Panther Fight League “Genesis”

By Keith Mills

American Top Team Coaches Lead Team to 3-2 night at Panther Fight League’s Inaugural Show.

Miami, FL-Although Panther Fight League didn’t outright buy Absolute Fighting Championship, they did hire former AFC matchmaker Carlos Diaz and put on a show that for all intents and purposes, took the place of AFC 20. On the card, American Top Team’s coaches Marcus “Conan” Silveira and Marcos Da Matta both picked up wins, with ATT going 3-2 overall. It was Luis Palomino, however, who again stole the show.

This being Conan’s first fight since returning from prison, the choice of his opponent being Jonathan Ivey makes sense from a crowd pleasing point of view. Ivey is known for such antics as bouncing off the ropes ala WWE to catch opponents off guard and sure enough in this fight Ivey even tried the “point to the ceiling to see if the opponent will look up” maneuver. Ivey also had the odds against him to make returning legend Conan look bad or even win in front of Conan’s crowd. What was surprising is Ivey actually looked good for a heavyweight as both fighters went for leglocks and clinch knees. Conan basically out-gassed Ivey in the second round, finishing the fight by TKO.

It was a mixed night for hometown heroes ATT in general. Trainer and Abu Dhabi Worlds ’05 vet Marcos “Parrumpinha” won an unsurprising steamroll over Dan Funes for his MMA debut. ATT’s Ben Stark was declared “KO’d” after Jirka Hilvati’s spinning side kick to Ben’s ribs crumpled the light heavyweight so quickly it appeared Ben’s ribs may have been broken, Wolfpack/ATT’s Roger Krahl impressed many going toe to toe with Team Trauma’s Jeremy May, and Din Thomas/ATT’s Jams Sutcliff did a great job of making Eban “The Big O” Oroz look like he is ready for his own shot at the limelight.

Just as he has done in several AFCs now Luis Palomino stole the show again. With what could be the heaviest hands for a welterweight in Florida, Luis punished about the only person left, matchmaker Carlos could convince to face Luis in front of his home crowd, Steve Conley out of Animal House in Indiana. It wasn’t that this one-sided slaughter was “fight of the night” material, it was Palomino’s full-throttle, explosive standup that kept the paying fans talking about this fight long after the show was over. Maybe Luis is as some say too undisciplined to face the likes of Lytle or Diaz in the major leagues at this point but it is only a matter of time before Luis gets a shot.

Look for a full report in the next issue of Full Contact Fighter.

Full Results• Haender Rodriguez def Paul Disano 1:36 Rd.1 by submission to strikes
• Marcos “Parrumpinha” Da Matta def Dan Funes 0:59 Rd.1 by head and arm choke
• Eban Oroz def James Sutcliff 1:44 Rd.1 by TKO
• Enrico Cocco 1:47 Rd.1 by head and arm choke
• Edward Guedes def Vladimar Laguna 1:44 Rd.1 by keylock
• Jirka Hilvati def Ben Stark 3:45 Rd.2 by KO (spinning side kick to body)
• Roger Krahl def Jeremy May 3:51 Rd.1 by guillotine choke
• Luis Palomino def Steve Conley 4:10 Rd.1 by TKO
• Marcus “Conan” Silveira def Jonathan Ivey 3:10 Rd.2 by TKO