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IFL Legends Championship 2006 Tiger Sharks vs. Pitbulls
©
Marc Wickert Jan.
16, 2007, all photos copyright IFL May
29, 2006 saw Maurice Smith’s Seattle Tiger Sharks take on Renzo
Gracie’s Pitbulls at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The winning team from this meet would take on Pat Miletich’s
Silverbacks. Ironically,
prior to the middleweight match-up of the night, Stephen Quadros had
Dennis Hallman standing in the IFL ring to model his Gladiator
mouthguard, IFL Tiger Sharks’ uniform, and his Fairtex fighting mitts.
Fortunately, Dennis was wearing his mouthguard in the bout that
followed. Also
of interest: The IFL Legends Championship of 2006 was the last event
where Devin Cole and Matt Horwich represented the Tiger Sharks; both
athletes later transferred to the Portland Wolfpack coached by Matt
Lindland. The Battles Erik
Owings (5’9” 155 lb) vs. Justin Jones (5’10” 154 lb)
Justin
- the kickboxer - came to strike, but Erik - the BJJ exponent - clinched
immediately, with the takedown being his primary objective. However,
Justin forced Erik into the corner to resist the takedown attempt. Both
players appeared extremely relaxed. 3.25:
Owings eventually pushed his way out of the corner and the clinch was
broken. Jones jabbed away at his southpaw opponent before catching him
with a right. Owings replied with fists, though Jones dodged them well. 3.11:
Erik landed a thigh kick and Justin kept pursuing him – something BJJ
guys love strikers to do. 2.57:
Justin scored with a right that put Erik on the canvas. Justin rushed in
to follow up with g’n’p-ing and was in Erik’s guard as Owings tied
up Jones’s head. Justin didn’t want to stay on the ground with the
grappler, so he stood up with Erik still wrapped around him in the
guard, and forced Owings against the ropes. 2.07:
They separated. Owings sent
in a kick that Jones caught, but Erik yanked his foot free after
delivering a punch. 1.56:
With Erik’s legs wrapped around Justin’s body, Owings seized
Jones’s head in a lock. 1.47:
They parted again. The pair
exchanged punches and Owings seemed to be faring well in the stand off.
His boxing wasn’t exactly a clinical performance – not unless
you’re used to working in Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory – but it
did the job. 1.18:
Owings rocked Jones with a
right hook to the temple, then shot in and latched on a guillotine.
Justin tapped. Result: Erik Owings by guillotine – 2.50, Round One.Pitbulls 1 - Tiger Sharks 0. Brad Blackburn (5’10” 171 lb) vs. Gustavo Machado (6’0” 171 lb) – Welterweight
Coverage
of this match commenced at the start of round three. 3.46:
Brad delivered a leg kick. He was using his powerful jab to keep Machado
at bay. 3.30:
Gustavo employed a series
of his own leg kicks, but backed up when Brad replied with fists.
Blackburn kept Machado busy by attacking him up high with fists, and
down low with kicks; while Brad was attacking, Gustavo was focused on
dodging rather than following his own game plan. 2.56:
Blackburn switched his attention to striking Machado’s midsection with
right punches. 2.43:
Machado shot out his own
kick that buckled Blackburn’s lead leg. 2.29:
They clinched, then broke free at 2.24. 2.08:
Gustavo landed another leg
kick, followed by a jab. But if this was the deciding round, then
Blackburn was working too hard for Machado to take the match on points. 1.35:
Brad attacked Gustavo’s legs. Machado tried his own leg kick, and
Blackburn countered with a right to the head. The standoff continued
until 0.45, when Gustavo caught one of Brad’s kicks and took him down.
He attacked Brad with left fists. Blackburn tried to break free, but
Machado liked having the action down there. He then opted for a heel
hook on Blackburn, however Brad eluded the attempt and the bell rang. Result: Brad Blackburn by split decision.Pitbulls 1 - Tiger Sharks 1. Dennis Hallman (5’9” 185 lb) vs. Delson Heleno (5’10” 185 lb) – Middleweight
After Delson displayed his capoeira skills in the ring the day before this fight, Dennis would have known to watch for Delson’s powerhouse kicks. They touched gloves and performed synchronized leg licks – Delson followed his kick with a right fist that Dennis blocked. Heleno immediately adopted a kicker’s long stance, but Hallman got in early with a high kick that Heleno evaded. 3.45: Hallman elected to shoot, then fought from Heleno’s guard. 3.22: Heleno rolled Hallman with a sweep and had Dennis fighting from his back. 3.08:
Delson worked his way from the guard to half guard – then back into
guard. There was more grappling from here rather than g’n’p-ing. In
the process, Dennis tried for a guillotine and Delson looked for a neck
crank. But both men were too elusive: The high-calibre skills
of these athletes enabled them to block each other’s submission
attempts. 1.55:
Delson was back in half guard. 1.43:
He had side control. 0.58:
He briefly got north-south
position before switching back to side control. 0.24:
Just as Delson achieved the mount, Dennis swept him over and fought from
Delson’s half guard. This was a great display of canvas craftsmanship. 0.03:
Hallman sat up and Heleno
caught him squarely on the dial with a whopping right kick –
fortunately the follow-up left kick missed, but Hallman was cactus.
Referee Herb Dean jumped straight in and stopped the assault, and
disqualified Heleno for kicking a downed opponent. Result: Dennis Hallman by disqualification.Tiger Sharks 2 - Pitbulls 1. Jamal Patterson (6’0” 205 lb) vs. Matt Horwich (6’2” 205 lb) – Light Heavyweight
Matt
commenced proceedings with a left high-kick, and Jamal contributed a jab
– both strikes failed to connect. Jamal fired off a jab and right
cross which Matt ducked under, going for a takedown. Jamal defended the
attempt as they wrangled around the ring in a clinch, until Jamal
eventually took Matt down at 3.31 into the first round. 3.19:
Horwich wriggled Patterson from half guard to full guard. 3.10:
Patterson knelt up and fitted Horwich with a guillotine that had
Matt’s left arm trapped in the hold. 2.50:
They were back standing in
a clinch. 2.41:
The pair squared off at center ring. Matt delivered a tentative leg
kick, and Jamal threw a few punches before the men clinched again. 2.32:
Horwich kneed Patterson in the midsection. Patterson spun Horwich into
the corner and attempted a takedown. 2.16:
He succeeded with the move, but Horwich slipped a guillotine on
Patterson. 1.38:
Jamal was free and
standing. He started to g’n’p, then got Matt’s back. 1.02:
Matt tapped from Jamal’s
rear naked choke. Result: Jamal Patterson by R. N. C. – 2.57, Round One.Tiger Sharks 2 – Pitbulls 2. Devin Cole (6’4” 236 lb) vs. Carlos Cline (6’0” 249 lb) – Heavyweight
With
the score locked at two all, this final match was also the deciding
bout. Round
One
They
exchanged jabs – Devin standing orthodox and Carlos switching back and
forth from southpaw to orthodox. 3.41:
Devin lunged in for a shoot. Carlos pulled him down and tried for the
guillotine before looking for other options, whilst Devin knelt up like
a giant, motionless cane toad. It appeared to be Devin’s way of
saying, ‘You’ve got a free shot: What are you going to do about
it?’ 3.02:
They stood up. 2.51:
The pair were trading blows
when Carlos caught Devin with a jab that reminded Devin to lift his
guard. 2.36:
Another clinch and Cole
took Cline down. 2.15:
With little resistance, Cole got the mount. The ref watched closely, but
Devin’s g’n’p was a soft touch – they definitely weren’t
telling blows. 2.00:
Carlos rolled and gave Devin his back. 1.31:
After some scrambling, Cole was in Cline’s guard. He then stood before
moving into Cline’s half guard. 0.54:
The ref moved them from the ropes to center ring. They wriggled around
until the bell. If Devin’s earlier g’n’p-ing blows had been more
accurate and damaging, the bout would have been over. Round TwoThey
moved from toe-to-toe to the clinch, until 3.44, when Devin took Carlos
down. Devin was back in half guard, then full guard. 2.17:
After more scrummaging for position, Cline looked to be going for a
front headlock, then temporarily hung on to Cole’s left ankle with no
apparent motive. 1.20:
He opted for the g’n’p which was much more productive. As Devin
stood, Carlos unloaded uppercuts and Devin clinched. 0.58:
Carlos tried to strike some more, but Devin took him down and landed in
Carlos’s closed guard. Neither man was able to dominate from here
before the bell rang. Round ThreeCline
delivered a leg kick. 3.40:
Cole took Cline to the
floor and fought from Cline’s half guard, before Cline switched it to
a full guard. Devin had Carlos on the ground where he wanted the fight
to be, but he didn’t have the g’n’p skills to finish Carlos off. 0.53:
The ref stood them up. Carlos was too gassed to fire off more strikes
and Devin took him back down. With five seconds remaining, the ref stood
them again, but the bell pulled it up. Result: Devin Cole by unanimous decision.Tiger Sharks 3 Pitbulls 2.
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