INGLEWOOD, Calif., March 17 — The International Fight League's Los Angeles Anacondas and Tokyo Sabres upped their records to 2-0 Saturday night at The Forum in front of 4,421 fans.
Fighting for the first time without Bas Rutten (Pictures) in their corner, Los Angeles put together a dominating effort. With the announcement that Anaconda assistant coach Shawn Tompkins (Pictures) had been tabbed to replace Rutten after "El Guapo" moved from the corner to a full-time position with the IFL as a commentator and personality, very little appeared to change for the intriguing mix of fighters.
"Shawn stepping up is great," said L.A. welterweight Jay Hieron (Pictures). "He's been under Bas's system for over 10 years, so we're not losing a step — as you saw tonight: we swept ‘em."
Led by the dangerous trio of Chris Hordecki, Heiron and Benji Radach (Pictures), the Anacondas have established themselves as one of the league's dangerous squads, especially when it gets quality performances from either 205-pounder Alex Schoenauer (Pictures) or heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski (Pictures).
Following three competitive rounds during which Schoenauer traded punches with San Jose Razorclaws Brian Ebersole (Pictures), judges handed down a split decision in favor of L.A. (29-28 twice for Schoenauer and a 29-28 tally for Ebersole).
Ebersole enjoyed a quality middle period during which he drew from the Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) playbook, but he was nearly finished in the third from an attempted guillotine choke. Though referee Nelson "Doc" Hamilton came close to stopping the bout, Ebersole somehow survived to go the distance. After the bout, Schoenauer limped out of the ring with an injured left knee and a victory.
Radach followed Schoenauer's effort with a quick technical submission over tough veteran Brian Foster (Pictures). A quick double-leg takedown put Radach in Foster's guard. After passing to a better position, Radach secured Foster's neck and squeezed on the guillotine. Referee Steve Mazzagatti moved in when Radach released an unconscious Foster 64 seconds after the opening bell.
The 19-year-old star of Los Angeles, lightweight Chris Horodecki (Pictures), a longtime pupil of Tompkins, sealed the team's best-of-five team victory with a dominating shutout decision over Josh Odom (Pictures), who was resigned to back up and taking a vicious pounding to his legs and upper torso.
"I'll be honest with everybody, I was scared as hell tonight," said Tompkins. "Not about the fights. Not about my fighters. But I've known Bas Rutten (Pictures) for about eight years of my life and he's like my big brother, like my father, and he's my mentor. For me, to be given the honor to take over the team, I just wanted to prove to him that I could be as good as him."
Hieron overpowered Donnie Liles (Pictures) to score an early first round stoppage. A beautiful double-leg set Hieron up to pound away from the top, which he did until locking in a guillotine choke that forced a tapout at 2:49 of the first.
Soszynski capped off the Anacondas' sweep with a lopsided decision against Dan Christison (Pictures). Soszynski worked the tall heavyweight over with punches to the body and an occasional shot to the head. "That was the game plan," he said after the fight. Several takedowns sealed Soszynski's victory, which had each judge deliver a 30-27 tally.
"They didn't move forward," said San Jose head coach Frank Shamrock (Pictures) said of his team. "You don't damage somebody unless you're moving forward, unless you're bringing energy forward and mashing people. The guys stood back tonight and just played weird game. It was weird night for us. … I don't think it was technical issue; I think it was an energy issue. It just wasn't there for us."
Sabres remain unbeaten
Having reshaped his Tokyo squad, Sabres head coach Ken Yasuda had much to rejoice about after the team's victory over Marco Ruas (Pictures) and the So Cal Condors.
Tokyo jumped out to a 2-0 thanks to a pair of Los Angeles-based fighters: Savant Young (Pictures) and Antonio McKee (Pictures).
Young left no room for conjecture with a second round knockout over Adam Lynn (Pictures). Following a competitive opening frame, the diminutive fighter came out winging punches to start the second. His punches found a home and drove Lynn to the canvas just 21 seconds into round two.
McKee, meanwhile, fought typically: being a dominant wrestler. To this point only three men have found the antidote to his stifling — some, including Ruas, call boring — game in 24 career bouts.
His opponent tonight, Rodrigo Ruas (Pictures), aggressively tried to put McKee in danger during their 12-minute tilt, however the powerful welterweight owned the bout by putting the Brazilian on his back whenever he wished.
The Condors protested after the unanimous decision (30-27 twice, 29-28) that McKee's performance did not warrant a win, and considering the final tally this was the only fight between the teams that did not have a definitive ending.
"For me it was a mistake," Condor head coach Marco Ruas (Pictures) said of the decision. About McKee's wrestling-first style, the UFC veteran suggested it did not resemble anything he'd like to see in an MMA fight.
"That's like saying a jiu-jitsu guy: all he wants to do is jiu-jitsu," responded McKee. "If you have a person who specializes in something — and my forte happens to be wrestling — then you need to diffuse my wrestling. And then at that point you can say you're superior. But other than that, if my strong point is wrestling and I'm going against a striker, again, I'm not fighting for my personal issues; I'm fighting for my team as well, so why would I go out and stand-up with a striker and risk a loss, especially knowing I needed to secure a win? That doesn't really make sense to be criticized for that."
Ruas clearly had no issue with the grappling attack offered by his middleweight Jeremy Williams, who countered a double-leg takedown with a beautiful triangle choke that put Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Pictures) to sleep 59 seconds after the opening bell.
There would be no Condors rally, as veteran light heavyweight Vladimir Matyushenko (Pictures) manhandled Justin Levens (Pictures) for an early stoppage and the Sabres third victory during the match-up. The undersized Levens landed an early punch that seemed to stumble "The Janitor," however the fight quickly went to the mat, which the Belarusian owned. Pounding away with stiff punches, Matyushenko peppered Levens' head before referee Marcos Rosales wisely stepped in to stop the bout at 3:53 of the first.
"I'm a pretty modest guy," said Matyushenko, who appears to be the class of the IFL light heavyweight field. "I don't want to say I'm the best. I'm the best when I prove I'm the best. At the end of the season, if I win, then I say, hey, I'm on the top. Until then I take one fight at a time."
The card's final bout pitted heavyweights Antoine Jaoude (Pictures) and Wayne Cole (Pictures). Both advertised as wrestlers, the contest would be decided on the feet. Following a completive opening period in which Cole out-worked his Brazilian counterpart, Jaoude landed three stiff kicks to the inside of Cole's lead leg. Moments later a fourth crashed into Cole's thigh and Jaoude took advantage by feinting a leg kick and throwing a straight right, which plowed into the Oklahoman's face. Cole went down and the fight was called at the 56-second mark of round two.
"Teamwork is really our strength," said Sabres head coach Ken Yasuda. "Hamanaka lost, but that pissed us off even more."
Alternate Fights
Zach George (Pictures) rallied in the third period to secure a decision win, taking a 29-28 tally from each ringside judge. George's opponent, Danny Suarez (Pictures), favored the submission grappling game, but was unable to find a finishing hold. George's aggressiveness and striking were enough for him to earn the win.
Conor Heun (Pictures) won a questionable split decision over Clint Coronel (Pictures). San Jose's Coronel appeared to land the more effective punches and clearly connected with the power shots in the last half of the fight.