On November 2nd the IFL visited Portland OR for the second time in 2006 to
showcase their semi-finals event. A lively crowd of 7,632 Portland fight fans turned out for the event to cheer their home town Wolfpack to victory over the LA-based Anacondas. The Quad City Silverbacks also earned their way into the finals for the second time in a row by defeating the Toronto-based Dragons.

Light Quick Start
The night got off to an exciting start with a lightweight fight where Bart Palaszweski scored a split decision over Ivan Menjivar. Menjivar was the more experienced fighter, and actually was favored by many to win. However, Palaszweski used his size advantage to manhandle Menjivar around the ring for most of the first two rounds. Menjivar almost sunk a leg lock in round two but his opponent spun out at the bell. In round three Menjivar looked to be the fresher of the two and began to find his rhythm. He scored two takedowns off of spinning back fists and a nice spinning back kick to the body. The fight ended with Menjivar working from within Palaszweski’s guard.

In the Welterweight bout Rory Markham earned a hard fought victory against Keith Wisniewski to give the Silverbacks an early 2-0 lead. Wisniewski, who took the fight on short notice, dominated the first two rounds, clinching and taking his opponent down seemingly at will. Although he had difficulty passing Markham's legs he still managed to land some good bombs while avoiding submissions from within the guard. In round three Markham's superior cardio shifted the tide in the Silverback's favor. An obviously exhausted Wisniewski scored an early takedown, but couldn't keep his opponent on the mat. Wisniewski dropped to his back to invite his opponent to the ground, but Markham would have none of it. Keeping the fight on the feet, he rocked Wisniewski with some big punches right before the bell rang. The judges declared the fight a tie at the end of the third, and called for a fourth round (as per IFL rules). Realizing that he had nothing left, Wisniewski opted to concede the bout, not wanting to get knocked out for no reason.

Tough as nails; Rory Markham had to take substitute Keith Wisniewski into a fourth round that did not happen for the victory

In the third fight the dragons won their first fight of the night when Joe Doerksen submitted Ryan McGivern late in the first round. Doerksen was clearly the more experienced fighter and stayed in control throughout the fight. McGivern found himself on the receiving end of a big slam, after Doerksen caught a high kick, and never really recovered. Doerksen transitioned expertly between mount and back control before sinking in a textbook rear naked choke finish the fight at 3:04 in round one.

In the light heavyweight division Mike Ciesnolevicz clinched a victory for the Silverbacks when submitting Brent Beauparlant in the first round of their fight. Beauparlant got the better of Ciesnolevicz early in the fight when he executed a nice suplex before landing some good knees from side mount. Ciesnolevicz managed to stand after defending a foot lock only to be pressed against the ropes. However, as Beauparlant shot for a double leg takedown, Ciesnolevicz trapped his opponent's head and sunk a guillotine choke from the guard for a submission victory at 2:21 in the first round.

Ben Rothwell got a win over Wojtek Kaszowski in the first heavyweight fight of the night, giving the Silverback's a decisive 4-1. Kaszowski came out swinging and quickly clinched Rothwell with underhooks in the corner. Rothwell broke away after eating a few knees to the legs and body, and then the fight moved back to the center of the ring. Kaszowski unleashed another flurry of strikes before shooting for a takedown. Rothwell sprawled and quickly took side control. After pounding a helpless looking Kaszowski for a bit, Rothwell grabbed an arm to submit his opponent with a key lock at 3:14 in the first round.

Teen Spirit- Team Spirit
The second team match-up of the night kicked off with another exciting light-weight match up between Chris Horodecki and Ryan Schultz. When Horodecki scored an impressive victory over a larger, more experienced Schultz early in round two, The 19 year old demonstrated why he is undefeated in the ring. In the first round Horodecki, demonstrated his superior striking skills. He landed some good combos on Schultz while avoiding takedowns from the clinch. Horodecki came out looking crisp in round two and delivered a savage series of head kicks, followed by a knee before the ref. stopped the fight at 24 sec. Schultz commented in the post fight interview that he did not feel he fought up to his potential and looked forward to meeting Horodecki in the ring again.

Perhaps the youngest rising star in MMA, Chris Horodecki taught veteran Ryan Schultz that picking on smaller men is never a good thing.

The Wolfpack captured their first win over the Anacondas in the second fight of the night. Despite a dubious second round, Chris Wilson tied the teams by earning a unanimous 29/28 decision over Jay Hieron. Throughout round one the welterweights seemed very evenly matched, trading blows and clinching. Hieron nearly pulled off a guillotine choke from the guard midway through round two, and then floored Wilson with a big right hand near the end of the round. It almost looked as if Hieron would pound out a ref. stoppage, but Wilson managed to scramble and defend himself until the bell rang. Both fighters were noticeably fatigued going into round three. Wilson, though, showed what he was made of, powering through to the end of the fight and landing more decisive blows.

Matt Horwich pulled the Wolfpack into the lead in the third fight with a submission victory over Mike Pyle. Horwich took the fight to Pyle immediately and stayed on him throughout round one, putting Pyle on his back a number of times before the bell. Horwich started round two with a suplex, landing in Pyle's guard. Both fighters displayed good skills on the ground and after numerous reversals and position changes Horwich secured Pyle's back and tapped him with a Guillotine at 1:02 into the round.

In the Wolfpack's fourth match-up of the night, Aaron Stark secured the Wolfpack's advance to the finals when he won a controversial victor over Alex Schoenaur. Stark overpowered his opponent throughout most of round one until Schoenaur grabbed a leg-lock. Stark showed visible pain and grabbed the other fighter's leg. Schoenaur thought his opponent was tapping and release him. Schoenaur's corner also shouted that they saw a tap, and the fight was brought to a halt. Eventually the ref. decided that Stark did not tap and the fight continued with both fighters standing. Stark immediately pressed Schoenaur to the ropes and eventually submitted him with a modified guillotine from the knees at 2:43 into round two. Schoenaur, clutching his side, stayed on the mat after the fight, and had to be helped out of the ring. He was allegedly taken to the hospital after the fight with torn ligaments between his ribs.

Krzysztof Soszynski had a superfluous victory over Devin Cole in the final team fight of the night with the night's only arm bar submission. The heavyweights traded short punches and knees from the clinch for most of round one. Cole took Soszynski down with a nice slam early in round two, but Soszynski caught an arm from the guard and tapped Cole when he tried to stand. The final team score was 3-2 for the wolf pack.

After a dissapointing show in TUF 2, Mike Whitehead redeems himself against a Mark Kerr who is having difficulty making a comeback.

Super Fights
Brazilians Allan Goes and Daniel Gracie faced off in the first superfight of the evening. The aging Goes looked confident stepping into ring against a younger adversary. Surprisingly, neither fighter seemed interested in taking the fight to the ground. Perhaps both fighters wanted to showcase their striking abilities. Goes, however showed early that his training with Maurice Smith is paying off, peppering Gracie with jabs and bloodying his nose by the end of round one. Gracie, looking worse for the wear at the beginning of round two, got backed into a corner and dropped with a right straight, hook combo. Goes immediately pounced on the fallen Gracie and pounded out a victory.

In the final, lackluster heavyweight superfight of the night Mike Whitehead defeated a sluggish Mark Kerr with a referee stoppage in round one. The fighters clinched and traded a bit before whitehead staggered Kerr with a punch, got the takedown and rained down blows until the ref. stepped in at 1:03. This was the Smashing Machine's first appearance fighting in a ring since knocking himself out against Yoshihisa Yamamoto in Osaka Castle Dome on February 1st, 2004 at PRIDE 27. Kerr blamed his loss on his long absence from the ring, but claims he hasn't given up, and wants to keep trying for a win. We'll see how that goes for him.