ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The last time Justin Eilers fought in Boardwalk Hall he was battling for the world heavyweight championship. He left the arena in an ambulance… without the championship belt.
Eilers suffered two broken hands, a broken nose and a torn ACL in his loss to former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski. On Saturday, May 20, Eilers will return to the “Hall” and once again will headline a mixed martial arts event. This time, he’ll face hard-hitting Sherman Pendergarst in the main event of Combat in the Cage 2. “I think I still have pieces of me scattered around that place,” Eilers joked about Boardwalk Hall. “Honestly, I’m excited to go back. And, hopefully, it will be a completely different result from the last time.” Eilers (9-5-1) is a 4-time UFC veteran and a banger who has the reputation of either knocking out his opponent, or being knocked out himself. “I don’t like decisions,” he says. “I like for a fight to end decisively.” Pendergarst, nicknamed “The Tank,” has a 5-2 record and has won three straight bouts… none of them by decision. Also featured on the card will be Canadian standout and 4-time UFC veteran Joe Doerksen of Winnipeg. Like Eilers, a member of Team Extreme, Doerksenhas a 33-9 record and owns wins over standout Chris Leben, Lee Murray, Denis Kang, Ed Herman and Patrick Cote. Big Bryan Vetell of the Renzo Gracie Academy will make his MMA debut and local standout Billy Craparo, who recently won a title in Ring of Combat, will also compete on the card.
Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420 or go to www.ticketmaster.com and look under Combat in the Cage.
MAIN EVENT WeightSherman Pendergarst (5-2) vs. Justin Eilers (9-5-1) hwt.
FEATURE BOUTSLeremy Johnson vs. Joe Doerksen 205Boban Simic (1-0) vs. Bryan Vetell (0-0) hwt.
MAIN CARDCraig Gunder (1-1) vs. Tom Galechio (1-0) 170Jamie Toney (4-2) vs. Billy Craparo (3-0) 170Kevin Manderson (6-4-1) vs. John Mahlow (4-4) 155Jerry Spiegel (4-17) vs. Eric Tavares (4-5) 185Franklin Ferrer (1-0) vs. Stephan Cloud (0-0) 185Anthony Montanaro (0-1) vs. Christian Geraci (0-1) 155TBA vs. Scott Malloy (0-1) 155