Israel FC, an upstart promotion out of–you guessed it–Israel has began to take on a steady stream of veterans in for their promotional debut in what is turning out to be an all star cast of competitors.

MMAFighting.com first reported the event and it’s full lineup reads as the following:

Jeff Monson vs. Sergey Shemetov
Frank Trigg vs. Roy Neeman
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Daniel Tabera
Hermes Franca vs. Moshe Kaitz
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Valdas Pocevicius
Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett vs. Ariel Abergel
Daniel Gracie vs. Martin Wojcik
Shonie Carter vs. Jeremy Knafo
Thiago Meller vs. Fabrice Riconneau
Vitaly Shemetov vs. Alexandro Ceconi
Joshua Hewlett vs. Ido Pariente
Akop Stepanyan vs. Marc Berger
Serob Minasyan vs. Vitali Krbrsky

Hermes Franca, perhaps one of the most notable veterans on the card, is coming out of retirement to return to action here in Israel against the unheralded Moshe Keitz. Franca was last seen inside the UFC when he lost to lightweight standout by knockout at UFC 103.

It was only the second time the Brazilian had ever been knocked out, however, when Franca aimed for a comeback after his UFC release, he suffered an additional knockout victory, against Eric Wisely. In a rematch, Franca lost yet again to Wisely just three days ago at an SFC event, however made it to see the final bell. He lost on points, when Eric took home the unanimous decision victory, and left Franca with his third loss in a row.

So, MMA peeps, any other fighters stand out to you here? Looks like Trigg is aiming for a comeback, following his own UFC release, which ended a two-fight losing streak, which included two-knockout losses to Josh Koscheck and Matt Serra, respectively. The former two-time UFC title challenger brings a worlds of experience into the cage, as well as a chin that has seen better days.

Sound off, and let your opinions be heard in the comments section below.

“I like the small guys.  They go at it,” UFC President Dana White stated to TUF 8 coach Frank Mir (11-3).

Lightweights Wesley Murch (3-2) and John Polakowski (2-1), who, in his words, “loves giving hugs to everyone”, didn’t disappoint White in the first fight of the night on Wednesday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 8.

Both fighters were able to land strikes and take each other’s backs; however, at the end of the first round, British fighter Murch injured his shin on a low kick attempt. 

Ouch!

Murch braved the pain, but, early in the second round, collapsed; and, the ref was forced to stop the fight.

True to his words, Polakowski hugged Fighters.com’s top heavyweight contender and TUF 8 coach “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1), White, and Mir, forcing an admission from Nog’: “ I don’t care, you know.  I like to hug too.”

Light heavyweight Sean O’Connell (0-0) bragged, “I watched every season of Ultimate Fighter!  Forrest Griffin is my favorite active fighter.  I will follow in those guys path and be champion some day.”

But, Shane Primm (1-0) stood in the doorway of the TUF 8 house.  Primm dominated O’Connell, tapping him in a rear naked choke in the first round.

Lightweight Efrain Escudero (10-0) predicted he would “probably take [his opponent] down, ground’n’pound him, take his back, and rear naked choke him.”  True to his word, Escudero took down Ido Pariente (8-3), climbed on his back, and well…just read Esucdero’s prediction.

Bounty hunter-by-day Ryan Lopez (4-4) started his fight versus light heavyweight Tom Lawlor (4-1-1)  with a kick, but was taken down.

Lawlor immediately took Lopez’s back and sunk in the rear naked choke, forcing the former Men’s Health model to tap.

White introduced the fight between BJJ black belt “Crazy Cuban” Roli Delgado (5-3-1) and George Roop (8-3) as the “battle of the beanpoles.”

Roop had the clear advantage standing; but, on the ground, Delgado nearly submitted him.

Roop was able to keep the fight standing and took the decision, prompting Mir to comment that Roop “is coachable” and “imagine what he can get him on my team and work with him in practice”.

According to Mir, light heavyweight Kyle Kingsbury (7-1) won the first round of his fight.  But, the two-time All-American wrestler Ryan Bader (7-0) was able to rebound and submit Kingsbury with a tight arm triangle.

Nogueira commented that Bader has “top wrestling, he got eyes of the tiger and I like the way he fights.”

Light heavy Charles Diaz (3-0) talked a great game; however, Shane Nelson (9-3) completely overwhelmed Diaz with a barrage of strikes. Nelson dropped Diaz with a big knee and picked up the easy decision victory.

BJJ specialist Eliot Marshall (5-1) took Armenian-born 205er Karen Grigoryan (6-1) to the limit and lost a controversial split decision.

Grigoryan was the constant aggressor; however, Marshall landed the crisper strikes and constantly worked for submissions. Both White and Mir agree that Marshall should have been awarded the victory; however, White emphasized that a fighter should “never leave it in the hands of the judges.”

There was a consolation prize, however.  Unfortunately for Antwain Britt (3-1), he broke his hand in last week’s episode’s slugfest with “Big Deal” Ryan Jimmo (6-1).

The coaches and White decided to bring back an elated Marshall and, as white put it “justice was served.”

Fighters.com:  How did you get started in MMA?

Ido Pariente: I have been doing martial arts all my life, I started with karate and I hold a third degree black belt, when I was 18 years old I first saw the UFC and I knew right then that I have to fight there one day and now, 10 years after… here I am…

Fighters.com:  Who are some of your heroes, in sports or otherwise?

Ido Pariente:  Royce Gracie [14-3-3] was my first hero in this sport. I really look up to people that do things that seem impossible, like Randy Couture [16-8] holding the heavyweight title at his age and Anderson Silva [22-4] for not letting anyone pass the second round. Arnold Schwarzenegger is someone to admire, the guy came from a foreign country to the US with a dream, he became Mr. Olympia, then became the greatest action movie star and then a governor… all because he had a dream.  So people like that inspire me to keep dreaming and make my dreams come true…

Fighters.com:  Do you train full time or do you have another job?

Ido Pariente:  I train full time while having a job which is very hard! But my job is teaching BJJ and giving private class (BJJ and fitness) so I work my training schedule around my job.

Fighters.com:  Where do you train? Who do you train with?

Ido Pariente:  I train in Israel most of the time. I have build a strong BJJ group that keeps pushing me, and I have a Muay Thai coach, Itzik Franko, who is the best here in Israel, he has produced a world champion and two European champions and many other international competitors. Together we formed our team,TEAM FRANKO PARIENTE. Once a year I go to Brazil to train for about a month, but my direct teacher of BJJ is Patrick Bittan, a second-degree black belt under master Flavio Behring and he took second in the world championship in 2003 and 2005.

Fighters.com:  What are your biggest accomplishments so far?

Ido Pariente:  I was the VFC Lightweight Champion in 2001, Pankration World Champion 2003, European BJJ champion brown belt 2007, and Desert Combat Lightweight 2007 and still holding the title.

Fighters.com:  What did you learn from your fight with Jake Shields?

Ido Pariente:  Well I have a guy helping us get fights in K-1 and I have fought in two K-1 events before this fight. When I was offered the fight against Jake I have heard about him before but I didn’t exactly know who he was so automatically I said yes. About a week later I found out that he was a welterweight (and I’m a lightweight) so I turned to my contact and told him, and he said it’s this fight or no fight, well it’s K-1 Dynamite, of course I’m fighting. I was training to win, not just to show my face in the big show, and I thought I was going to beat him. But Jake is very good and now I know it from up close. He beat me in two minutes and I took it really bad at first. Until I saw his fight against Renato Verissimo (7-5), he did to him in four minutes what he did to me in two, so that made me feel a little better (not too much though).

Fighters.com:  Outside of MMA, what are some of your interests or hobbies?

Ido Pariente:  I have dedicated my life to this sport and to put Israel on the MMA map so I train a lot. Other than that I am one of the first teachers of BJJ here so I have a school with around 100 students where I teach four times a week and I give private classes in the morning, I’m also a fitness instructor so I give private classes for that as well. Other than that I love to go to the beach and just chill, I read books, and on weekends when I’m not preparing for any fights I love going to rave parties (BUT I DON’T DO DRUGS).

Fighters.com:  What would you do if you weren’t a fighter?

Ido Pariente:  That I really don’t know…

Fighters.com:  What was the biggest sacrifice you made to participate in the show?

Ido Pariente:  Well, there are two actually…
1. leaving my wife, but she was very supportive
2. leaving my academy , all my students and all my private classes not knowing what will happen when I come back.

Fighters.com:  Who has helped you the most to get you where you are now?

Ido Pariente:  Up until three years ago I did everything on my own, I worked, saved money and used it to go train somewhere or compete… that is really hard, I also trained myself all this time and I didn’t always have a corner in my fights. About three years ago I got together with Franko and learned what it is to have a coach and a good corner man. So I can say that he really helped me the most…

The 16 lightweights and 16 light heavyweights will be coached by Fighters.com’s top heavyweight contender and interim UFC Champion “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) and former UFC Heavyweight Champ Frank Mir (11-3).

Lightweights

Jose Aguilar (0-0)
Fernando Bernstein (0-0)
Junie Allen Browning (1-0)
Rolando Delgado (0-0)
Joseph Duarte (0-0)
Efrain Escudero (10-0)
Brandon Garner (4-1)
David Kaplan (0-0)
Eric Magee (1-1)
Brian McLaughlin (0-0)
Wesley Murch (3-2)
Shane Nelson (9-3)
Phillipe Nover (5-0-1)
Ido Pariente (8-3)
John Polakowski (2-1)
George Roop (8-3)

Light Heavyweights

Ryan Bader (7-0)
Antwain Britt (3-1)
Jules Bruchez (0-0)
Charles Diaz (3-0)
Lance Evans (2-2)
Karen Grigoryan (6-1)
Jason Guida (17-17)
“Big Deal” Ryan Jimmo (6-1)
Kyle Kingsbury (7-1)
Tom Lawlor (4-1)
Ryan Lopez (4-4)
“Pezao” Vinicius Magalhaes (0-1)
Eliot Marshall (5-1)
Sean O’Connell (0-0)
Shane Primm (1-0)
Krzysztof Soszynski (15-8-1)

Among the international line-up are a Russian - Grigoryan, an Israeli – Pariente, a pair of Canadians – Jimmo and Soszynski, and a Brit – Murch.  The light heavyweight crew is more frequently battle-tested than the lightweights, including two fighters stepping into the house with more than 20 professional fights – Guida and Soszynski.

The action culminates 13 December, when SpikeTV airs the live finale.