» Fighter: Wagnney Fabiano

Lightweight “Smooth” Ben Henderson (9-1) won the WEC interim title in a five-round unanimous decision upset of “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (9-3) by judges’ scores of 48-47 three times at WEC 43 in San Antonio Saturday.

Read More About Henderson Upsets Cerrone at WEC 43, Assuncao and Page Win…

Featherweight Wagnney Fabiano (11-1) defeated “The Ironman” Akitoshi Tamura (12-7-2) via arm triangle submission at 4:48 of the third round at WEC 37 in Las Vegas Wednesday night.

Round one opened with some light punches by both fighters.  Fabiano shot in for a double leg take down and ended up in an open half guard position on the mat.  Fabiano then worked to gain head and arm control and transitioned to the mount.

Read More About WEC 37: Fabiano Defeats Tamura in Technical BJJ Battle…

IFL Featherweight Champion Wagnney Fabiano (10-1) has signed with the WEC, reported Tatame Friday.

Fabiano was undefeated in the IFL, and knocked out Shad Lierley (2-2) in 0:37 in April in his only title defense.

He already has his eyes set on current WEC Featherweight Champion “California Kid” Urijah Faber (21-1).

Fabiano said, “My goal is to fight for the belt and do my best.

“Faber is the best of the world now. To beat him, I think you have to be in good shape. He’s an expert fighter and he has good gas, it’s complicated to beat a guy like him. You have to set a good game plan and be calm and watch the elbows, because if he hits you it can change a whole fight.”

Three IFL title-holders tightened the straps on their belts in the Izod Center just through the Lincoln Tunnel from New York City Saturday night.

“The Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3), Wagnney Fabiano (10-1), and Jay Hieron (15-4) all defended their respective titles with knockouts.

Lightweight standout Chris Horodecki (12-1) picked up a unanimous decision, while one-time top 155-pounder “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski (28-11) continued his slide with a loss by unanimous decision.

Featherweight Fabiano set-up a right slobber-knocker to Shad Lierley (2-2) with just his reputation as a submission specialist.

“People think I’m just a jiu-jitsu fighter,” Fabiano explained after the fight.  “Today I knew he would expect me shooting, so I changed my game plan.”

The KO came after just 37 seconds.

Hieron, an Xtreme Couture 170-pounder, dispatched Mark Miller (8-3) in just 2:10.

“It went quicker than I thought, but man it was not easy,” said Hieron after his right hook set-up a single-leg takedown leading to a G’n'P finish.

“The Janitor” had the toughest time of the IFL’s three defending champions.

Hometown Jamal Patterson (4-2), who’s won exclusively by submission, cranked up striking flurries in the first round causing Matyushenko to duck-and-cover.

But, Matyushenko handed Patterson his ass in the second with a ground’n'pound barrage the required the ref to wave the fight finished at 3:35.

IFL newcomer Jim Miller (11-1) ran “Bartimus” ragged for three rounds, dumping the winless-in-three lightweight at will and filing through submission attempts like he had an extra limb.  Palaszewski fought back valiantly with several crafty escapes, but Miller took all of the cards in his IFL debut.

Horodecki had a handfull named Nate Lamotte (6-3) to contend with in Horodecki’s return from his first loss to “The Lion” Ryan Schultz (19-9-1) in IFL’s Lightweight Grand Prix final.

Lamotte delivered some vicious G’n'P when he was able to catch Horodecki, but the IFL vet kept Lamotte at bay with a snapping jab and pin-pointed punches to take a UD by 29-28 times three.

And the rest of the story saw light heavyweight “Shark” Emyr Bussade (11-5) win his IFL debut with a kneebar of Jesse Lennox (6-1) at 1:25 of round two.

“Bad” Brad Blackburn (12-9-1) TKO’d “Pe de Chumbo” Delson Heleno (13-5) at 1:50 of the third round of a welterweight matchup.

Featherweight LC Davis (10-1) kicked Rafael Dias (10-4-1) in the head for the KO “W” at 3:56 of round three.

Xtreme Couture middleweight Alex Schoenauer (13-9) eeked out a split decision over Brendan Barrett (3-3).

Finally, heavyweight Miletich fighter Mike Ciesnolevicz (13-3) cut Kongo-conqueror “The Fury” Carmelo Marrero (7-2) with an unintentional headbutt in a fight declared a No Contest after 1:37.

The IFL returns 16 May in at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.

IFL titleholders “The Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko, “The Thorobred” Jay Hieron, and Wagnney Fabiano will defend their belts when the International Fight League 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 went on sale on Monday, Feb. 25, and are 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 “The Suit” Jamal Patterson, a Colgate University 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 “Pe de Chumbo” Delson Heleno in Connecticut in December to claim the welterweight crown.  His opponent in New Jersey will be Mark Miller, 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 in the featherweight championship in December.  He takes on Shad Lierley, 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 “The Polish Hammer” Chris Horodecki 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 and Emyr Bussade and light heavyweights Mike Ciesnolevicz and Lew Polley.  LC 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 vs. “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski 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 East Rutherford, N.J.
Friday, April 4, 2008
(order TBD)

Additional Bouts
155 lbs.: Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) (7-1 IFL, 11-1 overall MMA) vs. TBD

American Top Team vs. Miletich Fighting Systems
145 lbs.: TBD vs. LC Davis (Kansas City, Mo.) (2-0, 9-1)
170 lbs.: Emyr Bussade (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (0-0, 10-5) vs. Rory Markham (Chicago) (6-2, 12-3)
205 lbs.: Lew Polley (Coconut Creek, Fla.) (0-0, 6-0) 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. Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) (3-0, 9-2)
170 lbs.: TBD 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)

*Championship Bout
**Current Titleholder