Miletich To Fight Renzo at IFL

Long-rumbling Internet rumors that Bettendorf mixed martial artist and Ultimate Fighting Championship legend Pat Miletich was returning to the ring were confirmed Saturday night in an announcement made at the International Fight League event at Atlantic City, N.J.’s Trump Taj Mahal.

Miletich will fight fellow legend Renzo Gracie September 23 during an IFL event at an as yet undisclosed location, but there is speculation that The Mark of the Quad-Cities might be the venue of choice for organizers. Scott Mullen, the executive director of The Mark, confirmed Friday afternoon that fight promoter Monte Cox had approached him about the Sept. 23 availability of the arena for an IFL event.

Gracie and Miletich have known for months that they would be fighting each other and originally were set on squaring off June 23 in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, where Miletich Fighting Systems welterweight Matt Hughes knocked Renzo’s brother Royce out in the first round at UFC 60, last Saturday night. That fight fell through when the California Athletic Commission had difficulty getting a K-1 fight approved quickly and ran out of time to do the same with this one, thereby losing the booking at the Staples Center.

Both Gracie and Miletich are coaches of teams fighting in the IFL, and it was their idea to hold the fight in conjunction with a regular-scheduled IFL event.

Miletich already was starting to taper and tailor his training to reach his optimum physical preparedness when he learned that the fight was going to be pushed back three months.

Miletich last fought in March 2002, losing to Matt Lindland at UFC 36. Gracie has remained active, but unsuccessful over the past few years. He fought in July 2005 and has lost six of his past seven fights.