McGivern Snatches IFL Title; Nelson, Schultz Defend

Mike Sloan, Getty Images Ethan MillerMar 01, 2008
Ryan Schultz (Pictures) retained his IFL lightweight belt by fending off a game but overmatched John Gunderson (Pictures) en route to a unanimous decision win.

The fight failed miserably to live up to the pre-fight hype because both men played it a bit too safe. Schultz utilized his better striking, superior takedowns and raw strength to dominate four of the five allotted rounds, easily capturing the decision via tallies of 49-46 on all three scorecards.

Schultz acknowledged his displeasure for the lack of action and apologized for the absence of fireworks.

"I got pretty fatigued out there," he said. "I felt kind of flat. He's a tough guy but I am a little disappointed with my performance. It wasn't my best fight."

Gunderson did have Schultz in a world of trouble in the fourth with a guillotine. Though Gunderson's guard was closed and the choke was sunk, the defending champion was able to wriggle free. It was the only time in the fight when "Guns" had the advantage.

"I am not going to ever quit," Schultz remarked. "You can try and choke me but I'll work my way out of it."

Pat Healy (Pictures) fought his heart out for three full rounds but his courage and determination weren't enough as he dropped a unanimous decision to Jake Ellenberger (Pictures).

Ellenberger's better striking and powerful takedowns paved the way towards victory, and he was awarded the win by margins of 30-27 (twice) and 29-28.

Alexandre Ferreira didn't even break a sweat in his 20-second submission of Lew Polley, ending the fight with a beautiful standing guillotine. Ferreira charged at his foe and landed a flurry of punches. When Polley ducked, the choke was applied. Polley tapped out and staggered back after the guillotine was relinquished as he was a second or two from going to sleep.

In the opening bout of the HDNet broadcast, "The Ultimate Fighter" veteran Josh Haynes (Pictures) had to tough it out against Leopoldo Sereo.

Haynes' desire was to stand and slug it out, but Serao had other plans as he continuously tried to pull guard while refusing to engage with the blue-haired fighter from Las Vegas. Sereo did make things interesting in the third as he had Haynes' back for over two minutes, but he couldn't sink the rear-naked choke.

After 12 minutes (the IFL uses four-minute rounds) Haynes easily won the bout unanimously as the three ringside judges favored him via tallies of 30-27 (twice) and 29-28.

Mario Sperry (Pictures) disciple Rafael Dias (Pictures) was like a boa constrictor against Santino Defranco (Pictures) as he threw every choke under the sun until he finally landed the winner.

Defranco expertly defended his neck, but it was a slick rear-naked choke applied by Dias the won it. Defranco couldn't escape and had no choice but to tap at the 2:03 mark of the first round.

Ian Loveland (Pictures) kicked off the evening with a superb guillotine submission of Dennis Davis (Pictures). Loveland was cut above his right eye and seemed to be losing the fight but he was able to stuff a takedown attempt early in the second. Davis slipped into the guillotine and when Loveland dragged him to canvas, it was a matter of seconds before Davis tapped out. The official time was 58 seconds of round two.