IFL "New Blood, New Battles" Results
by Robert Sargent
Although the show started off slowly, and had an unexpectedly methodical Lightweight title fight, IFL's "New Blood, New Battles" ended with two solid fights, as Roy Nelson and Ryan McGivern walked out as Heavyweight and Middleweight champions.
Though the Lightweight title fight was originally thought to be the main event, the Middleweight showdown received top billing and that turned out to be an excellent decision.
The IFL Middleweight Championship bout between champion Matt "Sauve" Horwich and challenger Ryan McGivern was clearly the best fight of the night.
Both fighters were in amazing condition, and both fought gamely for the entire five rounds. The IFL uses four-minute rounds, as opposed to the traditional five, but these fighters gave it their all for the full 20 minutes.
McGivern scored a takedown in round one, and also landed a pair of hard rights, but Horwich responded with numerous left kicks to the liver of McGivern, which resulted in a large welt forming. McGivern controlled nearly all of round two, until the final minute when Horwich locked in a tight omoplata shoulder lock on McGivern, then used it to move McGivern into a modified crucifix hold. With mere seconds left in the round, Horwich rolled the shoulder lock over, bending McGivern's arm in a nasty direction, but McGivern was saved by the bell.
The pace slowed a bit in round three, with both fighters landing strikes on the feet. Horwich actually got the better of many of the exchanges, despite being clearly outclassed by the superior striker, McGivern. Horwich took round three, to lead two rounds to one.
The fourth and fifth rounds were essentially all McGivern. Horwich landed a few strikes on the feet, but had no answer for the punishing uppercuts and crosses which McGivern landed at will. McGivern easily took the final two rounds to win the fight.
Winner: Ryan McGivern by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) after five rounds. He improves to 12-5-0 and becomes the new IFL Middleweight Champion.
Although it lasted less than one round, the IFL Heavyweight Championship fight between champion Roy "Big Country" Nelson and challenger Fabiano "Pega-Leve" Scherner was a good one.
Nelson scored an early takedown, but was unable to do anything from Scherner's half-guard, as Scherner turtled and did nothing. However, after scoring another takedown, Nelson landed two hard right hands while standing above the downed Scherner, which knocked him out.
Winner: Roy Nelson by TKO (Punches) at 3:20 of round one. He improves to 12-2-0 and remains IFL Heavyweight Champion.
The IFL Lightweight Championship showdown between champion Ryan "The Lion" Schultz and challenger John Gunderson did not go anything as imagined, and wound up being a fairly lacklustre ground battle.
All five rounds were nearly identical, with very few striking exchanges and most of the fight being contested on the ground, where very little transpired.
Schultz controlled position in all rounds except for round four, which Gunderson handily won, but was unable to do anything to finish the fight. He nearly caught Gunderson in a guillotine choke in round two, but Gunderson locked in even deeper guillotines in rounds three and five. Schultz narrowly escaped the choke in the fifth round, but had done enough to earn a victory and retained his title.
Winner: Ryan Schultz by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) after five rounds. He improves to 19-9-1 and remains IFL Lightweight Champion.
A welterweight bout between Jake Ellenberger and Pat "Bam Bam" Healy had a few slow moments, but ended with a solid third round.
Ellenberger landed a series of punches early on, then scored a takedown and worked from top position for most of the round. The second round was much of the same, with Ellenberger also landing two punishing knee strikes to the jaw, which sent Healy's mouthpiece flying. Ellenberger landed more solid strikes near the end of the round to take a commanding two rounds to zero lead.
Healy rebounded in the third round, scoring a brief takedown and then landing a hard right. Healy later reversed position when Ellenberger got his back, then worked from Ellenberger's half-guard. Ellenberger eventually took top position and teed off with rights, but Healy stayed calm and got back to his feet. Healy went for a knee and other strikes late in the round, but it was too little, too late.
Winner: Jake Ellenberger by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 17-3-0.
In a heavyweight fight that seemingly ended before it even began, Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira submitted Lew Polley mere seconds into the first round.
Ferreira came out swinging and landed a left hook, then locked in a standing guillotine choke. He jumped up and locked his legs around Polley's waist, which tightened the choke. The referee stopped the fight as Polley staggered and briefly lost consciousness.
Winner: Alexandre Ferreira by Submission (Flying Guillotine Choke) at 0:20 of round one. He improves to 16-5-0.
In what was an absolutely horrendous middleweight fight, Josh "Bring The Pain" Haynes easily defeated Leopoldo Serao, after Serao seemed entirely uninterested in doing anything but grappling on the ground.
Haynes completely dominated all striking exchanges, while Serao repeatedly attempted weak takedowns, then flopped on his back when the takedowns failed. Haynes did land some good shots from top position on the ground, but stood up most times when Serao tried to lure him into a submission.
In the end, Haynes was awarded with a clear-cut decision, which was largely due to Serao doing nothing at all in the fight, save for a handful of unsuccessful gogoplata attempts on the ground.
Winner: Josh Haynes by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 9-9-0.
Undercard Fights:
In a featherweight battle, Rafael Dias submitted Santino DeFranco by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:03 of round one. He improves to 10-3-1 with the win.The other preliminary featherweight contest of the night saw Ian "The Barn Owl" Loveland submit Dennis "Piranha" Davis by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:58 of round two. He improves to 9-7-0.
While the event was not quite as good as expected, it was still a reasonable night for the IFL, and an excellent Middleweight title fight to conclude the evening.
