International Fight League
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The International Fight League is an American mixed martial arts promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. Instead of the established norm for MMA events, where matchups are strictly one-on-one affairs, each IFL card is a showdown between two teams of five fighters, each fighter fighting one match against another on the opposing team. The IFL is televised in the United States on Fox Sports Net.
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[edit] History
The IFL was founded January 7, 2006 by real estate developer Kurt Otto and Wizard magazine founder Gareb Shamus, two well-financed devotees of mixed martial arts who were inspired by the Mark Kerr documentary The Smashing Machine to elevate the livelihoods of mixed martial arts fighters, many of them living meagerly, training without steady incomes and only earning small fight purses when they do fight. With the IFL, they intend to create a system not only showcasing mixed martial arts action but also to provide a business plan that will allow fighters to also share more of the profits of the sport. In a marked contrast with the rest of the industry, instead of paying fighters only purses after fights, they are given a salary and health benefits to train and fight. The team concept is also conducive for television, where episodes can be regularly produced the continuing storyline of an ongoing season.
It has been widely speculated the IFL, with the deep pockets of its founders, television deal and innovative business plan, may become a major circuit for MMA in North America, directly competing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Already, the UFC and IFL have a hostile relationship, as the UFC have accused the IFL of and sued them for illegally using proprietary information obtained by hiring executives from the UFC organization. The IFL shot back with their own suit claiming the UFC was threatening potential partners to not work with the IFL, including Fox Sports Net (a deal with Fox Sports was later signed before resolution of the suit).
The inaugural event was held on April 29, 2006 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, featuring Silverbacks vs Anacondas and Tiger Sharks vs Pitbulls, with a superfight between Jens Pulver and Cole Escovedo.
On November 29, 2006, the IFL became a publically traded company, under the symbol IFLI. Their current net worth as of 2006 is around $150 million.[1]
[edit] Teams
The IFL currently consists of eight teams, all owned by the league, and each coached by a veteran MMA fighter. Currently, city names do not refer the 'home arena' of each team, but rather the city in which they train out of. The current teams for this current season are as follows:
| International Fight League | |
| Team | Coach |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles Anacondas | Bas Rutten |
| Toronto Dragons | Carlos Newton |
| New York Pitbulls | Renzo Gracie |
| San Jose Razorclaws | Frank Shamrock |
| Tokyo Sabres | Antonio Inoki 1 |
| Quad City Silverbacks | Pat Miletich |
| Seattle Tiger Sharks | Maurice Smith |
| Portland Wolfpack | Matt Lindland |
| Tucson Scorpions | Don Frye |
| Orange County Condors | Marco Ruas |
| Nevada Lions | Ken Shamrock |
| Chicago Red Bears | Igor Zinoviev |
| British Bulldogs 2 | Ian Freeman |
1 Antonio Inoki will serve more as an mentor for the Tokyo Sabres than actual coach. The coaching job will be done by japanese bodybuilder Ken Yasuda. Inoki will also serve as an international 'Ambassador' for the IFL.
- Future teams announced at the IFL event at the MARK of the Quad Cities will be coached by Don Frye (Scorpions) and Marco Ruas (Piranhas) and based in Arizona and Southern California respectively.
- On 11/2/06 the IFL announced two new teams to join the IFL ranks. Recently retired and former UFC superstar Ken Shamrock will coach the Northern California Lions. British MMA legend Ian Freeman was announced as the coach to the British based British Bulldogs.
- 11/06 the IFL announced the 12th and final team of the 2007 season, the Chicago based Red Bears who will be coached by Russian MMA fighter Igot Zinoviev. The team, though based in Chicago, will compose mostly of Russian fighters (somewhat similar to the Renzo Gracie lead NY Pitbulls who are composed mostly of Brazilian fighters)
- 11/06 The Southern California Piranhas apparently changed their name to the Orange County Condors as well as the Northern California Lions are now being relocated to Nevada. [1]
2 The British Bulldogs will participate in a few matches in 2007 but won't start officially for the IFL until the 2008 season.
[edit] Super Fights
Along with the traditional five on five team system matches the IFL also has occasional super fights between various fighters that do not count towards any team system and may include fighters not associated with any IFL team. So far these superfights have occured along with their results:
- Jens Pulver def Cole Escovedo by KO in 56 seconds of the first round (4/29/06)
- Ben Uker def Travis Doerge by submission (key lock) in 2:10 of the first round (6/03/06)
- Chris Horodecki def Erik Owings by KO in 4 minutes of the first round (6/03/06)
- Jay Hieron def Jake Ellenberger by unanimous decision (6/03/06)
- Jamal Patterson def Alex Schoenauer by submission (guillotine choke) 2:32 in the first round (6/03/06)
- Daniel Gracie def Wes Sims by technical submission (rear naked choke) 2:42 in the first round (6/03/06)
- Matt Lindland def Jeremy Horn by TKO (Strikes) 0:21 in the second round (9/09/06)
- Renzo Gracie def Pat Miletich by submission (guillotine choke) 3:37 in the first round (9/23/06)
- Allan Goes def Daniel Gracie by TKO (Strikes) 1:03 in the second round (11/02/06)
- Mike Whitehead def Mark kerr by TKO (strikes) 2:40 in the first round (11/02/06)
[edit] Rules
The IFL follows the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts established by the New Jersey Athletic Board, with several exceptions.
- Matches consist of three rounds of four minutes instead of the usual five,
- Elbow strikes are not allowed to the face or head,
- If the match is initially scored a draw after three rounds, there will be a three-minute sudden victory round to decide a winner.
[edit] Ring
In contrast with most mixed martial arts promotions in the United States, the IFL stages their fights in a five-roped ring similar to the one used in PRIDE.
[edit] Weight Classes
The IFL currently uses five weight classes:
- Lightweight: (146–155 lb.)
- Welterweight: (157–170 lb)
- Middleweight: (171–185 lb)
- Light Heavyweight: (186–205 lb)
- Heavyweight: (206–265 lb)
In addition, there are four other weight classes specified in the Unified Rules which the IFL does not use: Flyweight (125 lb. and below), Bantamweight (126–135 lb.), Featherweight (136–145 lb.), and Super Heavyweight (266 lb. and above).
[edit] Team personnel
Each team consists of five fighters, one from each weight class, plus alternates.
[edit] 2006 Schedule
[edit] 2007 Schedule
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Mixed Martial Arts: A New Kind Of Fight", 60 Minutes (web site), 2006-12-10, pp. 3. Retrieved on [[2006-12-11]].
[edit] Additional references
- Hunt, Loretta. Introducing the International Fight League. IFC.TV. January 9, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
- Thaler, Jeff. Breaking Down the Match-Up: UFC vs. IFL. Sherdog.com. March 2, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2006.
[edit] External links
- IFL - Official Website
| Professional mixed martial arts organizations | |
|---|---|
| Major promotions: | Ultimate Fighting Championship | PRIDE Fighting Championships | HERO's |
| Other promotions: | Pancrase | KOTC | Rumble on the Rock | EFC | WEC | MFC | ZST | DEEP | Cage Rage | Cage Warriors | FFC | IFL | TKO | Strikeforce | WWCN |
| Defunct promotions: | IVC | RINGS | WFA |
| Sanctioning bodies: | Shooto | International Sport Combat Federation |
