09:28 PM ET  05.07 |

05/07/2007
By Ben Fowlkes<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->   <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Professional Fighting News" -->

Top welterweight slugger Rory Markham will miss the final regular season match of the season for his Quad Cities Silverbacks on May 19th, due to injury. 

Markham (yellow trunks, right), who missed the team’s first outing of the year with eye problems, has been a consistent performer for the defending champions, and is no doubt a tremendous blow to the roster going into this must-win match against the Chicago Red Bears.

Taking Markham’s place will be UFC veteran and Miletich camp fighter Josh “The Dentist” Neer (left), of Des Moines, Iowa.  Neer brings a record of 21-5-1 into this contest, with wins over “Ultimate Fighter” participants like Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard.

Silverbacks coach Pat Miletich is likely hoping that Neer can fill the temporary void left by Markham well enough to earn his squad a spot in the postseason.  When Markham missed the first competition against the Los Angeles Anacondas earlier this year, he was replaced by Victor Moreno, who suffered a first-round defeat en route to a 3-2 loss for the Silverbacks. 

In order for the Quad Cities crew to have a shot at making the postseason, they need a dominating victory over the Red Bears in Chicago’s Sears Centre on May 19th.  Perhaps the Red Bears’ strongest fighter thus far has been welterweight Mark Miller, who Neer will face when replacing Markham.

The Silverbacks will look to their longtime Miletich Fighting Systems teammate to step up and don the jersey of the IFL’s defending world champions in the hopes that he can keep their playoff hopes alive with a win.

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