The IFL is bringing their brand of mixed martial arts to the IZOD center in East Rutherford, N.J. this Friday night. Since UFC 78, we have had a serious lack of top grade MMA in the tri-state area so it is nice to know the the International Fight League is not ignoring our demand to see live MMA action.

Since the IFL has established champions at their applicable weight classes and changed the team concept into a camp concept, I have found that it is really easy to follow the fighters careers. Last year, it was a little confusing to see a guy train with a certain camp but fight on a different team. Now, if you train under Pat Miletich at Miletich Martial Arts, you fight for Pat Miletich’s team. This is a huge upgrade in the team concept and I am thrilled that the IFL has made the change.

Friday’s IFL card features 3 championship bouts. Love them or hate them, here are my predictions for those bouts:

IFL Featherweight Championship
Wagnney Fabiano vs. Shad Lierley

Since suffering his first career loss to Jeff Curran in 2006, Wagnney Fabiano has been on a submission spree. He has won his last 5 fights using an array of chokes and armbars and has put the featherweight division on notice. The challenger, Shad Lierley, has a tough task ahead of him. Lierley is relatively inexperienced. Shad’s record stands at 2-1, with all of those fights taking place in the IFL. Lierley is coming off of a loss to Chris Horodecki, and will be dropping down from the 155lbs division for this fight. It is kind of strange to give a title shot to a fighter that is coming off of a loss, but the IFL’s featherweight division is still in its infancy.

Prediction: Wagnney Fabiano – Submission round 1

IFL Light Heavyweight Championship
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jamal Patterson

Vladimir Matyushenko will be making his first light heavyweight title defense against rising IFL star Jamal Patterson. Patterson is a submission fighter, and has won every one of his 4 victories by submission. Vladimir Matyushenko brings a wealth of experience to the ring, however, and has never been submitted. Vlad has been in the ring with talent like Andrei Arlovski, Pedro Rizzo, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Tito Ortiz, and Vernon White. That is quite an impressive resume. I expect that Vlad will use his experience to his advantage to keep the fight standing and eventually put Patterson down.

Prediction: Vladimir Matyushenko – TKO Round 2

IFL Welterweight Championship
Jay Hieron vs. Mark Miller
This match is probably one of the best title match ups on the card. The challenger, Mark Miller, is coming off of a surprising knockout win over UFC vet Josh “The Dentist” Neer. That victory probably earned him this title shot. Hieron has been training at Xtreme Couture and his fight game is showing it. He has looked very impressive in his last two wins and I expect him to retain his title.

Prediction: Jey Hieron – Unanimous Decision

As the year progresses and the IFL focuses more on developing their weight classes, the league will should have some stellar championship matches by the years end.

The card also features the following fights:

155 lbs.: Chris Horodecki (London, Ontario) (7-1 IFL, 11-1 overall MMA) vs. Nate Lamotte (New Hampshire) (0-0, 6-2)
205 lbs.: Alex Schoenauer (Las Vegas) (4-5, 12-9) vs. Brendan Barrett (Tuckerton, N.J.) (0-0, 3-2)

Before being utterly handled by Ryan Schultz in December, Chris Horodecki was 11-0 and was the odds on favorite to become the IFL lightweight champion. Horodecki has fought the bulk of his career in the IFL, and the company has a vested interest in him maintaining a winning record;Horodecki is a young guy and a lot of kids look up to him. Nick Lamotte is a 6-2 fighter who has not fought in any of the bigger shows. This fight will prove to be a big test for him. Win or lose, this is Lamotte’s chance to make an impression on one of the bigger stages in MMA.

Horodecki is looking for a title shot, and a rubber match with Ryan Schultz, so I expect the Xtreme Couture fighter to be dominant in his performance.

Team Fights:

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) (0-0, 23-4-1)
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. Jim Miller (Sparta, N.J.) (0-0, 10-1)
170 lbs.: Brad Blackburn (Olympia, Wash.) (3-2, 11-9-1) vs. Delson Heleno (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (6-3, 13-4)

Renzo Gracie’s team is coming off of a successful 2007 campaign, so it will be exciting to see if they keep their winning streak alive.

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

I’ll be ringside for the fights snapping pictures for the blog. I am excited for the event. If you can’t catch the event at the IZOD center, then be sure to check out the card that will air live on HDNet.