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The road to The IFL
World Team Championship began today at The
City Sportsbar
in downtown Portland at 2:30pm sharp. The event started off with an introduction of
IFL Founders Gareb Shamus and Kurt Otto, and then the coaches came out:
Matt Lindland (Portland Wolfpack), Bas Rutten (Los Angeles Anaconda),
Tokimitsu Ishizawa (Tokyo Sabres), and Maurice Smith (Seattle Tiger Sharks).
The audience was excited to see these 4 fighting legends side by side,
as was Shamus and Otto who clearly are huge fans of these MMA icons.
Jumping right into the weigh-ins, the flow of the event was filled with laughter.
The camaraderie of the teammates was evident by the way they interacted with
each other. Mo Smith, as usual, was in top comedic form, something that comes
effortlessly for the historic kickboxing legend and former UFC® Heavyweight
Champion. Post weigh-ins, the fighters were treated to an amazing spread of steak,
chicken, and carefully prepared meals. All the coaches, fighters and IFL Brass
were on-hand for interviews, meet-and-greets, photos opps, and a chance to just
chill with some world class athletes while the wall of televisions played past IFL
events for added ambience.
Weigh-in Data:
Superfight
Matt Lindland, 185 lbs vs Jeremy Horn, 185 lbs
Los Angeles Anacondas vs Tokyo Sabres
LW: Chris Horodecki, 155 lbs (Anacondas) vs Ed West, 149.5 lbs (Sabres)
WW: Jay Hieron, 168.5 lbs (Anacondas) vs Amos Sotelo, 161 lbs (Sabres)
MW: Mike Pyle, 183 lbs (Anacondas) vs John Cole, 181 lbs (Sabres)
LHW: Alex Schoenauer, 203 lbs (Anacondas) vs Kazuhiro Hamanaka, 203.5 (Sabres)
HW: Krzysztof Soszynski, 236 lbs (Anacondas) vs Tom Howard, 242.5 lbs (Sabres)
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Lightweight
West vs.
Horodecki
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Welterweight
Sotelo vs.
Hieron
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Middleweight
J. Cole vs.
Pyle
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Light Heavyweight
Hamanaka vs.
Schoenauer
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Heavyweight
Howard vs.
Soszynski
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Seattle Tiger Sharks vs Portland Wolfpack
LW: Cam Ward, 155 lbs (Tiger Sharks) vs Ryan Schultz, 155.5 lbs (Wolfpack)
WW: Brad Blackburn, 170.5 lbs (Tiger Sharks) vs Chris Wilson, 169.5 lbs (Wolfpack)
MW: Bristol Marunde, 185 lbs (Tiger Sharks) vs Matt Horwich, 184 lbs (Wolfpack)
LHW: Reese Andy, 204 lbs (Tiger Sharks) vs Aaron Stark, 203.5 lbs (Wolfpack)
HW: Allan Goes, 218 lbs (Tiger Sharks) vs Devin Cole, 253.5 lbs (Wolfpack)
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Lightweight
Schultz vs.
Ward
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Welterweight
Wilson vs.
Blackburn
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Middleweight
Horwich vs.
Marunde
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Light Heavyweight
Stark vs.
Andy
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Heavyweight
D. Cole vs.
Goes
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Alternates
Dustin Denes, 186 lbs (Tiger Sharks) vs Brian Foster, 184 (Wolf Pack)
Bobby Johnson, 181 lbs (Anacondas) vs Shane Johnson*, 186 (Sabres)
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Foster vs.
Denes
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S. Johnson vs.
B. Johnson
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Shedding
the pounds
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Making Weight
in the buff
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Shane Johnson
strikes a pose
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*Shane Johnson failed to make weight at his first weigh-in and so spent the next
two hours shedding water in a display of sheer determination and will
to just make weight at the very last possible moment to an eruption of applause.
After several interviews today, there were two overall sentiments from the coaches
and fighters. The first being that they are all thankful that The IFL treats them like
professional athletes rather than simply as "fighters". The second is that they each
feel extra motivation fighting for a team. Even though the bouts are one-on-one,
each team member competes on the same night, and each is accountable to their
team and coaches for the overall goal of the big W.
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Bas
Rutten
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Allen
Goes
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Brad
Blackburn
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Jeremy
Horn
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Bristol
Marunde
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The IFL is delivering more than an evolution in Mixed Martial Arts with its team
concept. It's also helping evolve the minds of traditionally independent fighters into
professional athletes working together to win the very first World Championship of
its kind. The beauty of witnessing this unfold is immeasurable and quite frankly
extremely exciting.
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(L
to R) Kurt Otto,
Lovely Ring Girl,
and
Gareb Shamus
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IFL Rep
Marie Camaya
and Jeremy Horn
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Tokimitsu Ishizawa
wears
a Sabres Mask
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