Horwich Replaces Vitale Against Leites at ‘War on Mainland’
Sherdog.com Staff Aug 3, 2010
Former IFL champion Matt Horwich
will face Thales
Leites for the vacant middleweight championship at Powerhouse
World Promotions “War on the Mainland” on Aug. 14 at the Bren
Events Center in Irvine, Calif., the promotion announced Tuesday.
Horwich replaces Hawaiian fighter Faliniko Vitale.
A product of Oregon’s formidable Team Quest legacy, Horwich earned the IFL accolade with a second-round knockout against Benji Radach in December 2007. The 32-year-old submission specialist will look to put the brakes on back-to-back losses fellow UFC veteran Jason MacDonald and Tom Watson.
After an unsuccessful bid for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s title at UFC 97 in April 2009, the 29-year-old Nova Uniao black belt rebounded with three wins in his last four outings. Most recently, Leites scored nods over Dean Lister and “Ultimate Fighter” veteran Jesse Taylor in Canada’s Maximum Fighting Championships.
Also on the card, former UFC champion Tim Sylvia takes on Paul Buentello for the promotion’s first heavyweight title, while former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver will meet Diego Garijo in a featured lightweight matchup.
According to the promotion, “War on the Mainland” will be available at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT in North America on cable and satellite pay-per-view via InDemand, DIRECTV, Avail-TVN and DISH Network; Viewer’s Choice, Bell TV and Shaw PPV in Canada; and in the United Kingdom via Primetime Live.
A product of Oregon’s formidable Team Quest legacy, Horwich earned the IFL accolade with a second-round knockout against Benji Radach in December 2007. The 32-year-old submission specialist will look to put the brakes on back-to-back losses fellow UFC veteran Jason MacDonald and Tom Watson.
After an unsuccessful bid for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s title at UFC 97 in April 2009, the 29-year-old Nova Uniao black belt rebounded with three wins in his last four outings. Most recently, Leites scored nods over Dean Lister and “Ultimate Fighter” veteran Jesse Taylor in Canada’s Maximum Fighting Championships.
Also on the card, former UFC champion Tim Sylvia takes on Paul Buentello for the promotion’s first heavyweight title, while former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver will meet Diego Garijo in a featured lightweight matchup.
According to the promotion, “War on the Mainland” will be available at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT in North America on cable and satellite pay-per-view via InDemand, DIRECTV, Avail-TVN and DISH Network; Viewer’s Choice, Bell TV and Shaw PPV in Canada; and in the United Kingdom via Primetime Live.
