OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 19 — The International Fight League kicked off its 2007 Team Championship Series before a crowd of 5,005 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

The first of nine regular season events featured Jeremy Horn (Pictures) and Faliniko Vitale in an IFL super-fight. In team action, the Seattle Tiger Sharks were pitted against the Southern California Condors. Also featured on the season opener was a sibling rivalry of sorts, as Ken Shamrock (Pictures)’s Reno Lions butted heads with his brother Frank’s Razorclaws.

Horn made a successful return to the ring after a four-month layoff by beating Vitale by split decision in the five-round main event. Horn, looking much worse for the wear, let out a sigh of relief when the final score was announced — 48-47, 47-48 and 48-47 — in his favor. This was a fight most prognosticators tabbed Horn to win and while he did take home the victory in the end, it was not an easy night for the crafty veteran.

After taking the first frame on the Sherdog.com scorecard, Horn found himself on the wrong end of a number of Vitale strikes throughout the second and third rounds.

The Hawaiian seemed to find his comfort zone and had success repelling Horn’s takedown attempts, something he failed to do in the first round. Vitale unleashed a body, body, head salvo midway through the third that cut Horn outside the left eye but failed to back him up.

Horn went into a bit of a shell in the second and third, choosing to hang on and clinch whenever he could, thus slowing Vitale’s offense a bit. Horn, starting to show the results of Vitale’s assault, did not wilt under the pressure. With bruises under both eyes to go along with his cut, Horn knew he had to have the final two rounds if he wanted another win on his ledger.

Beginning in the fourth and carrying through to the fifth, Horn increased his output and began to score with strikes of his own. Vitale still landed the stronger punches but they came fewer and farther apart. Horn was relentless in the late rounds, scoring three takedowns in the fifth frame alone. It was that increased offense that earned Horn the nod on the Sherdog.com card for the fourth and fifth rounds.

Condors debut successful

The opening bout of the Seattle Tiger Sharks-Southern California Condors clash pitted Shad Lierley and Adam Lynn (Pictures). Lierley scored the first and only meaningful strikes of the fight, landing a right cross that dropped Lynn to the mat.

The Tiger Shark lightweight pounced. Securing side-control, he pounded away with hammer fists and punches until referee Jon Schorle intervened just 44 seconds into the scrap.

Next up it was a heavyweight tilt between Southern California’s Antoine Jaoude (Pictures) and Seattle’s Curtis Crawford (Pictures). Jaoude used the wrestling skills that took him to the Athens Olympics in 2004 to control Crawford throughout the match. Crawford tried to keep Jaoude in range of his punches but repeatedly found himself on his back.

The action picked up in the third round as Crawford began to go to the body. Jaoude answered with knees from the Thai clinch before sealing the deal with another takedown. With the win, the Condor big man evened the score between the teams with a unanimous decision, garnering scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

In what was supposed to be an alternate bout, Condor Danny Suarez (Pictures) and Tiger Shark Tristan Wit got their chance to make a difference. Suarez took advantage of his opportunity and gave his team a 2-1 lead with his armbar submission at 44 seconds of the first round.

Jeremy Williams came out of retirement to fight for Marco Ruas (Pictures) and he wasted little time with Tiger Shark Bristol Marunde (Pictures). Just moments into the clash Williams found himself on his back, holding onto an arm-in guillotine choke after Marunde slammed him to the canvas. Not to be denied, Williams transitioned into a triangle choke and locked it up.

After repeatedly telling referee Dan Stell that Marunde was out, Williams finally got the signal from the official to let the hold go. Marunde slumped backwards to the mat, clearly unconscious, giving Williams the victory at 1:13 of the first round. The win also clinched the team win for the Condors.

With the team competition already decided, Seattle’s Reese Andy (Pictures) finished the night on a high note for the Tiger Sharks. He controlled UFC veteran and Condor Justin Levens (Pictures) from the get go and took home a unanimous decision by the scores of 30-27 on all three cards. Andy used his superior wrestling ability to keep Levens on his back for the majority of the light heavyweight fight.

The slow paced struggle perked up at the beginning of the third as Levens and Andy traded blows and Levens went for an armbar after being slammed heavily to the mat. The remainder of the round saw Andy taking Levens down and restricting any offense from the tiring Condor.

Ken edges Frank

The opening fight between the Reno Lion’s John Gunderson (Pictures) and the San Jose Razorclaws Josh Odom (Pictures) set the pace for the battle of the Shamrock brothers. Right off the bat Odom landed a nice shot that stunned Gunderson for a moment but it failed to derail the Lion lightweight.

Gunderson shot in, landed the takedown and started to ground-and-pound his opponent. Refusing to go quietly, Odom nearly ended the fight with an armbar from the guard. Although it took him a while, Gunderson maneuvered his way clear of danger before working himself into top position.

After moving into the mount, Gunderson quickly applied a triangle choke and cinched it in deeper after rolling to his back. Odom had no choice but to tapout at 3:05 of the first frame. Gunderson’s win gave his Lions the early 1-0 lead.

“Big Country” Roy Nelson (Pictures) made it two in a row for the Lions with his technical knockout win over Vince Lucero (Pictures). After some initial exchanges, Nelson clinched with Lucero and scored a beautiful outside trip takedown. He quickly moved to the mount and finished the fight with a flurry of strikes.

With Lucero unable to defend himself, referee Jon Schorle halted the fight at 1:58 of the first period.

Clint Coronel (Pictures) kept the Razorclaws in the team competition by stopping Lions Joe Martin (Pictures). The win did not come without controversy however.

After a brilliant first round by both competitors, a round full of back-and-forth action, Coronel dropped Martin with a booming right hook as the second stanza began.

Martin, trying to regroup, grasped at Coronel in hopes of tying him up on the ground. Coronel was having none of it and proceeded to fire punches to the back of Martin’s head.

Referee Dan Stell stepped in to stop the bout at the 45-second mark only to have an infuriated Martin bounce right to his feet screaming his displeasure. A bewildered Lions’ corner made it clear they were not happy with the perceived illegal blows and the early stoppage but their pleas went for naught and Coronel was awarded the win tightening up the team score, making it 2-1.

Pat Healy (Pictures) assured the Lions of a victory with his unanimous decision win over Ray Steinbeiss (Pictures), thus giving Ken Shamrock (Pictures) the coveted win over his adopted brother Frank.

Healy’s formula for victory consisted of getting takedowns early and following up with a solid ground-and-pound attack. Steinbeiss had no answers and save a number of leg-lock attempts he mounted very little offense. The judges’ tallies read 30-27 on all three cards, giving the Lions an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

With no hope for a team victory, Razorclaw Brian Foster (Pictures) squared off with Lion Dan Molina (Pictures) in the final tussle in the team series. The fighters were in the midst of a seesaw round, with neither fighter gaining the upper hand, when the lights in the arena when dark. After a brief respite, the power was turned back on and the fighters concluded the round.

The second period began with a point deduction for Foster for grabbing the ropes. Lions coach Ken Shamrock (Pictures) had argued with referee Stell during the first round for precisely the same infraction, and it seemed to pay dividends despite the fact that Foster actually looked to be tangled as opposed to grabbing the ropes.

The deduction was inconsequential in the end, as Foster dropped Molina with a punch soon after the restart. He quickly followed Molina to the mat and eventually ended the affair with a volley of punches from the back-mount at 2:05 of the second period.