We’re not sure if Mamed Khalidov has been workshopping any nickname ideas, but as the unofficial authorities on this subject, we’d like to suggest “The Compactor.” Because for the past two or so years, Khalidov has been making his living collecting the UFC’s trash and shredding them into bite-sized pieces before disposing of them like yesterday’s leftovers. In this regard, his victory over TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove was a success, as he secured a rarely seen achilles lock to put Grove away inside the distance. But in a way, the win was one of Khalidov’s less impressive performances in recent memory. I mean, he even let Grove get to the second round for Chrissakes, and considering UFC veterans like Rodney Wallace, James “WHY ME?!” Irvin, Matt Lindland, and Jesse Taylor couldn’t make it out of the second minute, it really makes you wonder just why Khalidov decided to dick around for as long as he did.

We kid, we kid. In his last six fights, Khalidov has scored two victories by knockout, one by armbar, one by kneebar, one by guillotine, and one by the aforementioned Achilles lock. The man is as close to a human Swiss army knife as you will ever find, and once the UFC offers him a contract worth more than the paper it’s printed on, expect to see him making waves stateside.

Unfortunately, the video of his fight with Grove in unembeddable, so you’ll have to go here to check it out.

After the jump: Videos of the night’s co-main event — which pitted Rodney Wallace against Michael Materla for the KSW middleweight title — and the scrap between UFC veterans Matt Horwich and Terry Martin.

Yes, it’s ugly, trashy and tasteless to include Arianny on this list. Just like this t-shirt. Props: UFCStore.com

MMA fighters aren’t exactly known for their fashion sense. So it should come as little surprise that most MMA t-shirt companies produce some pretty questionable designs. The rampant abuse of foil print, skulls, chains, tribal designs and nautical stars among most MMA t-shirts is bad enough on its own; even worse when you consider that they sell for thirty bucks a pop.

Which I guess makes it all the worse when a fighter makes his way to the cage covered in an “athletic fit” Old-English mess. Not only is the shirt revolting, but it’s going to sell for an outlandish sum of money, and be worn by every overweight Texas Roadhouse chef, milquetoast tech support geek and muscle-bound frat boy.

Perhaps the reason that we’ve never attempted an “Ugliest Walkout Shirts” post is because ranking these train wrecks is like ranking, well, actual train wrecks. No matter what order you place them in, you’re a total scumbag for attempting to rank a tragedy from most to least depressing. And besides, you’re clearly wrong about which one belongs at number three. For that reason, these will not be ranked, per se, but rather categorized. How you feel these shirts fall into place is up to you.

Let’s start with the most obvious category:

Is there ANYTHING about this man that makes him unqualified to talk about the infinitely accelerating current of creativity? Didn’t think so.

If last night taught us anything, it’s that some things never change. Nick Diaz will be Nick Diaz. Kimbo Slice will crush cans. And literally anything that involves Bob Sapp will lack anything that resembles dignity. What a universe we live in.

But today is Mother’s Day, so I’m going to try to be somewhat positive for a few sentences. The good news to come out of this event is that Matt Horwich managed to snap a four fight skid with a third round TKO over Poland’s own Antoni Chmielewski, who was 22-8 coming into this fight. Horwich has always been an interesting character, sort of a non-juiced up hippy Ultimate Warrior. Even though he’s too crazy for most major promotions to take a chance on him (not to mention his pedestrian 27-21 record), he fits in just fine with KSW’s roster. That wouldn’t usually be intended as a compliment, but in whatever section of the multiverse Matt Horwich is from, it is.

Video of Horwich’s victory and the freak show that was Bob Sapp vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski after the jump.

Skip to the 19:55 mark of the video for the KO. Props: IronForgesIron.com

Imagine you wake up from a devistating spinning backfist knockout. You’re already pretty confused as it is, and now you’re finding out that you lost your fight by…unanimous decision? That’s how it feels to be Daniel Acacio, who met Pete Spratt at Amazon Forest Combat 2 last night.

Before anyone else points it out, you’re right: this technically isn’t a knockout. Spratt, who is no stranger to winning Knockout of the Day honors, landed the spinning backfist that caught Acacio right on the chin as the horn sounded for the end of the fight. So technically, this isn’t a knockout, and the fight went to the judges’ scorecards, who all saw the fight in Spratt’s favor. So yes, this is technically “Unanimous Decision of the Day”- because I’m sure it matters to Acacio’s remaining brain cells and all.

(Pudz v. Thompson, courtesy of Ironforgesiron) 

If there was anyone out there who felt that a rematch between former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowksi and world renowned punching bag James Thompson was an absolute necessity, well then I hope you’re satisfied. The fight, which went down yesterday and thankfully was only scheduled for two rounds, saw Thompson thoroughly dominate Pudzianowski in the first round with top control and pitter-patter punches from side control. In fact, the most significant offense Pudianowski was able to mount was a fricken’ jab early in the second that managed to rock Thompson nonetheless. However, the judges, whom I can only assume were members of Pudzianowski’s immediate family, saw the fight in his favor, despite Thompson’s multiple takedowns that would have won him the fight in any other promotion on this planet. “Revenge” indeed.

It’s just baffling how anyone could have given Mariusz that fight, especially considering how the first round went. But perhaps more interesting than the fight itself was that of the post fight interview, wherein Thompson stole the microphone and went on a verbal tirade that would have made Brock Lesnar be like, “Chill, bro.”

The evening’s main event saw Mamed Khalidov score another quick submission win over TUF 7 alum and late replacement for Paulo Filho, Jesse Taylor, to retain his middleweight title. Capitalizing on an early takedown from “JT Money,” Khalidov transitioned beautifully between submission attempts, finally locking in a kneebar just 46 seconds into the fight. I think it’s safe to say that Khalidov is currently one of the most overlooked fighters in the middleweight division, and if the UFC doesn’t give him a call then they will be seriously missing out.

In other action, Polish born fighter Jan Blachowicz evened the score with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, taking away a unanimous decision victory over the Cameroonian and scoring some revenge of his own for his second round TKO via retirement loss to Sokoudjou back at KSW 15.

And the bad luck streak continued for our buddy Matt Horwich, who dropped his third straight unanimous decision loss to Michal Materla. I guess we can salvage the fact that someone with a Dan Quinn level of craziness is still competing on a professional level, right?

Full results from the event, Thompson’s tirade, and the Khalidov submission are all after the jump, courtesy of Ironforgesiron. 

Weigh-in video, courtesy of IronForgesIron.com

In the absence of a UFC event tonight, many of you are going to tune in to Bellator 59 to catch this season’s Heavyweight and Bantamweight tournament finals. But let’s say that Bellator isn’t your scene. Let’s say that you’re the type of person to watch an event and say “This is fun and all, but I’d much rather watch freak show fights and can crushing”. Well, good news: Your favorite Polish promotion, KSW returns tonight with both of the above.

It’s almost fitting that a fighter known for pulling out of fights would pull out of his retirement fight. Astute readers may have remembered that KSW 17 was supposed to be Paulo Filho’s final fight, but that FIlho, as he’s known to do, pulled out of the fight at the last minute. Jesse “JT Money” Taylor has been recruited as a late replacement to take on Mamed Khalidov, who was last seen choking out Matt Lindland at KSW 16.

No, Ricco wasn’t involved this time. Props: Shark Fights on Twitter

If we were to tell you that Ricco Rodriguez was involved in another weigh-in fail during last night’s Shark Fights 17 at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas, it’s doubtful that too many readers would be surprised. The guy kind of has a history of missing weight. However, in a turn of events that prove even the MMA gods have a sense of humor, this time it was his opponent Karl Knothe coming in heavy for the 230 pound catchweight fight.

Those of you who remember our post from Thursday are probably a little confused for two reasons. Number one, we already told you that Karl Knothe has competed mostly as a light heavyweight, making it seem odd that he would show up overweight for a fight at 230. Also, we never mentioned that the fight was a catchweight bout. You’re not alone: No one told Karl Knothe about this, either. According to MMAJunkie.com: Both Rodriguez’s camp and Shark Fights officials said the bout was agreed to a catchweight of 230 pounds while Knothe allegedly believed it to be a heavyweight contest. When Knothe weighed in at 253.75 pounds to Rodriguez’s 227.75 pounds, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation disallowed Knothe from [Friday’s] event due to the large gap and concerns over excessive weight-cutting from the heavier fighter. In the same article, Shark Fight’s owner Bud Brutsman says that Karl Knothe’s manager never told him about the catchweight limit. Somebody needs to give this guy Mike Dolce’s number and a competent manager. Assuming “My manager didn’t tell me” isn’t a code for “Wow, I really botched that one, huh?”, of course.

(Props: SharkFights.com)

Just one month before he makes his Bellator debut against Seth Petruzelli, Ricco Rodriguez has one final tune-up match to get through. “Suave” will meet Karl “The Original Son of Punishment” Knothe — a Minnesota-based fighter who has won his last 12 fights by first-round stoppage —in the co-headlining bout of Shark Fights 17, which goes down tomorrow night at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. Even though Knothe has primarily competed as a 205-pounder, the match is being held at heavyweight, which is a good thing considering that Rodriguez’s last two attempts to hit a weight limit under 265 have resulted in failure and more failure.

Ricco has been undefeated in 11 fights over the last two years, competing for 10 different promotions; the upcoming appearances for Shark Fights and Bellator will also be his first for those promotions, extending his epic transient streak. Rodriguez is coming off a decision win over James McSweeney at BAMMA 5 in February, followed by an unfortunate arrest in Arizona in May.

Shark Fights 17 will be headlined by a middleweight feature between UFC vets Matt Horwich and Jake Rosholt; the two fighters previously met at an Xtreme Fight Night event last November, in which Horwich won by third-round TKO. Check out the full card here.

(Skip to the 7-minute mark for the finish. Props: carloscub6)

Stepping in for the cancelled James Irvin vs. Houston Alexander co-main event, Tara LaRosa and Carina Damm put on a great show for the fans at Shark Fights 14 in Lubbock, Texas, on Friday, ending in a second-round submission win for the American. After an evenly pitched first round, LaRosa scored right away in the second frame, knocking Damm down with a jab. Damm immediately responded with a heel-hook attempt on the ground, but LaRosa grabbed a heel-hook of her own and was able to finish hers first. The loss was Damm’s third-straight, following a ten-fight win streak.

In the main event, Danillo Villefort dominated Matt Horwich for all three rounds with a varied striking attack and a handful of well-timed takedowns, earning a unanimous 30-27 nod from the judges. Full Shark Fights 14 results are after the jump.

Addiction can make the toughest S.O.B. as powerless as this guy. While many MMA fighters have had their lives and careers derailed by drugs and alcohol, some were strong enough to find treatment and pull their lives out of the tailspin. Here’s our tribute to five of them…

LYLE BEERBOHM

Drug of choice: methamphetamines
Rock bottom moment: Wandering around the streets looking for a place to sleep after he had burned his bridges with everybody in his life. When he landed in the Washington State Penitentiary for 18 months for drug-related felonies after six years of shooting meth, nobody in his family came to visit him.
Recovery: While in the joint, Beerbohm began watching The Ultimate Fighter and became inspired to fight for a living; he’d already had to physically defend himself in prison a few times. "Fancy Pants" joined an MMA gym the day he got out, and won his first amateur fight eight days later. Beerbohm is currently 16-0 as a pro, and will take on Pat Healy in the main event of Strikeforce Challengers 14 next month.

COURT McGEE

Drug of choice: Alcohol, cocaine, heroin, meth, etc.
Rock bottom moment: McGee began abusing drugs after falling in with the wrong crowd after high school, and was once pronounced dead following a heroin overdose. In 2006, McGee had managed to stay sober for five months. In order to test his willpower, he took a trip to Las Vegas and decided to order just one drink. He woke up four days later in Iowa, not wearing any pants.
Recovery: McGee has been sober since April 16, 2006, two weeks after the Vegas/Iowa incident. He began training in MMA and rebuilding relationships with his family, which helped restore order to his life. "Crusher" came out of nowhere to win TUF 11 last June, and submitted Ryan Jensen in his follow-up fight at UFC 121. 

(Video courtesy YouTube/twistereddie)

If you’ve never watched any of the 10th Planet Mastering the System videos, you’re likely not familiar with Renato Laranja, who may or may not be a 27-time BJJ Mundials and capoeira champion and may possibly be made-up character who appears in the series. In a nutshell, Laranja is a BJJ black belt who has a cameo in nearly every episode in which he argues with Eddie Bravo about his no-gi system and seems to scrap with the Bravo faithful including Joe Rogan and Scott Epstein on a somewhat regular basis.

During a recent episode, Laranja "choked out" Bravo in an altercation that happened during one of Eddie’s classes at 10th Planet headquarters in L.A. The "incident" prompted Crispin Glover doppelganger and 10th Planet purple belt Matt Horwich to challenge the Brazilian to a fight in the episode above using way too many homosexual rape references for audience comfort.

As an added bonus, besides weekly marijuana tips courtesy of Bravo, Rogan appears on the show regularly in a Tae Kwon Do Joe segment in which he breaks down kicks used by fighters in recent fights.

Check out the Renato backstory after the jump:

By ReX “Go Panthers” Richardson

Well, Bellator rolled up into New Orleans on Thursday night, and there was incoherent speech, attractive women in small outfits, and some dudes got into a few fights. Bjorn Rebney made some interesting decisions for this one, since the show went off simultaneously with the first game of the NFL season, featuring last year’s SuperBowl Champion New Orleans Saints. At home. In New Orleans. This town is firmly behind their football team when they’re losing, and after a few winning seasons, it’s kinda impressive that more than a handful of people showed up at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre. (My guess is they’re either die-hard MMA fans or they hate America.) It’s pretty ballsy to put a card here this week, but Rebney’s father is the goddamn Winnebago Man, so if you don’t agree with him you can just fuck off. Also noteworthy is that there are no tournament bouts on the card, for the first time in 28 shows, but winners here will presumably show up next season in a bracket.

If you don’t mind listening to a play by play to something that went down two days ago, come on in and I’ll tell you about Bellator XXVIII. Special inside: the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu move you must try in bed!

(“Matt Horwich’s ‘Infinitely Accelerating Current Of Creativity’ is a searing literary masterpiece … an engrossing epic about the triumph of the human spirit.” – New York Times Book Review. VidProps: YouTube/KarynBryant)

Lost in the shuffle of our despair over Jens Pulver’s sixth straight defeat and the tedium of Tim Sylvia slouching all over Paul Buentello at PWP’s War on the Mainland show this weekend was that longtime MMA journeyman and noted insane-iac Matt Horwich won the promotion’s middleweight title with a fourth-round submission over Thales Leites. Long a practitioner of Nogueira-style Zombie Fighting – wherein you take as many punches to the face necessary to get the fight to the ground – Horwich weathered some early bluster from Leites before locking on a rear naked choke with less than a minute left in the first championship round. That’s just how the undead do, playboy.

Also true to form, shit didn’t really start to get weird until the post-fight interview, when MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant caught up with Horwich to get his thoughts on life, the universe and everything. Horwich was only too happy to oblige, talking about his poetry, the relativity of subatomic particles, string theory and submission grappling. If you want to see a textbook example of a reporter doing the “smile and nod” check out Bryant at the 58-second mark, when Horwich mentions for the first time what a “beautiful multiverse” we live in. Cuz she’s a straight-up pro, Bryant immediately marshals the troops and asks Horwich if he’s “going to write a song” about this win. I mean, of course he is. Later, Bryant says something about a fight being a “unity of two bodies.” Dude, Karyn, inappropriate.

(Let me get this straight. I’m fighting Carrot Top?)

Falaniko Vitale has been forced off of the August 14 “War on the Mainland” card for unknown reasons and will be replaced by former IFL middleweight champion Matt Horwich (23-13-1) in a Powerhouse World Promotions (PWP) LLC 185-pound championship bout against former number one UFC middleweight contender Thales Leites (17-3-1).

“We’re excited to add Matt Horwich to our already stacked card,” PWP CEO Brian Manna said. “They are two of the best BJJ fighters in the world. Either one will make a great PWP middleweight champion.”

2-6 in his last eight outings, including losses to Dan Miller, Ricardo Almeida and Jason MacDonald, Horwich may not be the fighter most deserving of a title shot, but is likely being rewarded with a crack at the newly-created belt for stepping up to face Leites on less than two weeks notice.

Let’s Get It On! MMA, the new tournament format mixed martial arts promotion owned by Elaine McCarthy, wife of acclaimed referee “Big” John McCarthy kicks off its first season tonight in Canada. Featuring tournaments in two weight classes – welterweight and lightweight – the winner of each division of the round robin will earn a contract with Strikeforce to compete in their Challenger series as well as a $25,000 paycheck.

Speaking to Sportsnet MMA columnist James Brydon, McCarthy, who was the event coordinator at several early UFC events explains that tourney will split time between Edmonton, Alberta and Gatineau, Quebec and will feature nine events. She says that although there are other promotions out there that follow the tournament format, none feature a region versus region format like LGIO.

(Another otherwise-lovely photo ruined by red-eye. Props to JunieBrowning.com.)

TUF 8‘s man-you-love-to-hate is close to finalizing his next Octagon appearance. Junie Browning and TUF 5 castmember Cole Miller have reportedly agreed to face each other at UFC Fight Night 18 (April 1st, Nashville). Still a perfect 3-0 as a professional, Browning most recently submitted Dave Kaplan via armbar at last month’s TUF 8 finale, and has been trying to get his game tightened up at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Miller (14-3) is an American Top Team member who last fought at UFC 86 in July, where he choked out Jorge Gurgel. Sounds like a solid step up in competition for "The Lunatik" — will he rise to the challenge?

In other fight-bookin’ news…

— UFC Fight Night 18 will also host a middleweight bout between Ricardo Almeida and Matt Horwich, who are both coming off losses. Almeida dropped a split decision to Patrick Cote at UFC 86, while former IFL champion Horwich lost a decision to Dan Miller in his Octagon debut at UFC 90. As accomplished and talented as both fighters are, the loser might find himself without a contract.

— Junie Browning’s Team Mir drinking buddy Shane Nelson, who clawed out a split decision victory over George Roop at the TUF 8 finale, is being brought back to take on Aaron Riley at UFC 96 (March 7th, Columbus). Just like Cole Miller, Riley’s last appearance was also a win over Jorge Gurgel, at UFC 91 in November. Poor Jorge Gurgel.

(He’s damn near a middleweight at this point. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

— Brandon Vera, who will be facing Keith Jardine at UFC 89 (October 18th; Birmingham, England), is currently walking around at 202 pounds. “My whole outlook on everything has changed,” he told UFC.com. “I am serious about this stuff now. It’s my diet, and my strength and conditioning coach, the 2004 Judo Olympian Rhadi Ferguson, it’s everything. It’s going to be bad for the 205ers, man. Bad. News.” At this rate, Vera will weigh-in at 197 and de-hydrate down to 189 by the night of the fight, because he’s a total genius. In other Truth-news, Vera was held at gunpoint Saturday morning at the home of world champion grappler Lloyd Irvin, but Irvin disarmed one of the two gunmen and scared off the other. Full story here…

— Georges St. Pierre has signed with CAA Sports, a division of entertainment/sports mega-agency Creative Artists. CAA, along with St. Pierre’s manager Shari Spencer, will work to secure marketing and endorsement opportunities for Rush. Said Spencer: “Georges’ appeal transcends the Octagon and I am confident that together we can introduce Georges, and the entire sport of MMA, to a wider audience.” As MMA Payout described the signing, “It may not seem like much now, but in one year it could be remembered as a seminal moment in the sport’s development.”

— Ricardo Almeida has suffered a mystery injury and will not be able to fight former IFL middleweight champ Matt Horwich at UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago). Replacing him will be Dan Miller, another former IFL middleweight champ. It will be Horwich’s first fight in the UFC and the second for Miller, who choked out Rob Kimmons at last month’s UFC Fight Night 15.

— TUF 7 goofball Matt Riddle, who won his first professional fight with a unanimous decision over castmate Dante Rivera in June, will be returning to the Octagon at UFC 91 (November 15th, Las Vegas) against Ryan Thomas, who lost his UFC debut against Ben Saunders at UFC 87.

— MMA Weekly hears that the TUF 8 finale on December 13th will be headlined by a fight between Nate Diaz and Clay Guida.

After battling a series of bizarre and career-threatening injuries, Benji Radach ran up an impressive winning streak in the IFL. He beat mostly mid-level fighters like Ryan McGivern and Gerald Harris, but he did it convincingly and in exciting fashion. Then he got TKO’d by Matt Horwich in his last fight. Apparently that was enough for the UFC to decide to pass on him when it came time to bid on IFL free agents after the company’s collapse. In an interview with Sam Caplan, Radach can’t seem to make sense of why MMA’s biggest organization wouldn’t want to sign a guy who’s coming of a loss and has a history of injuries:

“The UFC actually never pursued anything. I actually gave them the option at first (to negotiate) by letting them know I was interested in fighting for the UFC again. But they said I needed to win a fight before I could be a part of the UFC. That really was kind of retarded from my point of view. If there’s a good fighter out there, then you want to grab that good fighter. It doesn’t make a difference if he goes out there and beats a nobody and then gets a win and comes back in. It’s just really stupid. Why is it important that I go out and smash somebody just to get a win rather than fight a top guy in your organization?”

On one hand, Radach has a point. He could go to one of the smaller shows and knock out a guy no one has ever heard of, and it wouldn’t prove anything (aside from perhaps silencing lingering doubts as to his durability). On the other hand, if you want to fight for the UFC, why not go ahead and do that?

(Props to MMA Mania for the poster image.)

— Kenny Florian doesn’t plan on sitting out until BJ Penn decides to defend his lightweight belt; he’ll be fighting one more time this year, no matter what. “(Penn) made the decision that he wants to fight GSP and I tell you what as a fan I want to see that fight,” Florian said during an appearance on MMA Weekly Radio. “It’s a risky move and some people have criticized me for it, but I still want to get another fight in…before the year’s end and I want to fight someone tough.”

— All signs are pointing to Cheick Kongo as Brock Lesnar’s next opponent. And why not UFC Hall-of-Famer Mark Coleman, who was originally supposed to take on Lesnar at “Seek and Destroy”? According to Dave Meltzer: “The basic story is this…Coleman really doesn’t want the fight.”

— UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago) will see the Octagon debut of Matt Horwich, the Team Quest product and one-time IFL middleweight champion. He’ll be given a very tough test against BJJ ace Ricardo Almeida, who’s coming off a split decision loss to Patrick Cote at UFC 86. The UFC has also announced a UFC 90 middleweight matchup between Goran Reljic and Thales Leites.

— Even Jason MacDonald doesn’t know why he decided to fight Demian Maia on the ground: “It was a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid fight on my behalf. And I take the full blame 100 percent for it. I’ll take it right on the forehead like I took those hundred elbows from Maia.”

Despite absorbing a slew of body kicks and a shoulder-lock attempt in the second round that nearly had him tapping, Ryan McGivern got the better of Matt Horwich during their IFL middleweight championship match on Friday and took the fight to a unanimous decision. So, Horwich loses his belt after just a two-month reign, and the title now goes to a guy who’s 4-4 in his last eight fights.

(Josh Haynes picked up six grand for “bringing the pain.”)

Since we spent so much time yesterday looking at the generally impressive bonuses and salaries for UFC 82, it seems like a good idea to check out the IFL’s payouts for comparison. MMA Weekly has obtained the salaries for Friday’s IFL season opener, which are below. The IFL event brought 4,280 people to the Orleans Arena, with only 1,606 of those people actually paying for their tickets. The total live gate was $102,120, and the total disclosed fighter payroll was $165,500.

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUTS
Ryan Schultz ($26,000, including $14,000 win bonus) def. John Gunderson ($9,500)
Roy Nelson ($24,000 including $14,000 win bonus) def. Fabiano Scherner ($7,500)
Ryan McGivern ($10,000 including $4,000 win bonus) def. Matt Horwich ($12,000)

MAIN CARD
Alexandre Ferreira ($16,000 including $8,000 win bonus) def. Lew Polley ($4,000)
Jake Ellenberger ($15,000 including $7,500 win bonus) def. Pat Healy ($7,500)
Rafael Dias ($7,000 including $3,500 win bonus) def. Santino De Franco ($5,000)
Josh Haynes ($6,000 including $3,000 win bonus) def. Leopoldo Serao ($4,000)

PRELIMINARY FIGHT
Ian Loveland ($7,000 including $3,500 win bonus) def. Dennis Davis ($5,000)

What’s the sadder number — $12,000 (the guaranteed salary of the event’s highest-paid fighters, Schultz and Horwich) or 2,600 (the number of seat-fillers that the IFL had to bring in to make the joint look crowded)?

(Easy come, easy go: Horwich and McGivern)

You’ve already read our blow-by-blow results of IFL’s rock ‘em sock ‘em season opener. Now, Ben Fowlkes gives his insider’s perspective on last night’s action. Read it and learn something.

I already knew Matt Horwich could take a punch, but I didn’t know until last night that he could take so many and remain so unfazed. Ryan McGivern hit Horwich with everything but a Zuffa lawsuit in their five-round fight. It made for a sharp contrast from the wrestling match that erupted the last time these two fought, and it proved that while both have come a long way, McGivern is improving at an almost frightening rate.

That’s not to say it was an easy night for McGivern, even if he did walk away with the title. I saw him backstage and his face had already turned several different colors, though he was so happy I don’t think he noticed. For those who were surprised to see McGivern win with his striking, perhaps this anecdote from Pat Miletich will clear it up.

Miletich said that during the training for this fight, they brought in a pro boxer to go a few rounds sparring with McGivern. After three rounds, the guy was done. McGivern had destroyed his ribs. So then a Muay Thai fighter got in there to help him finish up, but after a couple of rounds he was finished as well. Then, Miletich said, one of his guys “who holds a belt in another organization” got in against McGivern, and he also took a beating. No wonder McGivern is the new champ.

(Ryan “The Lion” Schultz G-n-P’s John Gunderson.)

Last night at the Orleans Arena in Vegas, 3,931 fans watched the IFL kick off its 2008 season with three title matches – lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight – in addition to their camp-on-camp battles. Ryan “The Lion” Schultz, who won the lightweight title back in December when he beat the shit out of previously undefeated Chris Horodecki, retained his title by earning a unanimous decision over John Gunderson. “The Lion” claimed recently that Gunderson had been offered this fight many times, but had neglected to take it until now. The champ held a strong position through much of the fight – which was fought on the ground for the most part. Both Schultz and Gunderson had chances to end the fight with a choke early on, but neither could execute it.

Heavyweight Roy “Big Country” Nelson also successfully defended his belt by getting a TKO over Fabiano Scherner at 3:20 in the first round. “Big Country” has been improving his striking and this fight showed that as he unleashed a barrage of rights to get a stoppage.

(“Big Country” has a celebratory seizure.)

One title did switch hands and it happened the night before the ex-champ’s wedding, too. Matt Horwich put his middleweight title on the line against Ryan McGivern, which made for the best fight of the night. Horwich almost ended it via armbar in the second round, but the bell saved McGivern’s ass. Horwich almost went down himself in the fourth when McGivern drilled him with a flurry of strikes, but “The Fighting Hippy” held on. In the end, a unanimous decision gave the middleweight crown over to McGivern, ending a two month run as champ for Horwich. Hope he ices his face for the sake of the wedding pictures – he didn’t grow the mohawk out for nothing.

The IFL’s “New Blood – New Battles” season opener goes down tonight at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, with Team Tompkins set to do battle against Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center, and Matt Lindland’s Team Quest facing off against Ken Shamrock’s Lions Den. Also, title-holders Ryan Schultz (lightweight), Matt Horwich (middleweight), and Roy Nelson (heavyweight) will defend their belts against John Gunderson, Ryan McGivern, and Fabiano Scherner, respectively. TheFightingLife‘s Ben Fowlkes (who also writes news for IFL.tv) has been on the scene since Tuesday and gave us this glimpse into the high-tension among the fighters before the event. Watch the action tonight on HDNet, starting at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.

Covering the IFL for the past year and a half, here’s one lesson I’ve learned: during any interview with Matt Lindland, he’s going to get mad at me at least once. I can never tell what will cause it; it could be anything. This time it’s Kimbo Slice.

It’s the day before the IFL Las Vegas event and we’re interviewing all the fighters and coaches. It can be monotonous, to say the least. We get just about everyone to weigh in on Kimbo, but as soon as I ask what Lindland thinks of him, the mood of the interview changes.

“He’s a bum,” says Lindland. The look on his face tells me to leave it alone. I ask what he means by that. He glares at me. I bring this on myself. I really do.

“I mean he’s a bum,” he says. “He’s a nobody. What do you want me to say? You asked me what I thought and I told you. I don’t have anything else to say about him.”

The hell of it is, despite how ornery he can be I really like Lindland. I can’t help it. Even when he gives me the look like he’s trying to figure out how one human being ever got to be this stupid, at least I know it’s sincere. You have to respect honesty like that.

Writing about fighters, sometimes honesty is difficult to gauge. Do these two guys really hate each other, I find myself asking, or are they just trying to hype the fight? In the build-up to Friday night’s IFL event, I wondered this about Ian Loveland and Dennis Davis, two former teammates who are slated to go at it.

Though he’s currently riding a wave of success in the IFL, Matt Horwich’s story hasn’t always been filled with good news. Before he made it as a mixed martial artist, Horwich battled a drug and alcohol addiction that spiraled out of control. After a period of time spent squatting in abandoned houses and searching for ways to support his habit, Horwich recognized he had hit bottom and started fighting his way back.

He turned to spirituality and adopted a Zen-like quality that is equal-parts hippie, monk, and surfer dude. He credits his faith in God and the fighters at Team Quest for pulling him out of the quagmire his life was in and setting him on his current track. That track includes his first defense of his recently acquired IFL middleweight title, which will go down February 29th in Las Vegas – the day before his wedding. We recently chatted with Matt Horwich, where he discussed his favorite training partners, his array of nicknames, his love of the IFL, and his rockstar aspirations.

CagePotato: What are your thoughts on your title defense against Ryan McGivern?
Matt Horwich: I know a lot about Ryan, more than Tim Kennedy, because I fought him before and I’ve seen him fight quite a bit. He’s way awesome – it’s an honor to fight him again. Sometimes I think he forgets how good he is, like in the (Joe) Doerksen fight. I hope this will be one of the nights he forgets how good he is.

Have you been working on anything new to prepare for this fight?
I’ve been working on a lot of counter punches and takedown defense. Getting back up. I don’t want him to win a decision from taking me down again and not getting submitted. I’m not letting him pass guard this time.

You’ve skipped around to different camps and trained in different places. What’s been your favorite place to train?
My favorite place is my team, Team Quest. It’s a blessing that they have such a great group of guys to work with so I can be well prepared. As far as venturing out and training in other places, my favorite place has been Legends in Hollywood. I’m good friends with Eddie Bravo and he showed me a lot of good rubber guard stuff. And Chris Riley, the stand-up coach there, is my favorite kickboxing coach. I’d like to do some training with Bas Rutten again – he’s pretty close to there.

Your official nickname is “Sauve”, but you’ve also been called “The Fighting Hippy.” Two names with two very different vibes – which do you prefer?
I like them both alright. It’s cool to have more than one name. I like “Sauve” because it’s like relaxed and flowing and I like “Fighting Hippy” because it’s original. It’s good to be close to earth – it’s a beautiful universe and awesome things are always happening, all the awesome potential to do great things and make our dreams come true, and affect others positively.

(Matt Horwich, celebrating or something.)

Some of the IFL’s new champions could have a seriously short reign at the top if they’re upset at the league’s season opener, which will be held just two months after their titles were awarded at the World Grand Prix. As reported on Friday, the first 2008 event will be held in Las Vegas on February 29; the IFL sent out word today that the competition will be headlined by the following championship matches:

[lightweights] Ryan Schultz vs. John Gunderson
[middleweights] Matt Horwich vs. Tim Kennedy
[heavyweights] Roy Nelson vs. Fabiano Scherner

Most eyes will be on Ryan “The Lion” Schultz, who is looking to prove that his violent K.O. of Chris Horodecki was no fluke; Gunderson was scheduled to face Horodecki for the title, but was injured in training and replaced by Schultz at the 11th hour.

The other big news coming from the IFL today is that the team matchups for the season opener have been finalized: Matt Lindland’s Team Quest will take on Ken Shamrock’s Reno-based Lion’s Den, while Team Xtreme Couture will face the fellow newcomers of Mario Sperry’s MMA Top Team, who are also based in Las Vegas. In case you’re unfamiliar with his work, 41-year-old Sperry is one of the founders of Chute Boxe-rivals Brazilian Top Team; in 1998, he became the first fighter in history to make a member of the Gracie family submit in a match, when he defeated Royler Gracie.

More updates to come…