Former UFC heavyweight champion bounced back from three consecutive losses as he battered Jason Riley early in the first round for the convincing stoppage victory.

It became obvious that Sylvia was getting the better of the exchanges early on before dropping Riley with a big right hand and following him to the floor with punches, prompting the referee to wave the bout off at the 2:32 mark.

Alexander, who was on loan from his current contract with the UFC, also put himself back on track following three straight losses, battering Sherman Pendergast early for the much needed win.

A series of punishing leg kicks had Pendergarst in serious trouble just over a minute into the bout before Houston got absolutely midevil on the MMA veteran, swarming him with a brutal volley of strikes and forcing the stoppage just shy of the two minute mark.

The main event promises to be a slugfest between former UFC heavyweight champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia and Jason “The Juggernaut” Riley. Also on the card is a light-heavyweight showdown between UFC knockout artist Houston Alexander and veteran of the cage Sherman Pendergarst.

A full list of the live event results are listed below. Be sure to hit refresh often as the fights will be updated as they take place. The main card is scheduled to kick off at 10 pm ET (7 pm PT).

And we are underway! Fights start from the bottom up folks.

Tim Sylvia vs. Jason Riley - Winner: Tim Sylvia via TKO – Round 1

Houston Alexander vs. Sherman Pendergarst - Winner: Houston Alexander via TKO – Round 1

Jeremy Lang vs. Matt Delanoit - Winner: Jeremy Lang via split decision

Alonzo Martinez vs. Ryan Williams – Winner: Alonzo Martinez via unanimous decision

Joe Vedepo vs. Webster Farris - Winner: Joe Vedepo via knockout (punch) – Round 1 (Brutal KO just seconds into the bout. Farris went down like a sack of bricks from a huge right hand and stayed there for a few tense moments before finally regaining consciousness)

Chad Reiner vs. Forrest Petz - Winner: Forrest Petz via TKO (punches) – Round 1

Jimmy Seipel vs. Bob Tuttle - Winner: Jimmy Seipel via submission (rear-naked choke)- Round 1

It’s not that Riley feels like “The Maine-iac” is that much tougher than any of the men he has faced off with in the past, but he’s definitely the most recognizable. In this day and age it’s common knowledge: To make that move to the big leagues, you’re gong to need a big name under your belt.

That’s where Sylvia comes in for Riley. A win over a heavyweight with a name like Tim’s could do wonders for an up and coming talent such as himself, and the 6’6″, 250 pound Riley plans to make the most of it.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com had the opportunity to catch up with Riley in this exclusive interview conducted on the evening prior to tonight’s heavyweight showdown set to take place in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: I know that you’re decision to become involved in MMA stems from your deep-rooted love for fighting; Would you that you got into a fair amount of fights growing up?

Jason Riley: Not so much as a kid, but as a bouncer, yeah. I worked at one of the toughest night clubs on the west side of Columbus, Ohio.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Alright, what club was that?

Jason Riley: It used to be called Fat Jack’s.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Okay, so was it like a strip club, or a night club?

Jason Riley: It was a night club. It was hip hop, slash, everything else. Music and a big bar.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: So it would just get like crazy packed normally?

Jason Riley: Oh yeah, it was crazy, and then you get a lot of people that you would usually see in jail coming in and out of there, and start fighting, so….

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: What was your major motivation behind becoming involved with MMA?

Jason Riley: Well I’ve always been a fan of the sport and wanted to try it out, and after I did, I fell in love with it even more. It’s just fun to me. You get to test yourself, and kind of see how much of a man you can really be.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: So did you start training while you were bouncing, before, or after?

Jason Riley: Actually it was after I quit bouncing. I had a gun pulled on me and that’s why I ended up quitting bouncing. A couple years later I came across a little gym in my hometown and I started training there. Soon afterwords I took a fight on just a couple of weeks notice. I beat the guy up pretty bad, so after that I figured that, “If I could do this with no training, imagine what I could do with some people that were good”.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: I’ve always kind of felt punching power is something that can be difficult to develop; When was the first point that you realized that you may have had some fairly heavy hands?

Jason Riley: It had to have been my first amateur fight. I fought an ex-military guy, and he was a cop, and I ended up breaking both of his eye sockets and his nose in like four minutes.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Were you kind of at a point in our career where you felt like you needed a big name under your belt, and Tim just happens to be that guy?

Jason Riley: Yeah, I was already moving in the right direction, but I know that the bigger organizations wouldn’t take me because I haven’t fought anyone that was well recognized. As soon as this opportunity arose, I jumped all over it. It’s a win-win situation for me.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: What do you think about Tim’s stand-up game? Do you feel like you’re going to have a decisive edge on the feet if the fights stays there?

Jason Riley: Yeah, I think so. I think that I move a lot better than Tim does, as far as head movement and cutting angles go. I wouldn’t say that he’s one-dimensional, but he’s pretty square, and he’s kind of like a robot. I’m surprised he’s gotten as far as he has. I think the only reason that he has gotten as far as he has in the sport is because he’s such a big guy.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: And obviously you’re a pretty big guy as well. It’s not like he hasn’t faced other big dudes in his career, but do you think your height and reach will end up giving him some problems?

Jason Riley: Oh yeah. Like he’s fought big guys before, like…. I don’t know… I don’t even want to throw his name out there because I don’t like the guy either, but Wes Sims. And Wes Sims’ stand-up is horrible.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Wes is a totally different fighter than you.

Jason Riley: Yeah, I don’t think Tim has fought anybody with his own height and weight that has just as good of a stand-up game as him. Also, I don ‘t stand in place for more than a second, so it’s going to be hard for him to connect.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: Do you think his chin may be a little bit suspect following the Mercer fight?

Jason Riley: I think that Tim underestimated Mercer, which he should have never done. The last thing to go on a man is his power. Just because Mercer was like 48, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have punching power still. I don’t think Tim trained very hard for that fight either. He weighed in at like 310 pounds. There’s no way he could move very well at 310 pounds. I just think that this fight is going to go pretty much the same way as the Mercer fight. Maybe not as fast, but it will be the same result.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: How do you see this fight playing out in your mind right now?

Jason Riley: I think Tim’s going to end up knocked out again. It’s been proven that he has a weak jaw. He got knocked down by Randy, Andrei, Mercer and Fedor. He’s pretty been knocked down by the same punch, or combination of punches every time. We’ll see what happens. I’m looking forward to it.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com: If the UFC comes calling after this fight with Sylvia, is that a step you’re going to be prepared to make at this point in your career?

Jason Riley: Oh yeah! Most definitely. I know I’m ready for that step, it’s just a matter of getting an opportunity to do it so that I can prove to everybody that I belong in there against the best fighters in the world.

The main event for the card will be former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia facing off with Jason Riley. FiveOuncesOfPain.com had previously reported the bout after Riley had leaked the news on his MySpace account.

Adrenaline IV will take place at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa on September 18.

Alexander will be looking to get back on track after suffering three consecutive defeats in the UFC to the likes of Thiago Silva, James Irvin and Eric Schafer. The Omaha, Nebraska established himself as a powerful knockout artist prior to his recent losing skid, stopping both Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara in impressive fashion.

Pendergarst is an experienced veteran with an overall record of 11-14 that has previously been stopped by Shane Carwin and Antoni Hardonk. He is currently riding a five fight losing streak.

The news of the bout comes courtesy of Jason Riley himself, who confirmed the fight on his Myspace account, stating, “I will be fighting Tim Sylvia on September 18. It will be the main event for Adrenaline. It will be aired on HDNET Fights. Over 11 million people will be watching. If interested in sponsoring me please contact me on Myspace with all your contact info and I will have my manager get a hold of you. Thanks again for everyones support.”

An heavy handed Ohio based brawler with a penchant for finishing his opponents, Riley has established himself as a heavyweight to watch out for with an impressive record of 11-1. Riley’s most recent performance was a devastating first round knockout over Justin Black at “NAAFS: Caged Vengence 4″. Riley is also the current NAAFS heavyweight title holder.

Former UFC champion Tim Sylvia will be looking to right the ship and show the MMA community he’s back following a pair of embarrassing defeats at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko and aging former champon boxer Ray Mercer. Of course Sylvia is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion and it remains to be seen if he can someday return to his old dominant form.

The fight was the headlining bout at Adrenaline III: Bragging Rights at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center.

Previously scheduled to be a boxing match between a former UFC champion and an aging former boxing champion, the bout was unable to be sanctioned as a boxing contest and was switched to MMA rules at the last moment.

Mercer was able to capitalize on a missed Sylvia kick to set up the fight ending right hand to the chin and it was lights out for “The Maine-iac” just ten seconds into the contest.

Mercer was 0-1 in amateur MMA going into the bout with Sylvia. He had one submission loss to Kimbo Slice prior to last night’s bout.

Sylvia, who came into the fight around the 310 pound mark, has been finished in his last three straight bouts, and has lost four of his last five. He is scheduled to face off with Paul Buentello at Affliction III on August . There is no news yet if Sylvia may fall under a medical suspension that could prevent him from taking place in that bout.

Cox revealed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that an Adrenaline event tentatively scheduled for May 30 in Atlantic City, N.J. could be headlined by former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia taking on 46-year old former WBO heavyweight champion “Merciless” Ray Mercer.

If signed, the bout would mark Sylvia’s first fight since losing to Fedor Emelianenko this past July during Affliction’s “Banned” event in a match that determined the first-ever heavyweight champion of the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts. Prior to that, Sylvia had lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 last February in a bout in which the vacant interim UFC heavyweight title was on the line.

Sylvia, who held the UFC heavyweight title on two separate occasions, has competed as a pro since 2001 and holds notable wins in his career over Ben Rothwell, Ricco Rodriguez, Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson, and Brandon Vera.

He’d be facing an opponent in Mercer who has just one previous MMA fight to his credit, an exhibition match against Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson that took place on a Cage Fury Fighting Championship card in June of 2007. The fought was fought under the unified rules of MMA and the bout ended after Mercer submitted to a guillotine choke.

Despite Mercer’s MMA inexperience, he still poses a unique threat to Sylvia. While the heavy-handed Slice felt it was prudent to take Mercer off his feet, Sylvia is not known for taking fights to the ground and instead may attempt to trade punches with a professional boxer that was good enough to win a Gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

For those who might be unable to attend the proposed matchup in Atlantic City, Cox also revealed that he’s currently involved in negotiations regarding a television partner for the event.

Enter Braden Bice on the December 10 Adrenaline MMA show in Moline, Illinois.

“I know I’ve got myself into a fight. I know I’m not going in there and taking an easy one. But I’ve never fought anyone easy before. I don’t fight cans. I don’t want to. I want to fight the best. If I take a couple of losses along the way-it’s all experience. I like competition. I just want to fight tough guys. If I take somebody on that’s not going to be much of a fight, it doesn’t make me feel like much of a fighter. I want to fight people who are going to challenge me,” Bice said. Despite more than a dozen pro and amateur fights, this is a big step up for Braden. “It’s crazy to think that Pat Miletich and (Ben) Rothwell are on the same card as me. I’ve fought on cards with guys that have been on TV before, but I haven’t been on TV before. That’s what I’m more nervous about. But I’ve been in front of 8000 people at the state wrestling finals so I know how to get it done under fucking pressure.”

Bice is what old school boxing writers would call an “opponent.” On MMA message boards he’d be called a “can.” And Cox has seemingly targeted Bice, first lining him up for former “Ultimate Fighter” star Sam Hoger (a fight that fell through when Bice didn’t get his medical paperwork together in time). Now he’s bringing Bice in to fight another of his heavyweight prospects. There are whispers that Cox knows something, that Bice is more than just an over-matched young wrestler. He’s coming off a suspension in Ohio where there were accusations of wrong-doing. Is Cox looking to buy a win for his hot prospect?

“Ohio accused me of throwing a fight there against Josh Hendricks. I was goaded into taking a fight against a guy I didn’t have any business being in the ring with. He kicked my ass and I got suspended for it. They eventually overturned it. They thought I took a dive for a paycheck. I would never do that. I get pissed off if I lose a game of checkers,” Bice said. “The fight lasted 50 seconds. I threw a couple. I knew if I was going to win, I had to hit a homerun. So I came out throwing bombs and high kicks and all kinds of crazy stuff. He got a hold of me, picked me up, and slammed me. Took my back and pounded me out. I tapped due to strikes. I was hurt and hurt bad and I wasn’t going to win the fight. It was over.”

Bice says he wasn’t dirty. He was just fighting a tough guy on short notice and got caught. It’s savvy matchmaking by Cox, doubling his duty as Russow’s manager and the event’s promoter. Bice is a young fighter with a losing record, seemingly tailor-made for Russow, who wins the majority of his fights on the ground with slick submissions. That’s where Bice has lost all of his fights. But that was the old Bice.

“I am a very different fighter than I was a year ago. I’ve improved 100 percent in all aspects of my game. I know he’s a good guy, but our styles clash pretty well to make a good fight,” Bice said. “I know he’s going to come out there and take me down and try to submit me. I’m a pretty good Greco guy and I wrestled all my life. I think I can stop his takedowns and stay out of his submissions. It will not be a lay and pray match. It will not on my side. My Jiu-Jitsu is pretty game. If anything, it will turn into a jiu-jitsu match. I don’t think he wants to lay around either. He wants to come in there and get his job done quick. He wants to make his money and go home.”

Despite the differences in prominence and pedigree, Bice thought this was a good matchup for him. People might expect a big underdog to look to pick up a check and call it a night. Not Bice, who is confident his wrestling background will help him avoid a very dangerous ground fighter.

“He’s probably imagining he’s going to walk through me for sure. But I’m there to make him earn it. If he looks past me, he’s made a bad mistake,” Bice said. He’s traveling to Fight Firm in Philadelphia to train for a fight he took with just two weeks notice. “As soon as (manager) Mike Camp called me I took it almost instantly. I told him to give me an hour to look up some info on him because I’d only seen him in his M-1 fight. About an hour later I called him and told him I’d take it.”

For Russow it is another step on a ladder that leads to the UFC and the big leagues of the fight game. He’s been close enough to smell it before, with a cup of coffee in PRIDE. There’s pressure to stay perfect, waiting for that call from Joe Silva that could change everything. There’s pressure for Bice, too. He isn’t thinking about being the next Randy Couture, yet. He’d be happy to walk in Mike Russow’s shoes.

“I have no other choice than to perform on this one. If I pull a dud, I’m done,” Bice said. “I’ll be stuck on the lower shows. It drives me, man. I’ve got to do it.”

However, one of the most intriguing matchups on the docket for next month is a welterweight encounter between King of the Cage and EliteXC veteran Thomas “Wildman” Denny and one of the greatest welterweights ever to compete in MMA, Pat Miletich.

Miletich was the first-ever welterweight champion in the history of the UFC and has compiled a 28-7-2 pro record over the course of a career that dates back to 1995.

A former standout high school athlete, Miletich took up fighting as a way to help support his mother, who was in poor health at the time. Through the years, the 40-year old has recorded notable victories over the likes of Mikey Burnett, Shonie Carter, John Alessio, Jorge Patino, and Chris Brennan.

During the peak of his fighting career, Miletich made the decision to start his own training center and curriculum known both as the Miletich Fighting Systems. Over the years, MFS has produced world champions such as Rich Franklin, Jens Pulver, Robbie Lawler, Matt Hughes, and Tim Sylvia. The MFS system will go down in history as one of the first philosophies to utilize cross-training methods in MMA.

After focusing most of his time on preparing his fighters, Miletich ended a four-year hiatus from competitive fighting on On Sept. 23, 2006. And Miletich did not take an easy fight in his comeback, opting to face fellow all-time great Renzo Gracie during an IFL event in Miletich’s home base of Moline, Illinois.

Still not fully healed from neck injuries that had forced him to leave active competition, Miletich was first to tap in the first round after getting caught in a standing guillotine. Miletich has not competed since the loss but will be returning on Thursday, Dec. 11 to headline against Denny in the main event of Adrenaline MMA’s second-ever show. Miletich’s anticipated return, which will once again emanate from Moline, will be televised live on HDNet.

During a recent break from training, Miletich took time out to speak about his upcoming return with FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Sam Caplan: First let me say that it’s great to hear that you’ll be competing again. I also wanted to know how your neck is doing?

Pat Miletich: My neck is real solid. I’ve been sparring real hard and it’s been been holding up quite well, actually. I’ve had some procedures performed by several doctors and it’s holding up well.

Sam Caplan:  I spoke with your manager, Monte Cox, earlier today and Monte said you’re in incredible shape. He said normally 170 is a tough cut for you but that you’re working so hard that you’re having trouble keeping weight on.

Pat Miletich: You know, once my metabolism sped up the weight just started coming off and I’ve just been trying to eat a lot to actually keep my weight up (laughs).

Sam Caplan: So are you actually going to be able to enjoy your Thanksgiving and not have to watch your weight?

Pat Miletich: I’m going to eat a lot for Thanksgiving. I’m going to try and eat smart but we’re going to have a two and a half hour practice on Thursday morning — the whole team. And I should have worked off enough weight to sit down and have a nice Thanksgiving dinner with the family.

Sam Caplan: How long had you been considering coming back to fight?

Pat Miletich: Basically, the day after I fought Renzo, to be honest with you. We’ll see how this fight goes with Thomas Denny. Thomas is a tough guy but if I get through this fight okay and win against Thomas (then) I’d love to do that again with Renzo.

Sam Caplan: When you lost to Renzo, did you tap from the choke, or the tension being applied to your neck?

Pat Miletich: Well, I had re-injured the neck about ten days away from the fight and at that point there had just been so much publicity and TV stuff that I went ahead and did it. I thought that I’d be fine and I thought that I’d be able to stop his takedowns without a problem and just keep wearing him out and hitting him with shots. And you know, he was smart about it. Once he realized he wasn’t going to take me down he jumped for the guillotine and got it and did a good job. The neck, I was fine for awhile, and then the neck just wore out. It got tired and it just sunk in eventually.

I didn’t want to go to the ground either because the core muscles that tie into your legs all the way into your abdomen, I had injured those muscles as well. So my core was destroyed and I couldn’t even pull guard if I had wanted to (laughs). But I just had to stand there and try to ride out the clock. It was a weird situation; it was a combination of a couple of injuries and Renzo Gracie having an incredible guillotine. It wasn’t a good combo.

Sam Caplan: You haven’t competed for two years since that fight and I wanted to know if you consider the time away a brief retirement or simply a hiatus?

Pat Miletich: I had other things going on, to be honest with you. I’m not done competing. I enjoy it too much. I love it a lot. I love the adrenaline and the crowd and everything else. It’s too fun to just walk away from it. I want to be able to say when I’m done that it was my body was telling me (to retire). I guess I am just hard headed and I’ll keep running my head into a brick wall until it’s time to quit.

Sam Caplan: Renzo has a new documentary out entitled Renzo Gracie: Legacy and it’s really amazing. Your IFL fight with him was depicted during the course of the film and there was also a brief scene at your gym leading up the fight. During the scene, you compare Renzo to his cousins and you talked about how he never ducked opponents like some of his relatives. Could I get you to elaborate on that?

Pat Miletich: Well, my thing is no disrespect to any of the Gracies on the other side of the family. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here; you wouldn’t have a job and I wouldn’t have been fighting. I’d be doing who knows what? So all the respect to those guys; Royce and Rickson and that whole side of the family — Royler and everybody.

But Renzo is a guy that… he really treats everybody with a lot of respect. He’s a warrior and he’s fought anybody and everybody that has come up against him. He never turns down a fight. And that really earns my respect, just the way he carries himself and the way he’ll fight anybody. He’s a warrior so I have a lot of respect for him.

Sam Caplan: You stated in this interview that if things go well against Thomas Denny that you’d be interested in a rematch with Renzo. If you’re able to get past Denny, how active would you like to be after Dec. 11?

Pat Miletich: We’ll see how I feel. We’ll see how everything goes with Thomas and we’ll take one fight at a time. I look at the top ten rankings and I think there’s quite a few of those guys that I can beat right now (laughs). We’ll see how I can do against Thomas but I feel very confident in my skills.

Sam Caplan: Are there any names in the top ten that you feel you can beat that you’d like to identify on the record?

Pat Miletich: Nah, no reason for that. But I can see some guys that have a lot weaknesses in their games and I think I would do quite well with many of them.

Sam Caplan: You’ve always been known as a no-nonsense type of guy. Your opponent on Dec. 11, Thomas Denny, is a showman and is one part pro fighter and another part pro wrestler. I know that Nick Diaz had a real problem with Denny wearing pink trunks and painting his toenails during their July 26 CBS bout in Stockton. What do you think of Denny as an opponent?

Pat Miletich: I think Thomas is a well-rounded guy. I think he’s tough and he’s had some wars. Everybody is an individual. If he wants to dye his hair and paint his nails, then more power to him. But for me, I’ve always just been a guy, who, I’ll always make my money by winning fights. And that was really important to me. I wasn’t a guy who trash talked people and tried to make a show out of it. I just wanted to go out and win a fight and keep it simple.

Thomas and I get along well. He’s a nice guy. He’s fun to talk to and stuff. I have no problem with him doing whatever he does. Hell, if it sells more tickets, then great. So more power to him.

Sam Caplan: What attracted you to Thomas Denny stylistically as an opponent because he can be very dangerous? What made you want to take this fight?

Pat Miletich: Monte told me that was who I was fighting and so I said ‘okay’ (laughs). You know, that wasn’t somebody that I asked for or anything like that at all. As far as Thomas’ style goes, I mean he’s a pretty unpredictable guy. He’ll throw high kicks and back elbows and then the next thing you know he’s shooting for a takedown. He’s pretty well-rounded and he’s not afraid to take the fight anywhere so I am definitely going to have to be on my toes with him.

Sam Caplan: MFS has a lot of top guys such as Tim Sylvia, Ben Rothwell, L.C. Davis, and Drew McFedries. Can you talk about some of the next generation of fighters that are coming up through the program?

Pat Miletich: Obviously our first generation of champions and pay-per-view guys were a bunch of studs. They were great fighters but I really honestly think that this second generation of guys are better and more well-rounded.

L.C. Davis is a great wrestler who has improved his ground game immensely and can strike like a professional boxer.

Romiro “Junior” Hernandez is probably the best boxer that I’ve ever seen in MMA and his ground game is ridiculously good.

Ben Rothwell is finally starting to figure things out. He’s a young guy that already has a lot of fights under his belt. He’s changed his style a lot and is looking a lot better.

Mike Ciesnolevicz’s ground game is way better than before, even when he was already submitting everyone and his standup skills have really come a long way also.

And Ryan McGivern, the guy is just a machine. After this next fight he plans on dropping to 170 and I’ll tell you what, that’s a scary ’70 pounder. When he goes down to 170 he’s going to be throwing some people around.

Sam Caplan: A lot of people consider Anderson Silva to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world today. Do you agree with that assessment?

Pat Miletich: I would say it’s probably between he, Georges St. Pierre, and Fedor. Fedor is a sick, scary guy. He’s super impressive. Georges is an incredible athlete and very well-rounded. Anderson has been fighting for a long, long time. He’s been around forever.

In his fight vs. Cote, a lot of people were complaining about the way he was dancing around and moving and stuff like that. But you know, that just shows how good he is, to be honest with you. How he was just moving and confusing Cote and having fun with him out there. There are not a whole lot of guys that can do that with Cote and to me, that was just very impressive.

Sam Caplan: Brock Lesnar recently defeated Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title and I wanted to get your thoughts on the fight since you know Lesnar better than most being that he has spent some time at MFS in the past. Are you surprised that Brock is the heavyweight champ so soon?

Pat Miletich: I think every logical thinking person who knows MMA was betting Lesnar would win. Brock is an incredible athlete that moves incredibly well for a big man. You can tell he is still has a lot to learn, but his pure physical size, strength, wrestling ability and speed made it a very tough matchup for Randy. I have learned not to bet against Randy, but Couture not having the ability to out-wrestle someone makes it a very tough fight.

Having said this I feel he has been thrown into deep water a bit to soon. Big Nog, Fedor, Josh Barnett, Andre Arlovski, Rothwell, etc… all would be likely to beat Brock at this point in his carreer. If I were a top ranked heavyweight I would jump in line now though, as I think he’s going to be tough to beat with more experience.

Sam Caplan:  Since the IFL shut down, it seems like your profile with the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts has increased. Can you talk about what your day-to-day responsibilities are with the organization?

Pat Miletich: My focus is obviously help be a link between Mike Lynch and Dave Szady, who are the executives for the company, that are the head of the company. I’m there to assist them with relationships with the promoters and the fighters and help advise them as an experienced person in the MMA world what route I think is best for the organization. Them being above me in the company, the decision is ultimately going to be their’s whether they think I am correct or not in my judgments on things.

They’re great guys that care a lot about the sport. They’re big fans of the sport and I think the WAMMA belt represents more than just a belt. It represents the fighters’ freedom, a fighter’s solidarity, and a fighter’s right to be known as the true number one guy in the world. As fans and athletes, people need to understand and grasp that huge idea that the WAMMA belt stands and realize that that’s going to give fighters that freedom that they deserve and not be held down in organizations and by organizations almost as captives.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the current lineup during a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon with long-time MMA promoter and manager, Monte Cox.

Headlining the show will be the first welterweight champion in UFC history and legendary MMA trainer Pat Miletich. Miletich will be returning to competitive MMA after a two-plus year layoff to take on King of the Cage and EliteXC veteran Thomas “Wildman” Denny.

Also confirmed is former IFL standout heavyweight and Affliction veteran Ben Rothwell, who is slated to square off against former IFO heavyweight champion Chris Guillen.

Chicago-area police officer and former PRIDE veteran Mike Russow, who headline Adrenaline’s first MMA show in June against Jason Guida, will be taking on Braden Bice. Bice, 6-5, was recently tapped as a replacement for Russow’s original opponent, “Cujo” Joe McCall.

Other notable fighters scheduled to compete are IFL veterans L.C. Davis, Ryan McGivern, Mike Ciesnolevicz, and Jesse Lennox.

The complete 10-bout lineup as of Nov. 25 is as follows:

• Welterweight: Pat Miletich vs. Thomas Denny
• Heavyweight: Ben Rothwell vs. Chris Guillen
• Heavyweight: Mike Russow vs. Braden Bice
• Light Heavyweight: Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Derrick Mehman
• Middleweight: Ryan McGivern vs. Geno Roderick
• Lightweight: L.C. Davis vs. Billy Kidd
• Welterweight: Jesse Lennox vs. Ryan Williams
• Featherweight: Gabe Lemley vs. Dan Loman
• Lightweight: Pat Curran vs. Ramiro Hernandez
• Featherweight: Daniel Rodriguiez vs. Jacob Hey

Courtesy of Spike TV, FiveOuncesOfPain.com was able to speak with Sene a day after the loss was shown on television. We not only were able to get Brandon’s thoughts on the fight, but we were able to discuss in great detail his background as a sniper in the Marines.

Sene’s military background made for a very unique interview, which you can view in its entirety below.

Sam Caplan: Your fight vs. Dante Rivera that was shown last night looked very close. Do you agree with the decision?

Brandon Sene: No (laughs). No I didn’t.

Sam Caplan: First, there was a decision announced to indicate that a third round of sudden victory would be needed. Were you surprised at that point?

Brandon Sene: A little bit, yes. Yes I was. I had a hunch that that might happen but I was surprised also. I was being told that I had won the fight.

Sam Caplan: What was everyone’s reaction towards you immediately after?

Brandon Sene: It was well-shown on the show, but everybody was pretty much like, “Dude, you won that fight. You were so much more active. You were fighting with elbows and knees… you were fighting as much as you could for being tied up.” Everybody was saying I had won the fight.

Sam Caplan: Switching gears here, I wanted to get into your background as a retired Marine. Right before we started this interview I was notified that you hold the record for the longest kill during the current conflict in Iraq. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

Brandon Sene: Honestly, I’ve been getting asked that question a few times today, and I’m not sure where the rumor came from that I hold the record or held the record. I don’t really know if there was ever a record or anything like that. I had some long shots over there and to tell you honestly in regard to the whole situation, I have no problem talking about my experience but I don’t want to exploit me shooting people in Iraq. Know what I’m saying?

Sam Caplan: Understood. Can you talk a little bit people about the process in becoming a sniper? Is that a role you apply for once in the Marines, or is it something you get recruited to do?

Brandon Sene: Basically, once you’re in, I was in infantry, and once you’ve been in for awhile they’ll come around and they’ll kind of go, “Look, we’re looking for some guys to be snipers. These are the prerequisites to apply if you’re interested in doing it.” So as long as you meet all of that criteria, which generally speaking is that you have to have certain ASVAB scores; you have to have certain scores on your physical fitness levels; and a background investigation — you have to be able to get a security clearance — all of this stuff.

And as long as you meet all of the criteria on paper, you can then go ahead and take what is called an “indoctrination,” and the indoctrination usually is about a week and what is, they just take you and they just pretty much thrash you; pretty much just put you through hell for a week with very little food, very little sleep; constant movement, constant operations. Just physically very demanding; moving upwards of 20 miles on some days with especially heavy roughs.

They start out with 50 candidates, generally speaking and by the time the indoctrination is over, just due to the physical portion they’re usually down to about 10 or 11. It’s a very high attrition rate. And then from there, if they only need 5 or 6 guys for the platoon, what they will do are some interviews in front of an oral board. From there, they just make the selections from who they want.

Once you’re in the platoon then you go through a very long process of basically being on probation, where they kind of evaluate you and your performance (and) how well you’re learning. Then you stay in the platoon and then eventually you get a chance to go to the school and pick up the MOS. And once you have the MOS, then you’re officially a sniper in the platoon.

So it’s a long, drawn out process and it actually takes a lot to become a Marine sniper. There’s very few of them in the Marine Corps. at any given time.

Sam Caplan: What’s the longest you had to stay awake for?

Brandon Sene: Literally, we have a Hell Week. And literally for a week, man, I mean, we got brief periods of rest for maybe 30 minutes would be the most. It would just be like a little cat nap and that would happen once or twice a day. That week is unbelievable. It starts at midnight on Sunday and it ends midnight the next Saturday. It’s crazy; it’s unbelievable. It’s during sniper school, when you go to the actual school. It’s very similar to the indoctrination but they just push you. You’re patrolling for unbelievable amounts of miles with very heavy roughs and you’re completely self-sustaining. You have to meet certain points, like you’ll have to get to this checkpoint by a certain time, so you’ll have to do land nav(igation) and patrol to the checkpoint and if you don’t get there in time then you can get dropped. So it’s just a huge mental and physical and stress test that ends up being about a week continuous operations without sleep and also food. It’s very hard.

Sam Caplan: I know you can’t talk about specific missions from when you were in Iraq, but can you talk in general terms about what your duties were?

Brandon Sene: Basically, you do a ton of force protection, which is when our guys are out patrolling when they’re going through dangerous areas. You do over-watch for them so I’d go set up on a roof and watch their movement through a certain area and watch for any threats that might try and engage them. I do a lot of surveillance and recognises of areas. We’ll go out into town away from our base and set up urban hides around town and we’ll observer target areas and we’ll make target folders on certain individuals by means of just doing recon and surveillance on individuals that might be prime targets. We do IED prevention, so we’ll watch roadways where IEDs are real prominent; we’ll set up hides in the area and wait for individuals to come out there and start setting up IEDs and try to eliminate those threats. This is all stuff that I did when I was over there.

And then more recently after I got finished with the Marines, I started contracting for a company called Triple Canopy and I was a sniper for them as well. And basically our (job) over there was to protect high-ranking officials in country so we’d take these guys out of town to do meetings with ambassadors and chiefs of police and things like that. So when we’d get out there I would set up on rooftops or wherever around the venue that we were going to and just provide surveillance and precision fire for any threats to our principal.

Sam Caplan: I’ve talked to a few retired Marines and they’ve said “Jarhead” is the best war movie ever made. Have you’ve seen the film, and if so, what was your impression of it?

Brandon Sene: Yeah, “Jarhead” was definitely an accurate portrayal of modern day Marine Corps. It was really good. It was the truth; it wasn’t so much the B.S. glim and glamour of just completely unrealistic scenes and scenarios of combat. A lot of times that’s how combat goes: it’s just this big… like, nobody knows what’s going on and it’s just this big cluster and it’s over. There aren’t all of these defining moments of running through a hill of gunfire and stuff — that’s not to say that doesn’t happen or hasn’t happened at all — but it was just a good depiction… if you’re in, I guess you have a great appreciation for the movie and for what it showed. I thought it was pretty good, definitely.

Sam Caplan: Brian Stann, the WEC light heavyweight champion, takes a lot of heat because Zuffa plays about his background as a Marine. Do you feel that the criticism towards him is warranted?

Brandon Sene: The criticism of Brian Stann? Honestly, I haven’t heard too much negative criticism of him. I don’t know. I guess I can’t answer that because I haven’t heard a whole bunch of harping on Brian Stann, really. But for any that is going his way, I don’t think (it’s warranted). I think Brian is a pretty model guy. I’ve been in the Marines and I know he’s been awarded either a bronze or silver star in combat and that’s a very impressive award to get. I have a good friend that is up at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and he basically trains with Brian Stann in MMA and he says he’s a real good, standup guy. And this guy is someone I’ve worked with several times while I was in the Marine Corps. and I’m pretty confident in his decision making as an individual. So just seeing and hearing that and seeing him fight and knowing some of the awards he has, I have great respect for the guy, actually.

Sam Caplan: You train out of Rob Kahn’s Gracie Tampa affiliate, which has placed fighters on the past three seasons of TUF. Could we see a fourth for TUF 8?

Brandon Sene: Yeah, you know, that’s a strong possibility. We’ll see but that’s definitely a possibility. We’ll leave it at that (laughs).

Sam Caplan: I recently interviewed one of your training partners at Gracie Tampa, Marcus Jones. I keep hearing a lot of great things about him. Do you think he’s UFC material?

Brandon Sene: Yeah, absolutely, man. Marcus Jones is a great guy. Very talented athlete. That being said, him being such a talented athlete, having been a former NFL player for the Bucs here, he was a professional athlete. He knows how to train at that level. He’s used to competition. So Marcus stepping into this arena is a tailor fit. It’s just really a transition to fighting.

And Marcus is a real humble guy (and) he has no ego, so he learns things very quickly. He picks things up and asks questions and yeah man, I think Marcus, with the correct time and training could pretty much be a threat in any organization. But like I said, that’s going to come with time and training as well. I think that a lot of people put Marcus on a very fast track and so hopefully he’ll be able to slow that down a little bit and get the experience and the training he needs in order to do really well. But I have no doubt that he’ll do great things.

Sam Caplan: What’s next for Brandon Sene?

Brandon Sene: Next for me is to press on. Take my fights and just train my ass off; do everything I can to grow as a fighter. Honestly, at this point my future is in the hands of matchmakers in the UFC.

Sene joins Alan “Monsta Lobsta” Berube and Matt Arroyo as students of Kahn’s that have been selected for the show.

He has a 2-0 pro record, according to Sherdog.com’s fight finder, with wins listed over Jesse Barlong and Ozzy Villanvera.

Sene defeated Barlong at World Fighting Championships 4 via first round submission this past July. He returned to action at WCF 5 this past October when he recorded a first round TKO over Villanvera.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG