Last year, Ryan Schultz and Chris Horodecki met under much different circumstances.  The veteran Schultz was heavily favored over a young, unknown Canadian fighter with a trainwreck of a name. The bout was seen as nothing special, a rather mediocre bout middling with the rest of the card. 

Early in the second round of that first contest, Horodecki blasted Schultz with a right high kick that spelled the beginning of the end.  After a series of punches and knees the referee had to step in and save the stumbling Team Quest fighter. 

Since that fight two Novembers ago, “The Polish Hammer” quickly became one of the IFL largest stars and outlasted anyone that the matchmakers presented him with. As Horodecki continued to rise, Schultz fell.  In his very next fight, he suffered a late KO loss to Bart Palaszewski. 

Yet just as Horodecki looked untouchable in the IFL, he wasn’t.  It took a rejuvenated and revenge driven Schultz to slow Horodecki’s rise. The uncrowned IFL lightweight king is still uncrowned, and Schultz now reigns supreme.

How It Happened

Over Horodecki’s previously blemish-free career, he had shown great striking ability and technical prowess on the feet.  One thing he hadn’t looked comfortable doing is working from his back, and the Team Quest trained wrestler put him there early. Over the first minute, the two traded brief flurries with neither fighter gaining a distinct advantage.  Schultz seized an opportunity during the final exchange and put Horodecki on his back. 

Schultz had his way with his younger counterpart once the fight was in his world.  It’s not that Schultz can’t strike, because he can.  Its just his ground-and-pound game is excellent, and was the key to his victory. “If I pull the trigger, I win every time,” Schultz said. 

Horodecki was unable to control the head or hands of Schultz, who postured up and landed a number of big right hands.  Schultz jumped to the right side and landed in the “Hammer’s” half-guard.  From there, he pinned Horodecki’s left arm behind his back, rendering it useless.  The phenom was tangled in an awkward position with his face unshielded and Schultz simply unleashed. Eleven unanswered right hands crashed the party and Matt Lindland’s Team Quest took home its second belt of the evening, “Matt was like, just do what you do,” said Schultz. “We had a good gameplan…go after him, take him down, smother him and finish it.”

Schultz is now the unlikely king of the 155 pound division in the IFL.  The revamped league is heading into a season that will be ripe with change, and Schultz won’t have long before his first title defense.  He will reportedly defend his title for the first time in February against Chicago’s Tim Kennedy.  Kennedy also won in an undercard match earlier in the evening.

What It All Means

The crazy thing is that this fight wasn’t even supposed to happen.  Horodecki had been slated to fight three other opponents before “The Lion.”  All three were forced to relinquish the opportunity because of injury, and Schultz was more than ready to seize the opportunity, “I wanted it real bad, and I got it.”

The IFL knows what it has in Horodecki and no doubt values his performance as much as anyone.  Financial struggles are no stranger to the League, and Horodecki’s billing as the next great lightweight is critical to the organization. He’s young, he’s exciting, he’s confident; what is there not to like?  Nobody I know dislikes him or his fights, but a win and belt around his waist would’ve given him the legitimacy for a top-10 argument.  He’s not there yet.  We also shouldn’t forget that his opponent was switched on him three times leading up to the bout.

Based on the first matchup, nobody could’ve seen this outcome coming.  Approaching Saturday night in Connecticut, pundits, odds makers and fans were thinking the same thing.  In 180-degree switch-up from the first encounter, the younger Xtreme Couture fighter was heavily favored. Someone forgot to tell Schultz he was supposed to lose.

In a year that has had noteworthy upsets, Shultz’s win piles on yet another shocking upset.  The Lightweight division (for my money) is the IFL’s best and most exciting division.  Horodecki’s is clearly the largest name in the weight class, despite the loss.  His stardom is not diminished, but it wasn’t helped by his display of ineptitude on the ground.

World-class fighters bounce back from defeats like this one.  The coming months leading up to his next fight will prove critical for Horodecki; he’s never dealt with a loss before. How will he react?  It’s doubtful the defeat will make him go ‘Loiseau’ on us all, and I believe he’ll bounce back well with new focus.

Randy and the boys at Xtreme Couture in short time have proven to be a top tier camp, and with the number of superior fighters there; Horodecki’s ground fighting will be afforded the opportunity to improve by leaps and bounds.  I look for him to be slugging it out for the title again soon.

Schultz on the other hand has proven himself to be a hell of a fighter.  For a man who not long ago was contemplating retirement, he looked awfully talented. His battle with Kennedy will be a war and real tough test for the Oregon fighter.  Both men have shown willingness to strike, as well as serious ground and pound skills.  Stiff competition is nothing new to either man and an all-out war is what I expect from the two of them.

I’m not prepared to say Schultz will win and retain his title, but, after last night…I’m not ready to count him out either.

The IFL has been hammered for many things by fans, and often justifiably so.  The tape delays on the broadcasts made them difficult to become immersed in, and the regional team format never exceeded the exalted rank of ‘cheesy.’  This Grand Prix has answered the call.  Tournaments are the most definitive way to determine who is the best (just ask any LSU or Hawaii Football Fan) and MMA fans get gleefully nostalgic when thinking about the UFC’s early days.

The IFL took a page out of PRIDE’s old playbook and put this one together for us and the final card is solid.  Not only do we see the culmination of the tournament, but there’s five title fights.  Yep, that’s right; five.  Hard to find that anywhere.  In addition to that, it’s free if you got the right cable package!  Good stuff all around and with the exception of the light heavyweights, every division will be active.  Five men will join Vladimir Matyushenko as inaugural IFL champs in their respective weight classes and we can drink it all in without spending any more money than we already have.

The Title Fights
Featherweight: Wagnney Fabiano (8-1) vs. L.C. Davis (9-0)

The two 145lbers both sport a spotless record in the IFL, and only one loss beyond it; combined.  The WEC has proven that the lighter weight classes are exciting as hell, and Fabiano and Davis are no exception. 

Davis brings the patented Miletich offensive, a headstrong approach with a foundation of strong wrestling, good conditioning and judicious hands.  Davis has gone on record saying he can handle Fabiano on the feet and he’ll keep it there. By my estimation, he’d better.  The 5’6” Brazilian has shown surprising strength, and combined with superior jiu-jitsu skills is on a 4-0 tear behind four submissions. 

Aggressive wrestling has played into the hands of the slick jiu-jitsu artists before, and I look for the same to happen here. The Carlos Newton trained fighter will be the strongest opponent Davis has tangled with. Fabiano’s recent move from lightweight down to his natural 145lb world will make him the IFL’s first Featherweight champ.

My Pick:  Fabiano by Armbar, Round 2

Lightweight: Chris Horodecki (11-0) vs. Ryan Schultz (17-9-1)

The entire MMA world is well aware of who Horodecki is by now.  The IFL posterboy possesses that strange cocktail of boyish looks and deadly fighting ability that is tough to resist.  At just 20 years of age, the Polish kickboxer is poised to be an MMA superstar. There’s only one man standing in his way, and that’s Schultz. 

The scrappy Schultz hails from Team Quest and should look to employ a grinding ground and pound attack.  These two faced off in November ’06 and Horodecki finished the Oregon native early in the second frame.  He no doubt wants that to happen again, and as Shad Lierley proved Chris is at his least dangerous when he’s on his back.

The records of the two fighters are trending in polar opposite directions; Horodecki with eleven straight wins and the ten year elder Schultz posting a 6-5 record.  The discrepancy is a little misleading.  Schultz has fought much tougher competition, notably recent UFC contender Hermes Franca and Rich Clementi over his last eleven.  He also has wins over the UFC’s great Hispanic hope Roger Huerta, Jason Dent and took ‘JZ’ Calvancante to a draw.

All signs point toward The Polish Hammer being another A-Class 145lber, and he’ll hand the Gresham native his tenth loss of his career.  The Hammer’s striking shoots in from all angles, and the especially swift right leg of Horodecki will wear down the wrestler for the first eight minutes, paving the way for a late TKO win.  The IFL will crown its first LW champ, and top-ten lists everywhere will be forced to take notice.

My Pick:  Horodecki by TKO, Round 3

More...

The International Fight League will end their year on Saturday night by putting on their final event as part of the Grand Prix series. The final matches will determine the new divisional titles and set up future title matchups for the IFL, something that is new to the promotion. Unfortunately for the IFL, injuries, contract problems, and overall bad luck have plagued the Grand Prix events and caused a huge gap in the talent pool that the IFL cannot seem to remedy.

The IFL has an even taller task in trying to compete with the UFC's own event, UFC 79. It's evident that the IFL is looking to only grab up a very small portion of viewers and not the mainstream fans that will be tuning into the UFC. Nonetheless, the IFL Grand Prix final has a couple of interesting matchups, and we'll briefly look at the card in its entirety.

Jay Hieron vs. Delson "Pe de Chumbo" Heleno

The most interesting bout of the night by far pits a fairly well-rounded Jay Hieron against a phenomenal grappler in Delson Heleno. Hieron has fought some tough competition in the past, but has lost some battles that were questionable as far as his opponent's talent level. Hieron's main weakness has been his inability to finish opponents, but for the most part, he's well-rounded and is very durable in the ring. He'll use his superior striking abilities to most likely keep this fight standing, and will try to avoid being submitted by using his good wrestling skills.

Heleno will counter the rough ground and pound style of Hieron with an excellent Brazilian jiu-jitsu background. Heleno doesn't have impressive wins over high quality opponents, but he definitely has a submission game that can defeat quality guys that begin to step in front of him. That is what Heleno's goal will be on Saturday.

Prediction: Hieron by decision

Hieron has a much better standup game and has never been submitted in his career. He also has the backing of some solid training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Look for Hieron to pull this win out.
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Chris Horodecki vs. Ryan "The Lion" Schultz

A rematch of a battle that happened in IFL's semifinals last year, this should be a clear cut win for Horodecki. Since nearly all of Horodecki's opponents leading up to this Grand Prix final were injured or moved away from the bout, Schultz will get a chance to redeem a loss.

Fact is, Horodecki is a dynamic striker with excellent takedown defense, and he is only improving with his training at Xtreme Couture. I see no reason why Schultz will be able to win this fight, especially when many of his losses are by way of TKO.

Prediction: Horodecki by second round TKO/KO
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Benji Radach vs. Matt Horwich

Another matchup that has a small amount of intrigue surrounding it. Both Middleweights have solid experience in the cage, but both have styles that are completely opposite of each other. Radach is a devastating striker whereas Horwich is primarily a submission weapon. Radach boasts 13 KO/TKO's in 17 wins and Horwich has 18 submissions in 20 wins, heavy percentage of wins in one area for both fighters.

Radach does have some excellent wrestling ability and has never been submitted. His takedown defense is excellent, and it will be a tough task for Horwich to avoid Radach's power striking if he's stuffed during a shoot. This would be the ideal situation for Radach, but Horwich has never been knocked out. Will Radach's wrestling be enough to avoid the submissions and stop Horwich's own takedown attempts?

Prediction: Radach by TKO, second round.

Radach is a very strong striker and has the wrestling skills to back up his standup style. Horwich has lost some big fights by submission, but has never been knocked out or stopped. Look for Horwich to be stopped by Radach's power.
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Antoine Jaoude vs. Roy Nelson

The battle of the heavyweights in the IFL has never really been an interesting prospect. Rothwell blew through the division, then had contract issues with the IFL and the Grand Prix event at the end of the year. This fight does, however, feature Antoine Jaoude, who narrowly lost to Rothwell.

The most significant difference between both fighters is the weight factor. Nelson will most likely have 20-30 lbs. on Jaoude, but Jaoude has shown better skill in his most recent contests. Nelson may have some serious trouble with Jaoude's skills in general.

Prediction: Jaoude by decision.

I think Jaoude can outlast Nelson and also show off some better wrestling skills in the process.
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Wagnney Fabiano vs. LC Davis

After the IFL ruined the potential matchup of Fabiano vs. Horodecki, he was relegated to a lower weight division and now has to face a tough LC Davis who is 9-0. Both men are primarily jiu-jitsu fighters with some decent standup skills. Davis has an impressive win over Jay Estrada, but most of his competition hasn't been on a world class level. He combined decent power in his hands with an excellent ground game. Fabiano will be a very tough test.

Fabiano comes straight out of Rio and will be looking to extend his four fight win streak. His only loss is to the veteran grappler in Jeff Curran by decision. Fabiano has had an easy cakewalk through the IFL's competition, and Davis may possibly be in for a rude awakening.

Prediction: Fabiano via second round submission

Fabiano's jiu-jitsu should be able to exploit the fact that Davis hasn't fought competition that is on his level, but we could be in a surprise if Davis brings the type of game he used on Estrada.
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Tim Kennedy vs. Elias Rivera

It's hard to dislike Tim Kennedy at all in this fight and in everyday life. He's an enlisted soldier, and also a fighter who embodies everything that is a class act to this sport. He has very good wrestling skills and some good power in his hands. He has a much more well-rounded game than his opponent Rivera, who is very susceptible to the knockout. Look for Kennedy to end this in by TKO/KO.

Prediction: Kennedy via KO, 1st round
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Rory Markham vs. Brett Cooper

Markham is coming off two big wins over Chris Clements and Pat Healy. He has dynamite in his hands, and an excellent takedown defense from fighting out of the Miletich camp. With primarily a wrestling and striking background that is proven in the cage, Markham will be a tough task for Brett Cooper.

I'm not privy to much of Brett Cooper's recent work in the MMA. He does have a good win over Jason Von Flue as recently as December 1st. If anyone has seen Cooper's fight with Ed Ratcliff, he was straight knocked out cold by a spinning back kick that was out of a Chuck Norris movie. Cooper has seemed to improve since those battles early in his career. He has some decent power in his hands and also some good wrestling skills. I think Markham will put Cooper down fairly easily regardless of Cooper's renewed drive.

Prediction: Markham via TKO/KO, 2nd round

Shawn Tompkins revealed this weekend that the International Fight League's Grand Prix Final has undergone some significant changes to the fight card. The IFL will be holding the finals on December 29th from the Mohegan Sun from Uncasville, Connecticut, but without the Wagnney Fabiano vs. Chris Horodecki matchup for the lightweight title. Instead, we will see an exciting rematch between Horodecki and Shad Lierley. This move will opens up the newest division to the IFL, the featherweight division. Wagnney will drop to 145 lbs. and fight for a vacant featherweight title for the IFL. It seems that the IFL is now making a claim to produce an exciting featherweight division much like what the WEC seems to be pushing as well. This might seem like a snag to most fans, but I present this question, does this benefit the IFL Grand Prix Finals and the IFL in general?

New division, new matchup

I'll be the first person to say that I was looking forward to Fabiano-Horodecki for a number of reasons. We haven't seen Horodecki against a super slick ground tactician like Fabiano and I was hoping to get a glimpse as to how Horodecki's takedown defense could withstand Fabiano's shoots. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing that fight. Is this an IFL protection tactic? It seems like it to me, but from what Tompkins seems to have stated in the article, he believes Fabiano is a 145 lb. fighter and should become champion of the new division in the IFL.

Is the IFL protecting its undefeated lightweight from being beaten and being exposed? Considering Chris Horodecki is the face of the IFL in many ways, I wouldn't put it past the IFL to do such a thing. Shad Lierley is no joke, but Chris was able to squeak out a victory over him, much like Bart Palaszewski. The Lierley fight is highly regarded as the best IFL fight of the year, and that may be the sole reason why this fight will happen again. It'll be an explosive standup battle of two strikers, something the IFL seems to want to be seen on national television. If the Matyushenko-Schoenauer fight was any indication, the referees also seem to be under the impression that there is no ground game in the IFL. Lierley vs. Horodecki will fulfill the standup war that the IFL wants.

Will a featherweight division actually benefit the IFL? I believe it will. It is well known that many of the best fights during the year were in the lower weights. The 155 lb. division had an unbelievable year in mixed martial arts. Adding another low weight class to the list may produce some more of those great standup striking battles that the IFL seems to adamant on showing. Wagnney Fabiano will move down to the weight class, but hasn't got an opponent yet. I've already stated that the IFL has a talent problem. They don't seem to have enough fighters to grab in case of injuries. That is exactly what hurt the first Grand Prix event and caused the LHW title bout to be determined in the preliminary event instead of through the tournament. How can they suddenly add a new division?

It seems that either the talent camps that the IFL is holding are causing a bunch of small 155'ers or 145'ers to show up for a contract or they will be trying to bring in some small guys from around the country in other promotions and possibly trying to tap into the Asian market, where small weight classes thrive. It's an interesting proposition for the IFL to be taking on. I look forward to seeing who the IFL will bring in to pump up the new division. The other interesting aspect to all of this is that it makes five main card fights for the IFL Grand Prix Final, adding one to the initial card. For a two hour live event broadcast, five fights seems to be sufficient although it may be short if any of the fights ends quickly.

Does this end up benefiting the IFL?

I want to ask the simple question as to whether the new division will actually benefit the IFL. Will the extra matchup and potential standup war for the lightweight title provide a better Grand Prix event? In my opinion, I think the addition of a 145 lb. division will add some excitement to some of the horrible matchups that they've had in the past that didn't produce great results. I have doubts as to how they will fill it up though, as I still have doubts about the other divisions in the IFL. We haven't heard much as far as the tryouts have been going. There were many fighters who were well known throughout the sport at those events so we could see some veteran fighters stepping over to the IFL from organizations like Bodog.

For the Grand Prix Final, it has been said that the event will be televised live once again except we will get to see two hours of coverage in the States. Good move by the IFL. They added a fifth fight to the mix with the featherweight title. I'm not sure if the IFL will add some other fights at different weights to pad the event with undercard battles. If not, a fifth fight was needed and it's at an exciting weight.

In the long run, I doubt this will help the struggling MMA promotion get out from under the bus but for the short term, it presents some quality fights for the IFL Grand Prix Final. At least for the end of the year, we will have more than one MMA promotion presenting a decent card. The UFC's card will definitely be the headliner of events during that weekend, but the IFL GP will still present a viable option for viewing as well. I don't think it will break rating numbers or surprise many of us as the best card of the IFL season. I think the new weight class can only benefit the sinking ship that is the IFL.

The International Fight League is once again in the news again. This time, their coveted Grand Prix event is in danger of becoming a flop card after it's been promoted a bit with some of the big stars in the IFL. The IFL Grand Prix is scheduled to go on November 3rd at the Sears Center in Chicago, IL and apparently will have one hour of the event live on television. A couple of fights that won't be making the television portion are the matchups involving Ben Rothwell (27-5) and Mike Whitehead (19-5). Both fighters were dropped from the Grand Prix's fight card due to contractual issues. Jay Hieron (12-4) was also in danger of being dropped from the card, but was re-signed for the 2008 IFL season at the last second. All of this going on along with a couple of injuries that have really downgraded this card to a lot of fans caring a whole lot less about the outcomes. Compiling all of these problems with the Grand Prix, it made me realize that my stance on how the IFL could potentially rebound and put some quality cards on for the fans and possibly obtain a good following in the States is looking less and less likely. These contractual problems, injuries, and the possibility of losing some of the quality fighters that have made the organization have some exciting events almost convince me that the IFL may have some hard times ahead of them.

Contract issues causing big concerns

The first issue concerning the contracts involves how the IFL handled both fighters. Both Rothwell and Whitehead apparently needed to sign for the 2008 IFL Season before the Grand Prix. From the sound of it, the IFL signs fighters per season, not for a number of fights. The big problem with that is that it locks in a timeframe that can't be controlled by the organization. For instance, the UFC signs a fighter to a 4 fight deal and is then able to control when that fighter can fight. Since they can control that aspect of his contract, they can literally hijack your career until you either sign back with the organization after a lengthy contract negotiation, or you can simply tell them you are leaving and tell them to schedule your last bout. Obviously, the UFC has much more appeal and can use those kinds of tactics. Also, fighters probably don't want to the leave the UFC due to it being the pinnacle of the mixed martial arts universe. A fighter will want to negotiate and re-sign with the UFC where IFL fighters may be looking for a more premier organization. The UFC has the right idea though. Instead of scheduling a fight and then trying to get some kind of committment from them before the event, the UFC sidelines a fighter until they re-sign. That way of thinking may have us all bitching and moaning because one of the better fighters in the UFC isn't fighting, but it protects them from wasting money promoting a matchup that may not happen. The IFL should have done the same thing.

If the IFL sets up the number of fights before the season begins and signs those fighters to a number of fights deal, the same applies. Why didn't they just sideline that fighter until he either re-signed or left the organization? Not only would they not let down the fans, they could save themselves the pain of wasting money promoting a particular matchup and promote a fight that will actually happen like the Horodecki matchup.

The season format gets in the way of this a bit as well. Once the season's events are over, there is a playoff, finals, and a grand prix event. The finals and Grand Prix happen toward the end of the year and are the most important events of the year for the IFL. It also happens to be the time when contracts are up for renewal. This causes a conflict in that the most important events of the year for the organization have the potential to have a number of matchups replaced with B-level fights.

Stable of fighters and contracts can lead to bad events, injuries lead to poor fallback matchups

Since the IFL's stable of fighters isn't as premier or as big as that of bigger promotions, they have little to fall back on when contractual issues occur or a marquee fighter is injured. Obviously, the UFC has a number of great fighters willing to step up if an injury occurs. They also have the ability to create a fill-in matchup that isn't horrible if a fight is cancelled. The IFL doesn't have this luxury. With that said, Rothwell has been replaced by Bryan Vetell and now we will see the Vetell vs. Antoine Jaoude in the heavyweight matchup. Whitehead was dropped and now the light heavyweight matchup will be Roy Nelson vs. Reese Andy. While the Nelson vs. Andy fight somewhat intrigues me, Vetell vs. Jaoude isn't a matchup that is overly exciting.

The light heavyweight GP became completey hijacked by injuries. FIrst it was Mike Ciesnolevicz, who was then replaced by Andre Gusmao. Gusmao knocked out Ciesnolevicz in the IFL Finals, putting him on suspension due to the knockout. Gusmao is a big up and coming fighter in the IFL who has some buzz circulating around him. Unfortunately, he also became injured. Mike Whitehead was dropped from the IFL, as previously mentioned, and his alternate, Jamal Patterson, was also injured. So instead of having a great LHW Grand Prix, we have one LHW matchup for the title, an uninteresting lopsided battle between veteran grappler Vladmir Matsuyshenko and Ultimate Fighter Season 1 contestant Alex Schoenauer. You may remember Alex from his Ultimate Fighter Finale fight in which he lasted :20 seconds against Mike Swick. He is a decent grappler, but nowhere near the skill of the Russian. Four fighters injured shouldn't bury the Grand Prix, but it did.

As for contracts, the issues previously stated are only one part of the problem. The IFL is breeding the next generation of fighters. The next generation will most likely move on to the top organizations in the world and the IFL will be left in their dust. If that's their goal, you can stop reading. But if they plan on trying to really make a run at becoming one of the U.S.'s premier MMA organizations, what can they do as far as contracts go and convincing fighters to stick with the organization? There really isn't much they can do. They don't have the roster of fighters to create overly challenging matchups to guys like Rothwell. Bringing in Ricco Rodriguez was a classic example of something the IFL should keep doing, but other than signing free agent fighters for a few fights, you won't see too much more. The IFL still has financial problems that need to be solved, and I wouldn't predict that increasing pay will be one of the options that they have to keep some of these fighters with the IFL.

Should they stick to being a feeder organization?

It's a question that many people already have comments on. Most fans would say "Isn't the IFL already a feeder league?". I don't think the IFL sees it that way. With the news that they plan to air the Grand Prix for one hour LIVE, I think they plan on making a go at getting some excitement and live MMA out to the fans that have been calling for it for quite some time. The IFL has some things going for it that many other MMA organizations don't have going for them. Television deals. Not only do they have a great deal worked out with MyNetworkTV, but they also have shows on Fox Sports Net. Both channels are nationwide in the U.S. and also international. With that kind of exposure, there are potential ratings boosts out there to consider.

Take for instance the latest news about the Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott fight being cancelled. With IFL's television deals, why not grab up that type of fight and air it as a preliminary bout to the Grand Prix as purely an entertainment bout? Not only would I tune in, but I'd be a bit excited about at least seeing the fight live. Should the IFL try to grab up some of these entertainment type bouts? It may be a good move to add some ratings, some profit, and some type of hype around events that have been literally destroyed by all of the recent issues. One of the better things the IFL did was sign Ricco Rodriguez to fight Ben Rothwell in the IFL Finals. As a hardcore MMA fan, I had been hearing rumors that Ricco was cleaning up, weighing a lot less, and really training hard. I was very excited to see how he had progressed and that type of fight actually made me want to see the IFL Battleground show that recapped the Finals. Sure, fights like Kimbo vs. Tank have no bearing or impact in the MMA world, but the casual fan of fighting flipping through the channels may be interested enough to boost ratings and possibly lock up some extra advertising dollars due to the ratings increase.

Along the same lines, the IFL's Kurt Otto has also been discussing the signing of Kurt Angle to a deal. Kurt Angle is the pro-wrestling star and Olympic gold medal wrestler. The idea, I believe, is to have the WWE and pro-wrestling crowd crossover to tune in for Kurt Angle fights during IFL shows. I think this is a brilliant move as far as revenue goes. If the deal happens, events featuring Kurt Angle could receive big boosts. Ok.. so Kurt Angle in MMA may not have the biggest impact, if any impact at all in the MMA scene. But if you are a huge WWE fan, you will be tuning in to see him fight. IFL's financial problems mean they need to turn a profit. Spending money to get Angle to fight in the IFL may actually be a good deal.

Things aren't so bad

With all the injuries, contract issues, low amount of fighters on their roster, and financial problems, the IFL isn't getting better as I had previously thought. The financial problems can be attributed to the simple principle that it takes money to make money, but they need to concentrate more on obtaining more talent. The IFL did announce that they would be holding tryouts, and adding new coaches from different areas of the world, notably England and Brazil. These are all good things that the IFL has done to at least make an attempt at creating a better organization.

There are some new stories that have been released that implicate some big changes for the good. First, the production of IFL events will hopefully become LIVE very soon. The Grand Prix will be broadcast LIVE for one-hour of the event, and we will supposedly be getting Chris Horodecki vs. Bart Palaszewski, Benji Radach vs. Brent Beauparlant, and the Schoenauer vs. Matyushenko title fight. Not a bad lineup, and I'm definitely interested in the lightweight GP. If the IFL wants to begin improving upon their horrible .24 rating of Friday Night telecasts, LIVE events is the way to go.

The IFL also hired Jay Larkin, former Showtime boxing and entertainment head, who has in the past negotiated some of the bigger boxing matchups, television deals, and deals with artists in the entertainment industry. He's a veteran to negotiating deals in the television business as well as a man who's been around the production aspect of events for a very long time. He has been working with the IFL as a consultant, but now has the full-time job of trying to help the IFL get to the plateau they are trying to reach.

The IFL also still has some great up-and-coming fighters. Chris Horodecki and Andre Gusmao definitely spark my interest. Gusmao has been impressive in both of his battles with Mike Ciesnolevicz. Delson Heleno is a great grappler who has proved his worth in the IFL, and we saw some unbelievable fight from Deividas Taurosevicius. I'm not sure if he was just a late fill in, but the IFL needs to sign him for the '08 season. Rolles Gracie could pan out to be a fine acquisition as well, making his MMA debut at the IFL Finals.

Mixed results

My feeling about the IFL is now mixed. I was an optimist in their wake of great news involving the live television deals. With the recent contractual issues they've had happen and the freak number of injuries we seem to hear about every other week with the Grand Prix event, it surely isn't helping sell the event. Their upcoming 2008 goals include LIVE events, adding new talent, and hopefully putting on some great fight cards. I think their goals are definitely in the right direction, but with the UFC looming above them, it's only a matter of time before they begin losing talent to the UFC. I look for them to do better in 2008, but I only see them doubling that .24 rating. I also think they will continue to stay in the shell as a feeder league to the UFC, and I doubt that will ever change. The IFL has the potential with television deals and advertising dollars to at least turn a profit and regain some of their losses. Other than that, look for some of the talent in the IFL to start jumping ship during the end of the year next season.

**UPDATE**

It seems more problems are sprouting up. Comments from Monte Cox in an interview with Sam Caplan of Five Ounces of Pain and ProElite.com have told some stories of IFL's Soprano-like meeting in a car to try to sign Jay Hieron behind Cox's back, and there tactics regarding the Grand Prix that wasn't included on Rothwell, Whitehead, or Hieron's contracts. Check it out.

Straight from IFL.tv:

International Fight League World Championship Finals
Seminole Hard Rock, September 20, 2007

No. 2 Pitbulls def. No. 4 Silverbacks, 3-2

• 170 lb.: Delson Heleno, Pitbulls, def. Jake Ellenberger, Silverbacks, via submission (armbar) 3:45, 2nd
• 155 lb.: Deividas Taurosevicius, Pitbulls, def. Bart Palaszewski, Silverbacks, via submission (armbar), 1:30, 2nd
• 265 lb.: Ben Rothwell, Silverbacks, def. Ricco Rodriguez, Pitbulls, via decision (unanimous), after three rounds
• 185 lb.: Ryan McGivern, Silverbacks, def. Fabio Leopoldo, Pitbulls, via TKO, 1:35, 2nd
• 205 lb: Andre Gusmao, Pitbulls, def. Mike Ciesnolevicz, Silverbacks, via knockout, 0:53, 1st

Preliminary Bouts

• 205 lbs: Jamal Patterson (Hoboken, N.J.) def. Chris Baten (Tampa, Fla.) via submission (choke), 0:56, 1st
• 265 lb.: Rolles Gracie (New York) vs. Sam Holloway via submission (rear naked choke), 1:49, 1st
• 170 lb.: Travis Cox (Naples, Fla.) no contest vs. Brad Blackburn (Olympia, Wash.) (unintentional knee to head of downed opponent), 2:32, 1st
• 155 lb.: Ryan Schultz (North Platte, Neb.) def. Aaron Riley (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) via decision (unanimous), after 3 rounds

I went 4-4 in these predictions. Bart Palaszewski was upset, and Blackburn-Cox no-contested their fight. I did pick Gusmao to win, and it looks like he may be the real deal, with a 5-0 record now, beating Mike Ciesnolevicz twice. Ricco Rodriguez... you let me down, but you did make it to a decision.