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Anacondas "Pitch" Shutout
In IFL Action, Sabres Also Win |
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 INGLEWOOD, California - With their formidable rotations, both Los Angeles baseball teams are expected to throw their share of shutouts this season. Well, there's another L.A. team that also has a formidable "rotation."
The Los Angeles Anacondas, led now by Shawn Tompkins, got its first shutout of the season, 5-0, over the San Jose Razorclaws here at the Great Western Forum on March 17.
Prior to the bout, the Anacondas announced that champion trainer Tompkins would take over the reigns as the team's head coach, replacing Bas Rutten, who will take an expanded role in the IFL, including serving as co-host of the weekly "IFL Battleground" television series on MyNetworkTV.
In the first matchup, Brian Ebersole (San Jose, Calif.) of the Razorclaws (0-2) and Alex Schoenauer (Las Vegas) of the Anacondas slugged it out in an action-packed light heavyweight bout, with Schoenauer taking a split decision to give the hometown favorites a 1-0 edge. Middleweight Benji Radach (Coconut Creek, Fla.) made it 2-0 in favor of the Anacondas with a first-round TKO over Brian Foster (Moreno Valley, Calif.) via guillotine choke. Lightweight Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) then clinched the victory with a workmanlike unanimous decision over Josh Odom (Tallahassee, Fla.). Jay Hieron (Las Vegas) submitted Donnie Liles in a welterweight bout to move the advantage to 4-0, before Krzysztof Soszynski (Winnipeg, Manitoba) finished off the whitewashing with a unanimous verdict over Dan Christison (Las Vegas) in the heavyweight tilt. The sweep was the second in league history, matching the Anacondas' effort in September 2006.
In the other team bout, lightweight Savant Young (Los Angeles) got the Sabres (2-0) off to a rousing start with an early second-round KO of Adam Lynn (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Antonio McKee (Lakewood, Calif.) took a unanimous welterweight decision over Rodrigo Ruas (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to stake the Sabres to a 2-0 advantage. After Jeremy Williams (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) executed a first-round triangle choke of Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Tokyo) to cut the Condors' (1-1) deficit in half with the TKO win, Vladimir Matyushenko (Belarus) secured the Sabres' team win with a first-round TKO of Justin Levens (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) in the light heavyweight matchup. Condors heavyweight Antoine Jaoude (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) turned the tables on Wayne Cole (Oklahoma City) with a second-round KO for the final 3-2 margin.
In the preliminary bouts, which featured the alternate fighters for each team, Conor Heun of the Anacondas defeated Clint Coronel of the Razorclaws by split decision, while Zac George of the Sabres topped Danny Suarez of the Condors in a unanimous decision.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The IFL next visits Moline, Ill., on April 7.
THE 5 W's
Who: IFL mixed martial artists
What: IFL Condors vs. Sabres and Razorclaws vs. Anacondas
Where: Inglewood, Forum
When: March 17, 2007
Why: To Reign Supreme
QUOTES"It's an honor to be given this team, and I want to prove to him (Rutten) that I can be as good as him." - Tompkins
"To me, he is one of the greatest fighters in the world, and I thought a year ago." - Tompkins, talking about Chris Horodecki
"Our game plan was to go to the body, and that is what I did." - Krzysztof Soszynski, talking about his fight with Dan Christison
- The IFL contributed to this report.
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