved in with lefts and rights, and backed Matt into the ropes. But Matt
was also unloading hardware and scored with right uppercuts from the
clinch. 3.44:
He broke free, hurling fists in the process. Surprisingly, he then moved
in on Ben and backed him up. 3.24:
The ref intervened and had the ring doctor check Matt’s left eye. Matt
and the doctor agreed his eye was okay. Another exchange followed. Matt
was using his jab more and attacking Ben’s midsection with right
punches. Ben appeared to be lining Matt up for the big one. He fired off
a right hook, but Matt blocked it well. 2.55:
Rothwell got Thompson with a straight right, then a jab, and varied his
attack with leg kicks. Thompson utilized his jab and circled: His boxing
skills came in handy against Rothwell. 2.22: Ben suddenly changed the tide and closed in with an overhand right, then another fist that sent Matt to the floor. Ben moved in with g’n’p. The ref pulled it up. Result: Ben Rothwell by TKO – 1.47, Round Two.Silverbacks 1 Anacondas 0 Jay Hieron (6’0”) vs. Victor Moreno (6’2”) – Welterweight
They
circled and poked out tentative jabs. 3.52:
Hieron caught Moreno with a stinging leg-kick. 3.41:
Moreno lunged in with a right that Hieron avoided and went after Moreno,
catching him with a right kick to the body. 3.25:
Victor jabbed and Jay
answered with another cracker of a leg kick that made Victor spin around
to regain his balance. 3.23:
Jay missed with a wild spinning back-kick and Victor went for the
takedown. Jay clinched to avoid Victor’s attempt; he then swept
Victor’s right leg and put him on the mat. Jay was in Victor’s
half-guard. Hieron was attacking Moreno’s body and head with left
fists. 2.17:
Jay got the mount and began g’n’p-ing. 2.12:
Victor gave up his back. Jay got his hooks in and latched on a rear
naked choke. Victor tapped. Result: Jay Hieron by rear naked choke – 1.55, Round One.Silverbacks
1 Anacondas 1
Benji Radach (6’1”) vs. Ryan McGivern (6’0”) – Middleweight
Round
One
They
touched gloves and started to test the ground. 3.49:
Suddenly McGivern king-hit Radach with a huge right that put Radach on
his knees, then McGivern swooped in to take Radach’s back and pounded
him with rapid-fire right fists. Radach did well to block some of these.
Fortunately the ref stayed cool and didn’t jump in prematurely. Benji
managed to climb back up and they exchanged knee strikes from the
clinch. Ryan attempted a takedown and Benji reversed it, sweeping
Ryan’s leg, and landed in his guard. Originally
Ryan was able to muffle most of Benji’s right-fisted pounding until
Benji penetrated Ryan’s defense with some heavy-duty lefts and rights.
Ryan was sliding outside the ropes, so the ref recommenced the action at
center ring. Benji pounded some more. 0.38:
They were stood up and
brawled it out before clinching. McGivern brought up a nice high-knee
shot. 0.18:
The ref separated them. More wildfire action led up to the bell. Round TwoRadach was expecting McGivern to come out again with another bone-rattler, and was ready to meet the challenge. The two men exchanged a leather broadside, before clinching. This was high-octane action. After some brief clinching, Ryan moved in on Benji and Benji unloaded a powerful left hand. Ryan lost his footing and Benji closed in with more big left and right fists. These were heavy-duty hammers. The ref shut it down, and Benji Radach had won his first comeback fight. Result: Benji Radach by TKO – 2.22, Round Two.Anacondas 2 Silverbacks 1 Chris Horodecki (5’8”) vs. Bart Palaszewski (5’9”) – Light Heavyweight
Round
One
Southpaw,
Horodecki, got this highly anticipated fight rolling with a leg kick to
Palaszewski’s inner left thigh. Bart was whipping out his jab and
missed with a high kick. 3.46:
Chris came back with an
outer-thigh kick. Bart initiated a leg-kick trade-off before Horodecki
caught one of Palaszewski’s kicks and took him down to his knees. But
Bart managed to climb back to his feet, and they fought from the clinch. 2.58:
The ref broke it up. There
was another scuffle at center ring with Palaszewski appearing to get the
better of the exchange. Horodecki was landing with leg licks, then at
2.21, he varied his attack and tried a high kick that Palaszewski
blocked. 2.19:
They clinched. Both men failed to take the other down. 2.00:
Chris started holding the
ropes and was warned by the ref for doing so. 1.46:
Chris delivered a right
knee in the clinch, and as they separated Bart tagged Chris with a right
and left fist. 1.36:
Another trade: Horodecki
scored with a right; Palaszewski replied with a left, then a crisp
right, and Horodecki followed with a right kick that Palaszewski took on
his arm. 1.29:
Chris came in with a right fist and left high kick that Bart narrowly
avoided, and countered with a jab. 1.25:
Bart missed landing a jab, but slapped out a shin kick to Chris’s left
leg. 1.14:
Horodecki ripped a right mitt into Palaszewski’s midsection. They
swapped fists and Bart got a choice left hook in at 1.07. The pair
continued to vigorously test each other, with an uppercut from Bart
punishing Chris. 0.58:
Horodecki dispatched a leg kick. 0.52:
He caught Palaszewski’s right kick, but Bart smacked Chris with a
right hook, then moved in with a barrage of fists and a right knee to
Chris’s body, before they clinched. Bart continued to knee Chris’s
body. 0.41:
He tossed Horodecki to the ground from the clinch and pounded. 0.33:
Horodecki stood and Palaszewski fitted him with a guillotine. Horodecki
grabbed the ropes until the ref warned him to let go. 0.19:
They started to waltz
around the ring with Chris still unable to shake Bart’s guillotine. He
was alleviating the full strength of the choke by pushing Bart’s right
thigh away and gaining some leverage. 0.11:
Chris fell through the ropes and as ring announcer Stephen Quadros
stated, “ He (Horodecki) bought himself some very valuable time
there.” Round Two3.36:
Horodecki crashed a solid left kick into Palaszewski’s body. 3.31:
They clinched and Chris swept Bart down and was fighting from Bart’s
guard. Bart managed to tie Chris up till 2.51, when the ref restarted
the play. Horodecki slung in another leg kick, while Palaszewski
countered with right and left fists. The toe-to-toe continued – the
exchange rate was pretty even. 2.26:
Horodecki backed Palaszewski up with gloves and a leg kick. Bart
unleashed a jab and Chris contributed with a strong right and left, and
a high kick. 2.15:
Chris closed in again and looked for the takedown. Bart resisted in the
clinch, so Chris peppered his legs with more knees. 1.51:
The ref separated the warriors. But Chris was feeling generous and gave
Bart’s legs some more treatment. 1.18:
Chris landed a left and right mitt before taking Bart down and fighting
from his half guard against the ropes. They were stood up and Bart
finished the round off well with his stand-up combat. Round Three3.49:
Palaszewski rushed
Horodecki with a leaping right knee, however Horodecki caught
Palaszewski’s leg and took him down. Chris was on top of Bart, before
Bart worked his feet under Chris’s body and pushed him flying overhead
and through the ropes. 3.18:
Horodecki picked off
Palaszewski with a right fist and leg kick. He followed with another leg
kick. 3.15:
Bart countered with an inside leg kick, then a right, left, right combo
that put Chris on his butt. Chris climbed straight back up. Bart shot in
with a lunging knee, but missed, and unloaded fists which Chris mainly
deflected as he backed away. 2.47:
Horodecki took Palaszewski down and fought from his guard. 2.19:
Chris stood and kicked
Bart, before falling back on him. Bart looked to get a kimura on Chris,
but it didn’t happen. They rolled, before Bart caught Chris with a
knee as they were standing. The ref warned Bart for the knee. 0.22:
Horodecki took Palaszewski to the floor and seemed to finish stronger. Result: Chris Horodecki by split-decision.Anacondas
3 Silverbacks 1
Mike
Ciesnolevicz vs Alex Schoenauer – Light Heavyweight Unfortunately footage of this bout was unavailable at the time the event was reviewed by knucklepit.com.
Result: Mike Ciesnolevicz by split decision.Anacondas 3 Silverbacks 2
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