Jerry Milani from the IFL sent along the following:
MATYUSHENKO, HIERON, FABIANO TO DEFEND TITLES AS INTERNATIONAL FIGHT
LEAGUE RETURNS TO NEW JERSEY ON APRIL 4
Miletich Fighting Systems, American Top Team and Renzo Gracie Academy,
Midwest Combat Battle In Camp Matchups At Izod Center in East
Rutherford, N.J.
NEW YORK, February 13, 2008 — IFL titleholders Vladimir “The
Janitor” Matyushenko (Belarus), Jay “The Thorobred” Hieron (Freeport,
N.Y./Las Vegas) and Wagnney Fabiano (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) will defend
their belts when the International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) returns
to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., with a nine-bout card on
Friday, April 4. In addition to the three Championship bouts,
competition between camps will feature athletes from Renzo Gracie Academy,
Midwest Combat, Miletich Fighting Systems, and American Top Team.
Tickets will go on sale on Monday, Feb. 25, and will be available at
the IZOD Center Box Office (located at the Meadowlands),
www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (201) 507-8900.
Of particular interest is the addition of Florida-based American Top
Team, which is “outside” of the core IFL camps to compete under the
new IFL format which encourages challenges from the top MMA camps across
the world.
Matyushenko, who defected to the U.S. while a member of the Belarus
national wrestling team in the early 1990’s, was the IFL’s first
individual champion, capping an unbeaten 2007 by winning the light
heavyweight title by defeating Alex Schoenauer last November in Chicago. On
April 4, Matyushenko will battle Jamal “The Suit” Patterson (Jersey
City, N.J.), a Colgate Univ. graduate who now serves as regional sales
manager for an orthodontics company in addition to his MMA career.
Hieron, a Long Island native who will be fighting in front of a
decidedly hometown crowd, knocked out Delson “Pe de Chumbo” Heleno (Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil) in Connecticut in December to claim the welterweight
crown. His opponent in New Jersey will be Mark Miller (Chicago), a
former machine gunner in the U.S. Marines who was one of the big surprises
at 170-lbs. last year in the IFL.
Fabiano is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert who used that skill to record
five submissions, four of them in the first round, in a perfect 2007,
culminating in a win over LC Davis (Kansas City, Mo.) in the
featherweight championship in December. He takes on Shad Lierley (Seattle), a
former collegiate conference wrestling champion at New York University who
moves to 145-lbs. after impressing with two victories and a
well-documented thrilling battle with Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki
(London, Ontario) last year.
“I like the local feel of this card,” said Bas Rutten, IFL Vice
President, Fighter Operations. “In addition to three outstanding
championship matchups, featuring fighters from New York and New Jersey, you
have Renzo Gracie’s camp, which was the champion last year, Midwest
Combat, which features our top fighters from the Chicago area, and great
battles with the Miletich camp and American Top Team, which we are very
excited to have on board.”
Among the intriguing matchups in the Miletich-ATT pairing are those
between welterweights Rory Markham (Chicago) and Emyr Bussade (Fort
Lauderdale, Fla.) and light heavyweights Mike Ciesnolevicz (Williamstown,
Pa.) and Lew Polley (Coconut Creek, Fla.). L.C. Davis will also compete
against a yet-to-be-determined featherweight opponent.
The Gracie-Midwest bouts include a rematch of last year’s exciting
Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) vs. Bart “Bartimus” Palaszewski
(Wonderlake, Ill.) matchup. Delson Heleno will also fight at 170 lbs;
his opponent is TBD.
Outside of the camp matchups, Chris Horodecki will battle a yet unnamed
lightweight for a planned minimum nine-bout card.
IFL East Rutherford, N.J.
Friday, April 4, 2008
(order TBD)
Additional Bouts
155 lbs.: Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) (7-1 IFL, 11-1 overall MMA)
vs. TBD
American Top Team vs. Miletich Fighting Systems
145 lbs.: TBD vs. LC Davis (Kansas City, Mo.) (2-0, 9-1)
170 lbs.: Emyr Bussade (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (0-0, 10-5) vs. Rory
Markham (Chicago) (6-2, 12-3)
205 lbs.: Lew Polley (Coconut Creek, Fla.) (0-0, 6-0) vs. Mike
Ciesnolevicz (Williamstown, Pa.) (5-3, 13-3)
Midwest Combat vs. Renzo Gracie Academy
155 lbs.: Bart Palaszewski (Wonderlake, Ill.) (8-3, 29-10) vs. Deividas
Taurosevicius (Lithuania) (3-0, 9-2)
170 lbs.: TBD vs. Delson Heleno (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (6-3, 13-4)
*205 lbs.: **Vladimir Matyushenko (Belarus) (5-0, 20-3) vs. Jamal
Patterson (Jersey City, N.J.) (4-1, 4-1)
Additional Championship Bouts
*170 lbs.: **Jay Hieron (Freeport, N.Y.) (6-2, 14-4) vs. Mark Miller
(Chicago) (2-1, 8-2)
*145 lbs.: **Wagnney Fabiano (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (5-0, 9-1) vs.
Shad Lierley (Seattle) (2-1, 2-1)
*Championship Bout
**Current Titleholder
About the IFL
International Fight League (IFL) has its headquarters in New York
and offices in Las Vegas. For more information about IFL, please see:
www.ifl.tv.
