"It's just unfortunate," Ciesnolevicz said. "I was flash KO'd for a second and I didn't really know what was going on. I actually thought I was the one that was cut when they stood us up."
Chris Horodecki (Pictures) shook off his loss to Ryan Schultz (Pictures) and got back in his old form after feeling out Nate Lamotte (Pictures) before dishing out his usual leg kicks and combos.
Horodecki kept Lamotte from closing the distance with his jab until the second round, when Lamotte caught a leg and took Horodecki down. Lamotte worked in some ground and pound until Horodecki kicked him off and stood back up.
Shawn Tompkins (Pictures) cautioned his protégé throughout the fight to stay off the ropes and away from the corners. Lamotte must have listened because he was able to get Horodecki down again after pinning him against the ropes. On the ground, he delivered his best shots of the night, but it wasn't enough. Overall, Horodecki outworked Lamotte for a 29-28 unanimous decision.
Afterward, Horodecki acknowledged that he had started slow.
"It took me a little while," he said. "I want to watch the fight again. I got the ring time in -- I needed that. I'm pretty happy."
Horodecki said he did not panic after finding himself on the ground.
"I thought, ‘Shoot, he caught my leg,'" Horodecki explained. "He caught me off a kick and I overcommitted. I wanted to pick him apart and I think I did a good job."
Emyr Bussade showed why jiu-jitsu can always find an opening in his win over Jesse Lennox. In most of the punching exchanges, Lennox beat on his opponent. He seemed to be in control, and Bussade tried several times to pull guard but was never able to get much going.
The end came when Lennox attempted to pass guard. Bussade transitioned to a kneebar that had Lennox tapping out in severe pain in the second round.
LC Davis (Pictures) and Rafael Dias (Pictures) seemed to neutralize each other in the first round with Davis trying to maneuver in Dias' guard.
In the second, both men decided to let the fists fly and met in a wild exchange that ended with the two tying up. Davis began to connect in another trade, but Dias finally scored a takedown he'd been looking for in the third round.
Davis held on strong and escaped, however. Then, with about 10 seconds left in the round, Davis absolutely clocked Dias. As Dias ducked down, Davis' left leg connected shin-to-chin and devastatingly dropped Dias to end the fight.
"Thank you God!" an emotional Davis repeated from his knees in his corner.
Dias left the ring on a stretcher and left the arena in an ambulance. Later, IFL officials said he was on his feet and talking at the hospital while awaiting a CT scan.
"When we got stood up, there was 10 seconds left and I knew it was a close fight and I definitely wanted to finish strong and try to win the last of the round," Davis said. "Luckily I have a great coach, Pat Miletich (Pictures), and I heard him yell ‘head kick.' And I never throw kicks, but I listened to my coach and went for it and it landed, thank God."
Alex Schoenauer (Pictures) got the night started off strong in the first preliminary fight when he began tagging Brendan Barrett with punches and then dropped down into a guillotine that looked like it might end the fight early. Barrett freed himself, though, and worked some ground and pound until Schoenauer escaped only to find himself on the losing end of Barrett's punches.
The second round was just as wild with Barrett throwing desperate haymakers and Schoenauer finding success with a straight right hand. Barrett was dazed at one point, and Schoenauer made him pay with knees to the body. However, Schoenauer missed an opportunity by not having a sense of urgency to put away the winded fighter.
Barrett was still gassed and had no range in the third, missing wildly with kicks and punches. A cut below his left eye opened up, but Schoenauer never took advantage to put him away. While Barrett was the much more active fighter, Schoenauer took the split decision likely due to his effort to end the fight with guillotine and heel hook attempts.