Las Vegas is one of the most popular destinations for big events such as title fights and weddings, but how often do people go for both? Matt Horwich (Pictures) plans to do just that this week.
Just a few months ago Horwich landed an impressive knockout over Benji Radach (Pictures) in the IFL Grand Prix finals, earning him a shiny, gaudy oversized accessory.
"I've been telling them for the last seven or eight years that I'm gonna bring them a middleweight belt," said Horwich after showing the title off to his old friends back home in Seattle.
That belt was eight years in the making and two years in the building for a Team Quest fighter who seems to have had a breakthrough during his tenure in the IFL.
Horwich defends his title live on HDNet against Ryan McGivern (Pictures) of Pat Miletich (Pictures)'s camp. Both fighters come from gyms that are fertile with ground specialists, but with two of his last three fights ending in knockout, Horwich has shown that he's no longer one-dimensional in his approach.
"I was way stoked to get the victory and really thankful to get a knockout against one of the top strikers in my weight class in the IFL," Horwich said of his win over Radach.
He attributed some of his success on his feet by training with his favorite standup coach, Chris Riley, to watching clips of "Cro Cop" on YouTube. While Horwich has continued to grow as a wrestler and a jiu-jitsu practitioner, he's also begun to throw good punching combinations followed by kicks to help complete his game and make him all the more dangerous.
He'll get a great test this weekend versus McGivern, who bested Horwich in their last outing, back in the December 2006 IFL finals. In that fight, Horwich got outworked and lost a decision to the ever-pressing McGivern, who never seems to lose gas.
Horwich reflected on what went wrong for him in that fight, saying that despite landing a knee that cut McGivern, he didn't keep the pressure on.
"I didn't have enough of a sense of urgency to get back up and defend the takedown," he said. "That's what sets up the submission; if I'm defending the takedown hard and getting back up and they overcommit, that's what sets up the kimura, triangle or any of the submissions. And if they pull out of the submission, that sets up getting back up and getting on top or throwing good combos."
Horwich seems to be putting all the right pieces together, and McGivern knows things won't be the same this time around.
"I definitely think I'll be facing a different fighter that's more evolved. … He's really grown a lot, putting his skills together in the ring," McGivern said. "It's definitely going to be a different fight than our last time we fought. I know he's a constant worker, and my plans are to do the same and to constantly keep trying to win every situation and just keep working."
Despite all of his improvement, Horwich knows that McGivern hasn't been resting either and expects a war.
"He's got great wrestling, so he's hard to put on his back," Horwich said. "And he has great standup as well that's been improving, as we saw with Fabiano Leopoldo."
McGivern surprised everyone by stopping Leopoldo back in September. He feels that he's become a savvier fighter.
"I think with each fight, I've gotten more and more comfortable," McGivern said. "I've gotten more of a ring presence. Going into this fight, I'm not trying to put any kind of responsibility on myself as far as I need to submit him or even knock him out. What I'm really focused on is just being relaxed and just keep forcing my style and try and win the position. If it's going to take five rounds, then that's what it's going to take."
Even in a rematch with a title on the line, both fighters are respectful and share some admiration of each other and their respective coaches and camps. As always, for Horwich it's all about being positive.
"That's a great feeling, to go into the ring knowing that you trained hard for it and dieted good and you're well-prepared mentally, physically and spiritually versus going in thinking you should have trained a little harder," he said. "Every positive choice adds up."
When asked if he was worried about upsetting Horwich's big weekend plans, McGivern said he didn't think so.
"You don't want to show up at your wedding with a black eye or anything like that, but he's well aware of what can happen in there," McGivern said. "I definitely wish him the best of luck with the wedding and everything else afterwards."
Most people would be breathing in a paper bag with their nuptials around the corner, much less with a title fight on the line as well. Will all the wedding planning and pressure affect Horwich on Friday?
"Not really. Competing is still my full-time job," he said. "My fiancé dealt with all of that. She's a beautiful woman and really intelligent, good at planning things. She's more of a left brain thinker, and I'm more of a right brain thinker. I think in the sense that she's more analytical, and I'm more free spirited and flowing, so it works really well."
In a city where the fashion of Elvis still lives, there shouldn't be too many protests if Horwich accessorized his tuxedo with a big shiny belt.