Smith Leads Team in Portland Fights

Two new teams will make their International Fight League debuts on Sept. 9, when the IFL World Team Championship visits Portland. The evening of mixed martial arts bouts starts at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Coliseum in the Rose Quarter.
The event will feature four squads, including Matt Lindland's new Wolfpack, based in Portland, vs. Maurice Smith's Tiger Sharks of Seattle; and Bas Rutten's Anacondas, who train in Los Angeles, vs. Antonio Inoki's Sabres, another of the IFL's latest additions, from Tokyo.
And in a bonus match, Lindland, the 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, will take on Jeremy Horn to highlight the 11-bout fight card.
Lindland, 36, who sports an 18-4-0 record in mixed martial arts fights, will have the home crowd with him as he battles the 31-year-old Horn, who has amassed a 77-14-5 mark. Both are widely regarded as being among the top five middleweights in the world.
Many of the sport's top names are scheduled to compete. The Tiger Sharks feature Reese Andy, Brad Blackburn, Allan Goes, Sam Liera and Alvin Robinson. The Wolfpack roster includes Devin Cole, Matt Horwich, Ryan Schultz, Aaron Stark and Chris Wilson.
Competing for the Anacondas are Jay Hieron, Chris Horodecki, Mike Pyle, Alex Schoenauer and Krzysztof Soszynski. The Sabres include John Cole, Chad Dietmyer, Kazuhiro Hamanaka, Masayuki Kono and Ed West.
Tickets are available at the Rose Quarter Box Office, all participating Safeway locations, by phone at 1-877-789-ROSE (7673) or online at www.rosequarter.com.