IFL World Team Finals Set; Kerr Falters in Return
IFL World Team Finals Set
Josh Gross Nov 3, 2006
PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 2 — The International Fight League’s World
Team Championship final was set Thursday night in front of 7,632 at
the Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, when the Quad Cities
Silverbacks and Portland Wolfpack fought their way past stiff
opposition to earn the right to compete in the lone remaining IFL
event of 2006.
Also on the card, Mark Kerr (Pictures)’s return to competitive fighting following a two-and-a-half year absence came to an abrupt end when Mike Whitehead (Pictures) dispatched “The Smashing Machine” two minutes, 40 seconds after the opening bell. Meanwhile, Allan Goes (Pictures) had an easy time with Daniel Gracie (Pictures), out-striking his countryman to an early second round stoppage.
For the fourth straight time, lightweight Bart Palaszweski and
welterweight Rory Markham
(Pictures) afforded the Silverbacks an
early 2-0 advantage. After middleweight Ryan McGivern (Pictures) faltered against savvy veteran
Joe Doerksen (Pictures), Silverback light heavyweight
Mike Ciesnolevicz
(Pictures), who lost his two previous
IFL encounters, sealed the night for Pat Miletich (Pictures)’s squad by corralling Brent Beauparlant
(Pictures) via guillotine choke.
Heavyweight Ben Rothwell
(Pictures) put a punctuation on his
team’s 4-1 victory with a first-round keylock submission over
Wojtek Kaszowski
(Pictures).
Taking a step up in competition, Palaszweski won a hard-fought split decision over IFL rookie Ivan Menjivar (Pictures), who many labeled a favorite heading into the bout.
“I couldn’t finish him,” Palaszweski said afterwards. “He’s got a decent jaw. I clipped him pretty damn hard.”
Palaszweski continued to press forward at the start of round two, scoring with a knee to the midsection before an uppercut knocked Menjivar, now 20-7-0, into the ropes.
With 1:15 to go in the middle period, the “Pride of El Salvador” finally put Palaszweski on the floor. Menjivar worked strikes from inside the guard, biding his time before falling back for a leg submission, which Palaszweski easily defended.
Menjivar made the bout close in the third by scoring his best spinning backfist of the night followed by a takedown that could have sealed the fight for the Canadian. After Palaszweski (24-7-0) quickly regained his footing, Menjivar landed yet another spinning strike and takedown to close out the fight.
Judges at ringside split their verdict. Steve Newport and Vic Carlson saw it 29-28 for “Bartimus,” while Ken Barringer dissented with a score of 29-28 in favor of Menjivar.
Markham’s win, by far his most difficult in four IFL contests, upped his overall record to 10-1-0 — like Palaszweski he moved to a perfect 4-0 while representing the Silverbacks in team competition — by scoring a come-from-behind “no mas” stoppage against veteran Keith Wisniewski (Pictures).
Having never gone the distance, Markham quickly earned a reputation as one of the best finishers in the IFL. But the veteran Wisniewski, who stepped up on short notice to fight tonight, kept the hard-punching welterweight off balance by dominating inside the clinch.
Remaining calm despite Markham winging punches past his head, Wisniewski (21-10-1) put the fight on the floor when he wanted, mainly by turning the clinch into an automatic takedown.
Wisniewski scored in the guard, drawing a bit of blood from the corner of Markham’s left eye. The grounded striker attempted submissions from the bottom, and was subsequently warned by the referee when he planted a foot on Wisniewski’s face.
The only non Canadian fighter on Carlos Newton (Pictures)’s squad impressed in the second period as well, scoring with a right hand lead before putting Markham on the canvas thanks to yet another takedown from the clinch. As he did in the first, Markham looked for submissions, this time almost locking in a triangle choke.
Wisniewski defended but found himself in the same position as the period came to a close. Instead of finessing the submission, Markham controlled Wisniewski from the bottom and fired away with right hands.
Down on points, Markham’s corner begged him between periods to unleash power punches. Early in the third, it didn’t seem like he could answer their call.
Rather easily, Wisniewski put the Chicagoan on the canvas. But with 2:20 to go in the third, Markham sprung to his feet. Nearly a minute later he changed momentum with a left hook to the body followed by right straight to the head. Markham and his corner could sense that the fight had shifted, and with 60 seconds to go the rally was well underway.
Markham stalked Wisniewski to the closing bell before connecting with a big shot at the end that stunned the Toronto welterweight. “I was rocked pretty bad,” Wisniewski said.
Markham’s impressive third round made it a split draw after 12 minutes, and per IFL team rules a fourth and deciding period was required.
However after deliberating with his team, Wisniewski bowed out of the extra period, giving Markham and the Silverbacks a comeback victory.
“He made this decision,” Newton said of Wisniewski. “It was his choice not to come out in the fourth round, and we all respect that choice.”
“He was still going strong,” Wisniewski said of Markham. “I felt it would be a very short fourth round if I went out there.”
Keeping hope alive for Toronto, middleweight Joe Doerksen (Pictures) submitted a still green Ryan McGivern (Pictures) via rear-naked choke 3:04 of the first. Scoring a powerful and well-executed trip takedown that put him in the mount with 2:20 remaining in the period, Doerksen transitioned between mount and back-control based on the inclination of McGivern. Eventually, the Iowa wrestler was caught after giving up his back on several occasions throughout the fight.
“Experience paid off,” Doerksen said. “A couple times in there he almost got away from me.”
“I just wanted to stay on top and maintain good position,” the Canadian continued, “keep punching him through the round if nothing else.”
While McGivern stumbled for the second time in as many fights, Mike Ciesnolevicz (Pictures) left no doubt as to which team would advance, as he countered a Beauparlant double-leg attempt with a guillotine choke.
“Clinching for my team is probably the greatest moment I’ve had so far in fighting,” Ciesnolevicz said. “I’m glad I could come through for these guys. I had a chance to clinch last time and it didn’t go my way, so it was a big night for me.”
Fending off the strong Beauparlant, who put Ciesnolevicz on his back several times, the Silverbacks’ light heavyweight survived to apply the match-clinching submission at 2:31 of the first.
“Mike C did a great job,” Miletich said. “He’s had some tough fights. Everyone on the team believed in him and we kept him in there. He fought a guy tonight that was a horse. That guy is flat-out strong. Mike stuck it out and stuck with his game.”
Rothwell was not needed to come in a save the day much as he did versus the New York Pitbulls in September. Instead, he and Wojtek Kaszowski (Pictures) slugged it out until Rothwell put the contest on the floor and locked up a keylock from side-control at 3:14 of the first.
Also on the card, Mark Kerr (Pictures)’s return to competitive fighting following a two-and-a-half year absence came to an abrupt end when Mike Whitehead (Pictures) dispatched “The Smashing Machine” two minutes, 40 seconds after the opening bell. Meanwhile, Allan Goes (Pictures) had an easy time with Daniel Gracie (Pictures), out-striking his countryman to an early second round stoppage.
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Taking a step up in competition, Palaszweski won a hard-fought split decision over IFL rookie Ivan Menjivar (Pictures), who many labeled a favorite heading into the bout.
Palaszweski opened strong, using his obvious size and strength
advantage to foil the smaller Menjivar’s takedown and clinch game.
A beautiful Palaszweski right hand put Menjivar on the floor, where
the traditional 145-pounder scrambled to avoid further damage.
“I couldn’t finish him,” Palaszweski said afterwards. “He’s got a decent jaw. I clipped him pretty damn hard.”
Palaszweski continued to press forward at the start of round two, scoring with a knee to the midsection before an uppercut knocked Menjivar, now 20-7-0, into the ropes.
With 1:15 to go in the middle period, the “Pride of El Salvador” finally put Palaszweski on the floor. Menjivar worked strikes from inside the guard, biding his time before falling back for a leg submission, which Palaszweski easily defended.
Menjivar made the bout close in the third by scoring his best spinning backfist of the night followed by a takedown that could have sealed the fight for the Canadian. After Palaszweski (24-7-0) quickly regained his footing, Menjivar landed yet another spinning strike and takedown to close out the fight.
Judges at ringside split their verdict. Steve Newport and Vic Carlson saw it 29-28 for “Bartimus,” while Ken Barringer dissented with a score of 29-28 in favor of Menjivar.
Markham’s win, by far his most difficult in four IFL contests, upped his overall record to 10-1-0 — like Palaszweski he moved to a perfect 4-0 while representing the Silverbacks in team competition — by scoring a come-from-behind “no mas” stoppage against veteran Keith Wisniewski (Pictures).
Having never gone the distance, Markham quickly earned a reputation as one of the best finishers in the IFL. But the veteran Wisniewski, who stepped up on short notice to fight tonight, kept the hard-punching welterweight off balance by dominating inside the clinch.
Remaining calm despite Markham winging punches past his head, Wisniewski (21-10-1) put the fight on the floor when he wanted, mainly by turning the clinch into an automatic takedown.
Wisniewski scored in the guard, drawing a bit of blood from the corner of Markham’s left eye. The grounded striker attempted submissions from the bottom, and was subsequently warned by the referee when he planted a foot on Wisniewski’s face.
The only non Canadian fighter on Carlos Newton (Pictures)’s squad impressed in the second period as well, scoring with a right hand lead before putting Markham on the canvas thanks to yet another takedown from the clinch. As he did in the first, Markham looked for submissions, this time almost locking in a triangle choke.
Wisniewski defended but found himself in the same position as the period came to a close. Instead of finessing the submission, Markham controlled Wisniewski from the bottom and fired away with right hands.
Down on points, Markham’s corner begged him between periods to unleash power punches. Early in the third, it didn’t seem like he could answer their call.
Rather easily, Wisniewski put the Chicagoan on the canvas. But with 2:20 to go in the third, Markham sprung to his feet. Nearly a minute later he changed momentum with a left hook to the body followed by right straight to the head. Markham and his corner could sense that the fight had shifted, and with 60 seconds to go the rally was well underway.
Markham stalked Wisniewski to the closing bell before connecting with a big shot at the end that stunned the Toronto welterweight. “I was rocked pretty bad,” Wisniewski said.
Markham’s impressive third round made it a split draw after 12 minutes, and per IFL team rules a fourth and deciding period was required.
However after deliberating with his team, Wisniewski bowed out of the extra period, giving Markham and the Silverbacks a comeback victory.
“He made this decision,” Newton said of Wisniewski. “It was his choice not to come out in the fourth round, and we all respect that choice.”
“He was still going strong,” Wisniewski said of Markham. “I felt it would be a very short fourth round if I went out there.”
Keeping hope alive for Toronto, middleweight Joe Doerksen (Pictures) submitted a still green Ryan McGivern (Pictures) via rear-naked choke 3:04 of the first. Scoring a powerful and well-executed trip takedown that put him in the mount with 2:20 remaining in the period, Doerksen transitioned between mount and back-control based on the inclination of McGivern. Eventually, the Iowa wrestler was caught after giving up his back on several occasions throughout the fight.
“Experience paid off,” Doerksen said. “A couple times in there he almost got away from me.”
“I just wanted to stay on top and maintain good position,” the Canadian continued, “keep punching him through the round if nothing else.”
While McGivern stumbled for the second time in as many fights, Mike Ciesnolevicz (Pictures) left no doubt as to which team would advance, as he countered a Beauparlant double-leg attempt with a guillotine choke.
“Clinching for my team is probably the greatest moment I’ve had so far in fighting,” Ciesnolevicz said. “I’m glad I could come through for these guys. I had a chance to clinch last time and it didn’t go my way, so it was a big night for me.”
Fending off the strong Beauparlant, who put Ciesnolevicz on his back several times, the Silverbacks’ light heavyweight survived to apply the match-clinching submission at 2:31 of the first.
“Mike C did a great job,” Miletich said. “He’s had some tough fights. Everyone on the team believed in him and we kept him in there. He fought a guy tonight that was a horse. That guy is flat-out strong. Mike stuck it out and stuck with his game.”
Rothwell was not needed to come in a save the day much as he did versus the New York Pitbulls in September. Instead, he and Wojtek Kaszowski (Pictures) slugged it out until Rothwell put the contest on the floor and locked up a keylock from side-control at 3:14 of the first.
