 | |
| Sport | Mixed martial arts |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 7, 2006 |
| Ceased | July 31, 2008 |
| CEO | Jay Larkin |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Last champion | New York Pitbulls |
TheInternational Fight League was an Americanmixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMAleague. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.[1] Instead of the established norm for MMA events, where matchups are strictly one-on-one affairs, each IFL card was a showdown between two camps of at least three fighters, each fighter fighting one match against another in the opposing camps.
The IFL was founded on January 7, 2006, by real estate developer Kurt Otto andWizard magazine founderGareb Shamus, two well-financed devotees of mixed martial arts who were inspired by theMark Kerr documentaryThe Smashing Machine. With the IFL, they intended to create a system not only to showcase mixed martial arts action but also provide a business plan that would allow fighters a greater share of profits. In marked contrast to the rest of the industry, instead of paying fighters only purses after fights, the IFL paid them a salary and health benefits while they trained and fought. The team concept was intended to be conducive for television, where episodes could be regularly produced.
It had been widely speculated that the IFL, with the deep pockets of its founders, a television deal and an innovative business plan, would become a major circuit for MMA in North America, directly competing with theUltimate Fighting Championship. The UFC and IFL had a hostile relationship, as the UFC accused the IFL of and sued them for illegally using proprietary information obtained by hiring executives from the UFC organization.[2] The IFL shot back with their own suit claiming the UFC was threatening potential partners not to work with the IFL, including Fox Sports Net (a deal with Fox Sports was later signed before resolution of the suit).[3] The tension between the IFL and the UFC worsened with accusations that the IFL has attempted to buy out several top UFC fighters.
The inaugural event was held on April 29, 2006, at theTrump Taj Mahal inAtlantic City,New Jersey, featuring theQuad City Silverbacks vs theLos Angeles Anacondas and theSeattle Tiger Sharks vs theNew York Pitbulls, with a superfight betweenJens Pulver andCole Escovedo.
On August 31, 2006, publicly traded (OTCBB) company, Paligent Inc., principally held byNew Jersey developer and real estate industrialist Richard J. Kurtz,[4] authorized a merger agreement that coincided with its acquisition of the IFL. The IFL became the parent entity as Paligent agreed to change its name to International Fight League, Inc. Subsequently, on November 29, 2006, the IFL became a publicly traded company, under the symbol IFLI.[5][6] Theirmarket capitalization as of 2006[update] was around $150 million.[7]In September 2007, Kurtz sold his interest in the IFL.
On December 20, 2007, IFL Commissioner Kurt Otto made an announcement regarding some major changes for the 2008 season. First and foremost, the team concept would be changed to instead focus on distinct MMA camps. Otto reasoned that many of the teams did not train together, nor did many of them live in the respective cities they represented. Instead, the new concept of the IFL would focus on camps and the fighters that already trained in those camps. Also changing will be the five-on-five format to a more simplified three-on-three format. This was designed to allow more flexibility in matchmaking, as the teams would not be confined to picking one fighter in each weight class. Instead the three fighters could be from any weight class or they could all be from the same class. The "team" concept would still be somewhat intact as the camps would compete with each other for points in a final standing. Otto also announced that the IFL would extend an open invitation to any camps not already affiliated with the IFL to participate in "one off" events, where a non-IFL camp could challenge an IFL camp for supremacy. Similarly, any of the title defenses could also involve fighters who were not currently signed with the IFL in a "one off" fight. Otto announced that there would be eight shows in 2008 with no plans for a GP final.[8]
On May 8, 2008, the IFL revealed during a conference call that their August 15, 2008, event would feature the debut of a six-sided cage called "The Hex."[9] This event was cancelled due to the company's financial problems, and no announcement was made in regards to when or if it would resume full-scale operations again.[10]
In July 2008, there were reports of the IFL's possible purchase by theUFC.[11] That same month, Joe Favorito, former IFL senior vice president, cited financial troubles for the closing of the company on July 31, 2008. Anonymous sources stated that parent company of the UFC,Zuffa, had bought the IFL.[1] Other reports cited the UFC's airing of IFL footage on its programming, and the signing of previous IFL fighters, as an indirect confirmation of the purchase.[12]
The 2008 International Fight League season was to have had at the minimum eight events which would be based out of three main sites; Las Vegas, New Jersey and Connecticut. Each event would have two camps competing each other in three on three match-ups while at least two titles would be defended at every event (allowing each fight card to have a minimum of eight fights each).
A planned August 15 event was canceled due to the company's financial condition as mentioned in a June 10 press release.[13] The IFL subsequently ceased all operations.
* OriginallyTim Kennedy was supposed to face Horwich for the IFL Middleweight title but Kennedy was called away to serve in the armed forces. Militech fighter Ryan McGivern took his place.[14]
In 2007, the IFL made a television deal withFox Sports Net andMyNetworkTV. This made it the first MMA promotion to appear regularly on broadcast TV in the United States.[15]
The premiere ofIFL Battleground on March 12, 2007, on MyNetworkTVscored a 0.8 household rating (1.12 million viewers), and gained 250% in all key male demographics (0.7 vs. 0.2) over February. This represented a newMyNetworkTV high for male 18–34, a 17% rise over the previous record of 0.6.[16]However this episode was criticized by MMA journalists and fans, saying it glorified violence and brutality.[17] Kurt Otto apologized to fans, their fighters and coaches, and critics for the content of that show, and that "we made a mistake with some parts of the show, but we will learn from this and grow."[18]
On February 5, 2008, the IFL announced a partnership with the HDNet to air the first three events of their 2008 season live.[19]
On February 15, 2008,MyNetworkTV cancelledIFL Battleground.[20]
The IFL consisted of nine camps, all owned by the league, and each coached by a veteran MMA fighter. Originally the IFL had teams that were associated with cities but that proved to be a lark as many of the teams did not train in their respective cities nor did all the fighters live in those cities as well. Thus in 2008 the IFL changed the format to revolve around existing camps and their established fighters. The camps for this season were as follows:
| Camps for the 2008 season | |
| Camp | Coach |
|---|---|
| Team Tompkins formerly known as theLos Angeles Anacondas (Was called Xtreme Couture but had to change name due to lack of fighters from Xtreme Couture[21]) | Shawn Tompkins |
| Renzo Gracie Academy formerly known as theNew York Pitbulls | Renzo Gracie |
| Miletich Fighting Systems formerly known as theQuad City Silverbacks | Pat Miletich |
| Team Quest formerly known as thePortland Wolfpack | Matt Lindland |
| Ruas Vale Tudo formerly known as theSouthern California Condors | Marco Ruas |
| Lions Den formerly known as theNevada Lions | Ken Shamrock |
| Midwest Combat formerly known as theChicago Red Bears | Igor Zinoviev |
| World Class Fight Center5 | Mario Sperry |
| Team Bombsquad | Ryan Citolli |
| Team Prodigy | Hector Pena |
| Camp based out ofBritain6 | Ian Freeman |
| Former Teams | |
| Team | Coach |
|---|---|
| San Jose Razorclaws7 | Frank Shamrock |
| Toronto Dragons | Carlos Newton |
| Tokyo Sabres | Ken Yasuda |
| Tucson Scorpions | Don Frye |
| Seattle Tiger Sharks | Maurice Smith |
| Camps outside of IFL | |
| Team | Coach |
|---|---|
| American Top Team | Ricardo Liborio |
1Antonio Inoki was originally going to be the Tokyo Sabres' coach and mentor but has since been dropped by the IFL. Japanese bodybuilder Ken Yasuda is now the head coach.
²The Bulldogs will participate in a few matches in 2007 but won't start officially for the IFL until the 2008 season. The San Diego, France, South Korea and Brazil teams have yet to have a team logo and name.
³At the 3/17 show in LA,Bas Rutten stepped down from being the coach of the LA Anacondas to become the "face/spokesperson" of the IFL as well as the co-host of the "IFL Battleground" show on MYnetwork TV. Rutten was replaced by assistant coach Shawn Tompkins.
4On 9/13/07 it was announced by the IFL thatShawn Tompkins was let go from the IFL and removed from his duties as coach for theLos Angeles Anacondas. Reasoning was that Tompkins has "spread himself to thin" between his duties of coaching the Anacondas and becoming a new trainer at the Randy Couture owned gym in Las Vegas. A replacement has yet to be named.[22]
5On 9/20/07 IFL commissioner Kurt Otto announced in an interview that the IFL will stay at 12 teams in the 2008 season with one or more franchises moving from their current location and at least one of them closing down. To replace the closing team will be a team coached by Mario Sperry based in either Florida or Las Vegas.[23]
6On 9/25/07 IFL commissioner Kurt Otto reiterated that in the 2008 season there will only be 12 teams in the IFL with TWO new teams emerging. One of them coached by the already mentioned Marrio Sperry and the other by Cage Rage veteran Ian Freeman.[24]
7On 10/10/07 Frank Shamrock revealed that he and his team, the San Jose Razorclaws, were let go from the IFL. Shamrock thought that Razorclaw Brian Foster might still be offered a stay in the IFL but will join a different team due to his successful 2007 season and his entrance into the 2007 GP.[25]
| Division | Champion | Camp | Since | Title Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight |  Roy Nelson | Lions Den | Dec 29, 2007 | 2 |
| Light Heavyweight |  Vladimir Matyushenko | Midwest Combat | Nov 03, 2007 | 1 |
| Middleweight | Dan Miller | Renzo Gracie Academy | May 16, 2008 | 0 |
| Welterweight | Jay Hieron | Team Tompkins | Dec 29, 2007 | 1 |
| Lightweight | Ryan Schultz | Team Quest | Dec 29, 2007 | 2 |
| Featherweight |  Wagnney Fabiano | Toronto Dragons | Dec 29, 2007 | 1 |
In order to appease the many MMA critics who felt that the team concept the IFL displayed had no place in the one-on-one sport of MMA, the IFL decided to conduct an end of the year Grand Prix which would take the four best fighters of each weight class to fight it out in a mini tournament that would be conducted over two events.
The first event took place on November 3, 2007, and the second on December 29, 2007. Each Grand Prix winner was crowned the first IFL champion of their weight class and awarded titles to defend during the 2008 season.
As announced on September 25, 2007, the IFL underwent their very first IFL draft to find new talent to fill the ranks of fighters that were cut from their IFL contracts (due to poor records).[citation needed] The draft took place in the three different locations on October 13, 2007.[26]
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 occurred along with their results:
The IFL followed theUnified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts established by the New Jersey Athletic Board, with several exceptions. In addition, the IFL was also sanctioned by the *ISCF - International Sport Combat Federation
In contrast with most mixed martial arts promotions in the United States, the IFL staged their fights in a five-roped ring similar to the one used inPRIDE.
On 5/08/08 the IFL announced the unveiling of a new six sided ring that would have been used for the IFL. Nicknamed the "hex", the ring was created by Throwdown, an MMA equipment manufacturer. The ring would have been allowed more surface area to fight and gives fans a better view of the action. This never came to fruition as the IFL soon folded.[27]
The IFL used six weight classes:
There are three other weight classes specified in the Unified Rules which the IFL does not use:flyweight (125 lb. and below),bantamweight (126–135 lb.), andsuper heavyweight (266 lb. and above).
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