Changes To IFL's April 4 Show Continue

by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2008 1:05 PM EDT in MMA News

The IFL show on April 4 is getting to the point of downright "can't miss." Yesterday Luke reported that Jim Miller would be stepping in for the injured Deividas Taurosevicius to face Bart Palaszewski.

Now according to a press release sent out by the IFL Jason Black has been called in to replace Rory Markham against Emyr Bussade of ATT. Markham is recovering from a respiratory illness and damned if the IFL didn't go ahead and get another great replacement.

In addition to the late replacements the IFL also announced that Alex Schoenauer will face Brendon Barrett. Barrett is 3-2 with his last fight being a submission loss to UFC fighter Tim Boetsch in July of last year.

The full card now looks like this:

Additional Bouts
155 lbs: Chris Horodecki (11-1) vs. Nate Lamotte (6-2)
205 lbs: Alex Schoenauer (12-9) vs. Brendan Barrett (3-2)
American Top Team vs. Miletich Fighting Systems
145 lbs: Rafael Dias (10-3-1) vs. LC Davis (9-1)
170 lbs: Emyr Bussade (10-5) vs. Jason Black (23-4-1)
205 lbs: Carmelo Marrero (7-2) vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz (13-3)
Midwest Combat vs. Renzo Gracie Academy
155 lbs: Part Palaszewski (29-10) vs. Jim Miller (10-1)
170 lbs: Brad Blackburn (11-9-1) vs. Delson Heleno (13-4)
205 lbs Championship: Vladimir Matyushenko (c)(20-3) vs. Jamal Patterson (4-1)
Additional Championship Bouts
170 lbs Championship: Jay Hieron (c) (14-4) vs. Mark Miller (8-2)
145 lbs Championship: Wagnney Fabiano (c) (9-1) vs. Shad Lierley (2-1)

That's a damn solid card with some real talent. This show has flown under a lot of people's radar but it has just kind of built into what is probably the best card the promotion has ever put together. If they can keep this up we may see them finally starting to gain a little momentum.

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Comments

Re: Changes To IFL's April 4 Show Continue

I expected this but am still bummed to see Jason Black out of the UFC. The guy is a great fighter who just hasn't caught a break in the big promotions. After he had a fight of the night against Matt Grice, I was really hoping they'd keep him for a 3rd chance.

by Kid Nate on Mar 26, 2008 1:37 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Changes To IFL's April 4 Show Continue

Oh and the reason this card won't do anything to build the IFL is that, good as it is, it doesn't have any stories.
They've never grasped that the job of a promoter is to tell stories. Book matches that make ordinary people care, not just fight heads.

by Kid Nate on Mar 26, 2008 1:39 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Changes To IFL's April 4 Show Continue

That's true. But another problem they're having is they're losing the "fight heads" also. There have been way too many fights between guys who are hovering around a 50% win percentage who aren't very exciting to begin with.

When you can't even get rabid fight fans to tune in to catch fights on free TV...you're doing something wrong.

Booking competitive matches featuring solid fighters is step 1.

by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2008 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Changes To IFL's April 4 Show Continue

Also, booking competitive matches featuring solid fighters will, over time, help develop stories. It's an overused example but the beginnings of the Shamrock-Ortiz rivalry wouldn't have started if Ortiz hadn't torn through the divison or if Shamrock hadn't been a near phenomenon in the early days of the UFC. Competitive booking will help develop stars and once that happens, the stories will write themselves.

by dropkick101 on Mar 26, 2008 2:05 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Changes To IFL's April 4 Show Continue

True. There are 2 fights that sell:

Fights featuring guys that can talk and get people into the hype.
Fights featuring two guys that are dominant which create that "what will happen?" type atmosphere.

A lot of great fights are a mix of the two. As fights happen and fighters are able to establish themselves as fighters and through interviews..etc as personalities then people will care more and things will get better for the promotion.

by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 26, 2008 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions