Last year, Ryan Schultz and Chris Horodecki met under much different circumstances.  The veteran Schultz was heavily favored over a young, unknown Canadian fighter with a trainwreck of a name. The bout was seen as nothing special, a rather mediocre bout middling with the rest of the card. 

Early in the second round of that first contest, Horodecki blasted Schultz with a right high kick that spelled the beginning of the end.  After a series of punches and knees the referee had to step in and save the stumbling Team Quest fighter. 

Since that fight two Novembers ago, “The Polish Hammer” quickly became one of the IFL largest stars and outlasted anyone that the matchmakers presented him with. As Horodecki continued to rise, Schultz fell.  In his very next fight, he suffered a late KO loss to Bart Palaszewski. 

Yet just as Horodecki looked untouchable in the IFL, he wasn’t.  It took a rejuvenated and revenge driven Schultz to slow Horodecki’s rise. The uncrowned IFL lightweight king is still uncrowned, and Schultz now reigns supreme.

How It Happened

Over Horodecki’s previously blemish-free career, he had shown great striking ability and technical prowess on the feet.  One thing he hadn’t looked comfortable doing is working from his back, and the Team Quest trained wrestler put him there early. Over the first minute, the two traded brief flurries with neither fighter gaining a distinct advantage.  Schultz seized an opportunity during the final exchange and put Horodecki on his back. 

Schultz had his way with his younger counterpart once the fight was in his world.  It’s not that Schultz can’t strike, because he can.  Its just his ground-and-pound game is excellent, and was the key to his victory. “If I pull the trigger, I win every time,” Schultz said. 

Horodecki was unable to control the head or hands of Schultz, who postured up and landed a number of big right hands.  Schultz jumped to the right side and landed in the “Hammer’s” half-guard.  From there, he pinned Horodecki’s left arm behind his back, rendering it useless.  The phenom was tangled in an awkward position with his face unshielded and Schultz simply unleashed. Eleven unanswered right hands crashed the party and Matt Lindland’s Team Quest took home its second belt of the evening, “Matt was like, just do what you do,” said Schultz. “We had a good gameplan…go after him, take him down, smother him and finish it.”

Schultz is now the unlikely king of the 155 pound division in the IFL.  The revamped league is heading into a season that will be ripe with change, and Schultz won’t have long before his first title defense.  He will reportedly defend his title for the first time in February against Chicago’s Tim Kennedy.  Kennedy also won in an undercard match earlier in the evening.

What It All Means

The crazy thing is that this fight wasn’t even supposed to happen.  Horodecki had been slated to fight three other opponents before “The Lion.”  All three were forced to relinquish the opportunity because of injury, and Schultz was more than ready to seize the opportunity, “I wanted it real bad, and I got it.”

The IFL knows what it has in Horodecki and no doubt values his performance as much as anyone.  Financial struggles are no stranger to the League, and Horodecki’s billing as the next great lightweight is critical to the organization. He’s young, he’s exciting, he’s confident; what is there not to like?  Nobody I know dislikes him or his fights, but a win and belt around his waist would’ve given him the legitimacy for a top-10 argument.  He’s not there yet.  We also shouldn’t forget that his opponent was switched on him three times leading up to the bout.

Based on the first matchup, nobody could’ve seen this outcome coming.  Approaching Saturday night in Connecticut, pundits, odds makers and fans were thinking the same thing.  In 180-degree switch-up from the first encounter, the younger Xtreme Couture fighter was heavily favored. Someone forgot to tell Schultz he was supposed to lose.

In a year that has had noteworthy upsets, Shultz’s win piles on yet another shocking upset.  The Lightweight division (for my money) is the IFL’s best and most exciting division.  Horodecki’s is clearly the largest name in the weight class, despite the loss.  His stardom is not diminished, but it wasn’t helped by his display of ineptitude on the ground.

World-class fighters bounce back from defeats like this one.  The coming months leading up to his next fight will prove critical for Horodecki; he’s never dealt with a loss before. How will he react?  It’s doubtful the defeat will make him go ‘Loiseau’ on us all, and I believe he’ll bounce back well with new focus.

Randy and the boys at Xtreme Couture in short time have proven to be a top tier camp, and with the number of superior fighters there; Horodecki’s ground fighting will be afforded the opportunity to improve by leaps and bounds.  I look for him to be slugging it out for the title again soon.

Schultz on the other hand has proven himself to be a hell of a fighter.  For a man who not long ago was contemplating retirement, he looked awfully talented. His battle with Kennedy will be a war and real tough test for the Oregon fighter.  Both men have shown willingness to strike, as well as serious ground and pound skills.  Stiff competition is nothing new to either man and an all-out war is what I expect from the two of them.

I’m not prepared to say Schultz will win and retain his title, but, after last night…I’m not ready to count him out either.