NEW YORK, March 26, 2008 – Mixed Martial arts veteran Alex Schoenauer (Las Vegas) will take on local standout Brendan Barrett (Tuckerton, N.J.) as the International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) will now hold 10 bouts on its card at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Friday, April 4. In addition, two replacements have been named: Jason Black (Davenport, Iowa), representing Miletich Fighting Systems, and Jim Miller (Sparta, N.J.), fighting for Renzo Gracie Academy.

Schoenauer, who has nine IFL bouts among his 21 career MMA fights, last fought for the IFL title at 205 lbs. in November, losing a decision to Vladimir Matyushenko. Barrett has a 3-2 record, with two of the wins coming by knockout.

Black is 23-4-1 and is highly regarded among MMA fans, gaining additional attention by competing in two UFC bouts last year. He will fight in place of Rory Markham, who is recovering from a respiratory illness, against Emyr Bussade (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) of American Top Team at welterweight. Miller, who owns an impressive 10-1 record, will take on Bart Palaszewski (Wonder Lake, Ill.) of Midwest Combat in a lightweight matchup, in place of Deividas Taurosevicius, who has a hand injury.

As previously announced, 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 on April 4. Matyushenko will battle Jamal Patterson (Jersey City, N.J.) for the light heavyweight crown; Hieron will take on Mark Miller (Chicago) at 170 lbs., and Fabiano will accept the challenge of Shad Lierley (Seattle) at 145 lbs. In a non-title bout, Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) will oppose Nate Lamotte (New Hampshire) in a matchup of lightweights.

Tickets are available at the IZOD Center Box Office (located at the Meadowlands), www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (201) 507-8900.

'NJSIAA, NYSPHSAA Grapplers To Be Recognized At Professional Mixed Martial Arts Event - Discount Tix' - 3/17/2008

NEW YORK, March 17, 2008 – The connection between the sports of wrestling and mixed martial arts is a strong and growing one. In recognition of the achievement of New York and New Jersey high school wrestlers this season, the International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) will honor the champions of both states and their coaches at the first major MMA competition on the East Coast in 2008, April 4 at the IZOD Center in E. Rutherford, N.J., beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The league will recognize champions recently crowned in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) and New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) for their athletic excellence

“More than two-thirds of our professional mixed martial arts athletes come from the high school and collegiate wrestling ranks,” said IFL CEO Jay Larkin. “We are proud to be able to highlight the success and hard work that these state champions have demonstrated and wish them success as they move forward in their academic and athletic careers.”

Last year, the IFL and USA Wrestling, the national governing body of the sport of wrestling, began a partnership to help promote the relationship between the sports. The IFL has held clinics with USA Wrestling around the country, using IFL elite athletes with a strong wrestling background to show younger athletes how to improve technique. Numerous IFL athletes, including current champions Jay Hieron, Roy Nelson, Vladimir Matyushenko, Ryan Schultz and Ryan McGivern, have an accomplished wrestling background. In addition, former middleweight champion Matt Horwich earned a silver medal at the World Grappling Games in the summer of 2007 and his coach Matt Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist.

Some of the elite wrestlers competing on the April 4 MMA card at the Meadowlands will include Hieron (Nassau C.C.), Matyushenko (Lassen J.C.), Shad Lierley (New York Univ.), L.C. Davis (Missouri Valley College) and Mike Ciesnolevicz (Lock Haven Univ.) The event will feature nine bouts, including the IFL featherweight, middleweight and light heavyweight belts, and will be seen live on HDNet and Fox Sports Canada, as well as on tape delay on FSN.

'Blackburn to Take on Heleno, Complete N.J. Card; Dias, Marrero To Compete for ATT; Lamotte Challenges Horodecki' - 3/12/2008

NEW YORK, March 12, 2008 – “Bad” Brad Blackburn (Olympia, Wash.) is among four athletes who have been added to the card when the International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) returns to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Friday, April 4. The IFL veteran will take on Delson Heleno (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) in a welterweight clash, one of nine mixed martial arts bouts on the slate.

The IFL has also announced the addition of three other pros to complete the lineup, including featherweight Rafael Dias (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and light heavyweight Carmelo Marrero (Douglasville, Pa.), who will represent American Top Team in its first IFL action, as they take on Miletich Fighting Systems’ L.C. Davis (Kansas City, Mo.) and Mike Ciesnolevicz (Williamstown, Pa.), respectively. Also added to card is Nate Lamotte, who will take on 20-year-old phenom Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) in a lightweight bout.

The charismatic Blackburn has three wins in five IFL decisions, including a victory over Hieron last June. His only bout since then was a “no contest” against Travis Cox in Florida last September. Dias won his IFL debut on Feb. 29, submitting Santino DeFranco in the first round. Marrero and Lamotte will be making their first IFL appearances in New Jersey.

As previously announced, 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 on April 4. Matyushenko will battle Jamal Patterson (Jersey City, N.J.) for the light heavyweight crown; Hieron will take on Mark Miller (Chicago) at 170 lbs., and Fabiano will accept the challenge of Shad Lierley (Seattle) at 145 lbs. In a non-title bout, Rory Markham (Chicago) will oppose Emyr Bussade (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in a matchup of welterweights.

Tickets are available at the IZOD Center Box Office (located at the Meadowlands), www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (201) 507-8900.

Miletich Fighting Systems, American Top Team and Renzo Gracie Academy, Midwest Combat Battle In Camp Matchups At Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

'Matyushenko, Hieron, Fabiano to Defend Titles As International Fight League Retursn To New Jersey On April 4' - 2/13/2008

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 - Friday, April 4, 2008
Izod Center, East Rutheford, NJ
(order TBD)

Additional Bouts
155 lbs.: Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) (7-1 IFL, 11-1 overall MMA) vs. Nate Lamotte (0-0, 6-2)Additional Bouts

205 lbs.: Alex Schoenauer (Las Vegas) (4-5, 12-9) vs. Brendan Barrett (Tuckerton, N.J.) (0-0, 3-2)

American Top Team vs. Miletich Fighting Systems
145 lbs.: Rafael Dias (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (1-0, 10-3-1) vs. LC Davis (Kansas City, Mo.) (2-0, 9-1)

170 lbs.: Emyr Bussade (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (0-0, 10-5) vs. Jason Black (Davenport, Iowa)

205 lbs.: Carmelo Marrero (Douglasville, Pa.) (0-0, 7-2) 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. vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) (3-0, 9-2)

170 lbs.: Brad Blackburn (Olympia, Wash.) (3-2, 11-9-1) 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)