© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright IFL 2006
Although the International Fight League is known for pitting some of the world’s best MMA athletes against each other in team competition, below are five outstanding individual matches that took place in 2006 under the title of IFL ‘Superfights’. Stay tuned to knucklepit.com as more IFL action, interviews, and reviews are on their way. For more of the gorgeous ring girls, Emily Miller and Lori Tyler, check out their articles at knucklepit.com.
The Battles
Jens Pulver (5’7” 154 lb) vs Cole Escovedo (5’8” 153 lb) – Lightweight
29 April, 2006
No stranger to MMA, Pulver came into this bout boasting a strong wrestling and boxing background, whilst Escovedo was known for his impressive BJJ and Muay Thai skills. At 3.50 into this first Superfight, Escovedo had scored three snapping kicks to southpaw Pulver’s front right leg. Jens tried to close in with a left fist, but Cole covered nicely. Jens was stalking Cole, who held out his long-reaching arms, BJJ style, to keep Pulver at bay.
3.18: Escovedo went down, but it seemed more from the suggestion of a knockdown than any real contact, as he looked for an excuse to invite Pulver to the canvas. But Jens declined.
3.12: The stand-up action continued with Pulver hot in pursuit.
3.09: Jens moved in with his powerful left hook and crashed Escovedo to the mat. Pulver sealed the delivery with a follow-up left before referee extraordinaire, Herb Dean, intervened.
Result: Jens Pulver by KO – 3.50, Round One.
Chris Horodecki (5’8” 155 lb) vs Erik Owings (5’9” 155 lb) – Lightweight
3 June, 2006
From the opening bell, the eighteen-year-old ‘boy wonder’, Horodecki, pursued Owings, determined to impose his will and game plan on Erik. Despite being orthodox, Chris held his gloves at equal distance from Erik and led with his right hand.
3.48: They quickly clinched. Erik was against the ropes with Chris kneeing Owing’s legs. They moved to center ring while still clinching, as Owings attempted to hip-throw Horodecki, but Chris resisted the move.
3.12: As they broke the clinch, Erik fired off a sharp right hook. They exchanged leather and kicks from the toe-to-toe, then Erik delivered a right high-kick that Chris caught while sweeping Erik’s left leg and put him on the floor.
Owings called for Horodecki to join him on the mat, but Horodecki politely declined the invitation, and the ref ordered Owings back up.
2.55: More fists and feet were traded. Both men were providing a hard battle.
2.40: Erik caught Chris’s right kick and tried to dump him on the canvas, but Chris held onto the ropes and got reprimanded by the ref. They exchanged some more heavy fists before clinching, with Erik showing he wanted to take the action down, but Chris resisted well.
1.58: The ref separated them.
1.52: They clinched and Owings dropped to the floor, pulling Horodecki with him, and held him in his guard. But Chris just stood out of the guard and walked away. Once they were both standing, Horodecki resumed his pursuit of Owings. They traded blows and Chris shot off a couple of high kicks that narrowly missed their mark.
1.20: The fighters clinched again and knees were exchanged.
0.55: They were back in toe-to-toe position as Erik caught Chris with a solid body kick, and Chris countered with a fist. They both unloaded heavy gloves in this very toughly contested standoff.
0.25: Horodecki went for a spinning back fist that didn’t quite come off.
0.21: Owings dropped to the floor again wanting to grapple down there. Horodecki moved in and scored with a right fist, before the ref stood Owings back up. Chris moved straight in and hammered Erik with fists, a right body kick, right high kick that started Erik’s fall, and followed up with another right kick before Erik was pronounced unconscious as the bell sounded.
Result: Chris Horodecki by KO – 4.00, Round One.
Jamal Patterson (6’0” 206 lb) vs Alex Schoenauer (6’3” 202 lb) – Light Heavyweight
3 June, 2006
Jamal was all business from the start. Alex had previously stated that no opponent was willing to stand and trade leather with him, and Jamal wasn’t an exception to this rule. After touching gloves, Patterson threw out a jab and Schoenauer answered with a snapping right that convinced Patterson to immediately opt for a takedown, causing Alex to fight from his back at 3.30 into the match. From then on it was all about positioning, as Jamal had Alex pushed into the corner and didn’t allow Schoenauer to get back up.
3.30: When Alex did start to rise, Jamal filled his face with leather before yanking him onto his back again. Patterson added more g’n’p-ing and kept out-positioning Schoenauer.
1.47: Jamal had Alex sitting down, smothered against the ropes and applied a guillotine. Alex tapped.
Result: Jamal Patterson by guillotine – 2.32, Round One.
Daniel Gracie (6’2” 231 lb) vs Wes Sims (6’10” 248 lb) – Heavyweight
3 June, 2006
Wes held his long left arm out to maintain the distance advantage over Daniel.
3.53: Daniel delivered two leg kicks before Wes got a Thai clinch on Daniel and scored with knees to the body.
3.41: Gracie had Sims against the ropes.
3.27: Gracie threw Sims to the ground and was fighting from half guard. Sims slapped punches to Gracie’s head and body, but there was little on them.
3.00: Herb Dean recommenced the action from center ring. This bout was following the same path as the Patterson vs. Schoenauer battle, where Patterson shut down Schoenauer’s game.
2.25: Daniel moved from half guard to side control.
2.07: He mounted Wes, who tried to hip-buck his way out. But Daniel had him pinned.
1.35: When Sims rolled, Gracie latched onto his back as Sims climbed to his feet, and fitted Wes out with a rear naked choke – hooks in. Wes walked to the ropes in an effort to throw Daniel out of the ring, but Herb Dean held the ropes up and Wes fell with Daniel still on his back, and passed out on the floor.
Result: Daniel Gracie by rear naked choke – 2.42, Round One.
Matt Lindland (6’0” 175 lb) vs Jeremy Horn (6’1” 185 lb) – Middleweight
9 September, 2006
Round One
Many MMA enthusiasts expected this highly-anticipated match to be purely a grappling expo: the wrestler (Lindland) vs. the BJJ practitioner (Horn).
Matt moved in on Jeremy in a crouched, southpaw stance. Jeremy was tentatively jabbing when Lindland closed the gap. Horn sent out a right, low kick that Matt was able to scoop up from the crouched position, and took Jeremy down at 3.45 with the pair scrambling for position.
3.11: Matt had Jeremy in a loose guillotine that was no real threat to Horn.
2.52: Jeremy held Matt in butterfly guard while Lindland continued to push the pace and slapped away with fists at Jeremy’s head.
2.02: They were standing in a clinch – with Jeremy backed into a corner and Matt stomping on Horn’s feet.
1.23: Jeremy collapsed to the floor, pulling Matt with him into the butterfly guard. Lindland stood out of it and Jeremy narrowly missed with an up-kick to Matt’s face.
1.05: They stood back up. Lindland landed fists and the pair swapped knees before clinching.
0.55: Jeremy broke free and dispatched a combo, and Matt answered with an uppercut, but the punches weren’t loaded. They clinched again.
0.25: Horn tried a high knee from the clinch – a tactic he is known for, but Lindland was ready for it and caught the leg before converting the attack into a takedown.
Matt was in Jeremy’s guard, then his open guard. He opted for the g’n’p as Jeremy kicked out and covered up. Lindland was definitely the aggressor in the opening round.
Round Two
The action restarted as Horn kicked Lindland’s right lead leg from under him. Matt quickly regained his stance, and fired off a fist combo and a high kick that Jeremy absorbed with his shoulder. Matt then caught Jeremy with a left glove. Jeremy went down and Matt started the g’n’p assault from Jeremy’s back.
Horn covered up but wasn’t returning fire. The ref jumped in and called it a day.
Jeremy Horn was not happy with the stoppage and believed he could have continued. He may have had a case, and a rematch would certainly be well received by fans. But at the time of stoppage, Matt Lindland had dominated the fight.
Result: Matt Lindland by TKO – 0.21, Round Two.
For info on the 2006 IFL Finals from Mohegan Sun Arena, Connecticut on December 29, including six Superfights featuring Carlos Newton vs. Renzo Gracie: www.ifl.tv.
