Last week, the International Fight League announced their new plans to unveil a new concept that will likely impact the fights enough to possibly grab up some new viewership. Epinephrine shots between rounds? No, as great as that would be, the IFL is moving to use a hexagon-shaped ring instead of the standard square boxing ring that they are currently using. Will this have an impact on the fights in the IFL? More importantly, will it help save the IFL?

According to an article by Scott Holmes at Sherdog.com, Bas Rutten believes that “it’s more difficult to lock up your opponents in the corner, so you need more strategy”. Jay Larkin, the IFL’s CEO also adds that the six-sided ring will give the viewers a better vantage point of the action for both television viewers and the fans. Both quotes give us some insight into the thinking behind the new ring, but will the actual new angles and the fact that it’ll make fights a bit more strategic really matter?

Listen, I actually am a fan of some of the more recent IFL shows. New Blood, New Battles was probably one of the best shows that the IFL has put on in quite some time, and it showcased their upcoming talent perfectly with surprising finishes and solid matchups. Those are the kind of shows that the IFL must produce. The biggest problem is that HDNet, no matter how much Mark Cuban wants to tell you that it is widely available, isn’t a prime network to gain viewership on. The biggest problem for the IFL, in my opinion, will always be in securing viewership, and you can’t do that on a network like HDNet.

Secondly, the past history of the IFL certainly hasn’t helped its stock. The tape delayed events shown on FSN and myNetworkTV helped get the IFL on the map, but they should have aggressively sought a deal to air a few live events on those networks and made them widely available nationally. When the IFL finally wised up and aired some live coverage, I was unfortunately blacked out along with a good number of other viewers from the action. It’s hard enough getting fans to watch the IFL, but then having a fan who wanted to watch the event being forced to watch something else instead of some MMA action.

Unfortunately for the IFL, I don’t believe the new concept will help bring in new fans. Casual fans may associate the cage with the sport of MMA, but in the end, the IFL just doesn’t have the network deal to really put up any numbers. It’s unfortunate because I believe their current stable of fighters is truly beginning to show some talent and potential for growth. Hopefully a miracle happens in that someone with some entertainment industry know-how can buy the promotion and try to get the ship back on a network. I believe it’s the biggest key for the IFL. HDNet doesn’t produce the ratings they really need to get back into solid standing.

Maybe I don’t understand the big picture here, but if their New Blood, New Battles card couldn’t intrigue some of the MMA fans out there, I don’t know how much better the IFL can really do.

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...

On Wednesday, the IFL held a conference call regarding the upcoming changes to the promotion for the 2008 year, a year that is in desperate need of more interest, better talent, and more exposure for the promotion. Coming after a big annoucement that the IFL will be televised on HBO Latin America, they've made some changes that will ultimately help in the talent department. One notable quote from the press conference was:

"We are also excited about the ability to have this open-door policy, where globally any camp that wants to put together three guys in the weight classes we would specify for that particular event, they're invited to compete," Otto said. "They show up with those three guys in that weight class, they can get in the mix. In the past we didn't allow that. For instance, if Tito Ortiz wants to promote Team Punishment and promote Team Punishment fighters, he can do that."

"In reference to a camp or team like Red Devil or Golden Glory or anybody for that matter that can put together three guys at the level we need at the weight class we need, they can do that," Otto said.

This seems to be a much improved format that the previous team-based strategy that the IFL promoted in the previous years. Not only can it help the problem of having injured fighters on a set team completely kill an event's hype, but the camps themselves can lighten the IFL's problem of finding fighters. If a fighter turns up to be injured from a camp, undoubtedly, there will be a replacement in the wings at that camp.

Of course, there is the camp matchups themselves. Which camp is better and what fighters are up-and-coming in those camps? It gives camps a better chance of exposing some of their lesser talent that is moving up as well. They can also prove who has the better talent moving up to the bigger shows. It may seem like this is a great move, but in some cases, it isn't as convincing as it has been made out to be as far as camp matchups go. We won't see the top fighters vs. the top fighters, so it will purely be on lesser known fighter's shoulders.

What about pay? Will there be a base pay for each combatant? Again, an interesting aspect.

The entry of international teams

Opportunities are plentiful for the IFL and camps outside the United States with this open-door policy. Interestingly enough, the conference call touched on the Red Devil or even the Golden Glory camps as being camps that could also take the opportunity. Up-and-coming Russian fighters will be able to get exposure to a U.S. fanbase, and if they do well enough, could grab some interest from fans. In turn, U.S. promoted M-1 cards could see a small boost in viewership if M-1 Global turns around and begins to put those fighters on their own cards down the line. Golden Glory, a powerhouse in Holland, also has that same type of opportunity. A chance for international camps to find an U.S. fanbase is an exciting concept.

IFL's other moves

Additions of Ian Freeman and Mario Sperry to the coaching list give the IFL a British base and a Brazilian base, although Sperry will be based out of Las Vegas. As far as excitement goes, British fighters seem to bring the standup aspect to the cage whenever they fight. Many of the Cage Rage cards in Britain feature standup brawls, and the IFL may be trying to tap into that excitement that U.S. fans tend to crave.

Sperry will bring some very tough talent out of Brazil. If you were lucky enough to check out Fury FC, Chute Box and BTT both had strong showing and undercard talent that was very seasoned in their skillsets. Tough scrappers with honed jiu-jitsu skills will create one of the toughest teams in the IFL. It should benefit the IFL immensely.

With the addition of new venues and a 145 lb. featherweight division, people will have more opportunities to see the IFL in their area and will add a whole new element with the exciting lighter weight fighters. If you've watched the WEC lately, Pulver and Faber both are featherweight who exude the skills of what a featherweight should be. Quick, fast, up tempo, and with the deceptive abilities to throw hard leather. Get ready for a new featherweight division.

Will the IFL turn it around?

The IFL has deceived us before. With the IFL Grand Prix taking a huge hit, one of the most unbelievable displays of a card losing its luster from injuries and contract issues, it is inevitable that the card will not grab up viewership as it once may have before it was picked apart. It will be a low point as the year ends.

As we move into the new year, a new format may be able to bring some much needed interest to the event, but it still relies on who the fighters will be when the matchups hit the public. If the IFL can become a promotion that displays great talent in the lower ranks that we would otherwise not see, their may be a turnaround in their cards. If international camps get into the mix and take on U.S. camps, expect a new found excitement for this promotion. Red Devil vs. Golden Glory, Team Punishment, or Xtreme Couture, count me in. Punishment vs. Couture, count me in. The possibilities are endless, and the fans should be amped. Unless teams that have affiliated fighters in other organizations don't take advantage of this opportunity, we should see some improvement in the IFL's numbers. If not, the IFL is all but sunk.

Maybe I'm jumping the gun here and not giving the IFL credit where credit is due. Instead of the UFC creating a deal with the HBO and bringing more exposure to the sport of mixed martial arts along with the prestigious status of being aired on HBO, the IFL has stuck their foot into the door and worked a deal that will see the MMA promotion aired in HBO Latin America. That's a plus in my book when it comes to the smaller guy winning over the bigger guy. Maybe the Japanese will make the battle into a New Year's Eve showdown.

There is a completely different aspect to the story though. It revolves around the fact that the IFL has had horrible luck in producing quality cards. That isn't the only problem with the promotion in the United States however. Poor relations with managers and fighters forced some of the more popular and successful fighters in the IFL to take off before the Grand Prix. There is also the financial concerns revolving around IFL's stock price falling and their outlook looking slim. Does this type of deal look to actually be something that can eventually turn a profit and make the IFL popular and wanted in the Latin American market?

To an extent, it could work for a number of reasons. Boxing is a mainstay in the Latin market. It has similarities and much like what the early UFC/Boxing comparisons had, it will appeal to the people who want to see more than just two guys boxing each other for 12 rounds and to the crowd that feels boxing is boring. The main attraction should be the fact that MMA isn't airing in the areas of Latin America, and people may simply not care who the fighters are when they first see it. It could produce some stars in the Latin market, and as I stated about M-1 moving into Germany, it gives the IFL a headstart in the Latin American market.

With that said, here's the problem: The UFC seems to be making a move into the market as well. Not only does the UFC have more money and abilities to market and promote cards (Yeah.. yeah, I know we haven't seen it in the States yet!), but they also have a stable of fighters that is popular no matter where they go. If you think Latin Americans are oblivious to MMA fighters, you're wrong. The fighters in the UFC will be recognized and will be popular in the Latin American countries. That makes me believe that the IFL won't do well in the Latin market either when the UFC rolls into town. I really don't think HBO will be pleased with the returns from the deal at the end of the year, but then again, maybe there just isn't enough programming to fill their channel.

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.

In a previous article, I had mentioned that the International Fight League could become interesting in the coming months leading up to and past the Grand Prix event this past weekend. I came to that conclusion based on the fact that the IFL was moving toward broadcasting LIVE events on MyNetworkTV and based on the talent in the IFL's roster of fighters. For the most part, the IFL has some very good talent in their ranks. Fighters like Andre Gusmao, Delson Heleno, Benji Radach, Chris Horodecki, Wagnney Fabiano, Jay Heiron, the list goes on. There are some fairly good standup strikers as well as great submission artists within that list. The potential for some great fights is there, but it seems that many of the great fights that were supposed to make the IFL Grand Prix something that was going to be exciting ended up being thrown out due to contract disputes and injuries. If that wasn't bad enough to hurt the Grand Prix event, the event only featured a couple of fairly good fights. The IFL has regressed from my once thought idea that they may be able to pull off a decent ratings boost from all of the hype surrounding the upcoming events. Some big problems during the IFL Grand Prix, poor ratings, and the overall disinterest in the IFL seem to be causing the ship to sink further. Will we see the IFL demise? Let's take a look.

IFL Grand Prix Problems

Before I dig a bit deep into this event, I will say that there were some fairly exciting fights on the card. Chris Horodecki vs. Bart Palaszewski was a fight that had flashes of greatness, back and forth brawling, and impressive combinations by the still undefeated Horodecki. I thought the Wagnney Fabiano vs. John Gunderson fight was also a good fight to determine the IFL Grand Prix Finals matchup for the Lightweight title. Wagnney showed off his impressive ground tactics against a fairly well-rounded ground fighter in Gunderson. Other than that, the fights lacked huge excitement.

Vladimir Matyushenko had one of the worst referees in mixed martial arts during his Light Heavyweight title bout with Alex Schoenauer. Not only did Vlad tackle Schoenauer at will during the fight, but he controlled the top position fairly well and landed some choice punches. The problem was that Vlad has about 10 seconds in the guard to work any type of submission or strike on Schoenauer before the referee stood the bout up. Even when Vlad was clearly jockeying for position to the side mount or full mount, the fight was stood up. There was one instance in which the fight edged itself toward the ropes and, unlike PRIDE, the referee stood the fight up. Only in a couple of instances did the referee actually move the fighters away from the ropes and restart the action. Other than the horrible refereeing during the bout, the fight was rather boring because both guys were ground fighters who weren't being allowed to do so. The mismatch between the two fighters was clear. We can't blame the IFL for this completely as far as the fighters they had LEFT to actually fight for the title. Injuries plagued the division.

Another huge problem... only one hour of LIVE coverage in the U.S., simply terrible. We got two whole fights which were both long decision wins, one of those wins being tainted by poor refereeing. It almost seemed as if the referees were being influenced by Kurt Otto and company to stand the fights up in order to see huge knockout wins. Fact is, two ground fighters aren't going to do that. One hour of live MMA isn't the solution if you want to boost your ratings. Another problem that I found with my cable company specifically was that there are channels that only broadcast the MyNetworkTV schedule at certain times. Apparently that night was not the time for the parent station to broadcast MyNetworkTV's lineup of shows. I wonder if there are similar agreements between MyNetworkTV and other stations as well. If there are, this could have been a problem in maximizing the amount of eyes that could have seen the event across the United States.

Ratings are everything

The results from the IFL Grand Prix have come in. The GP received an abysmal 0.4 rating. According to the article that reported the ratings, the IFL did manage to sell out their advertising space for the event and received much more media coverage for the event that previously before. For profits, this definitely helps the IFL but in the long run, the ratings are going to be the barometer for whether or not the IFL can continue to get advertising dollars and media coverage. The overall performances at the events will also determine the viewership.

For the IFL to truly be successful with this event, they really needed a rating near 1. 0.4 seems to be their gauge for successful events and television ratings and they did increase their viewership by a small amount, but it just isn't enough to significantly improve their financial status and status in the MMA community. Another unbelievable statistic that came out of the Fight Network Radio show on Tuesday was a quote from John Pollock stated that only 200 viewers tapped into the IFL event on Fox Sports World. That seems like a ridiculous number to me, but may be a number that gives us a sense that nobody really watched it there. It was a full two-hour event on FSN World, even more of the GP in Canada than in the States. It just seems to sound worse adding in that type of low number to the conversation.

Can we expect the ratings to ever rise? I doubt it. It seems that these small networks such as ION and MyNetworkTV don't field the power behind them to promote these events to their full potential. Personally, I never watch the networks and that's half the battle. You can't promote an event on television if nobody watches the network it is on in the first place. Both networks would have to promote the events on their parent networks. I don't see the IFL grabbing up anymore viewership than they already get. Get ready for another year of horrible ratings that will most likely finally sink the IFL ship.

Can the IFL turn it around?

In my previous analysis, I went from an optimist about the IFL's upcoming events to a pessimist because of the horrible contract issues between the IFL and MFS fighters Ben Rothwell and Mike Whitehead. The issue was that in order to fight in the Grand Prix, the fighters must sign contracts to ensure that if they do win the title, they will not vacate the position for a better contract offer. This caused the Grand Prix to lose two of its top fighters. Bad move that hurt the Grand Prix significantly.

The IFL has a small stable of fighters as well in each division. With the new talent coming in from the tryouts that they have been doing recently, the IFL will be trying to bolster the divisions enough to stop injuries from affecting the cards extensively. It seems injuries killed half of the matchups in the Grand Prix and they also caused matchups during the regular season to be unfair at times because teams were bringing in veteran ringers against younger talent. It'll be interesting to see who will come out of the tryouts.

Now that my analysis has been confirmed by the poor ratings that the Grand Prix produced, my final thought on the IFL's current situation is that the organization doesn't have very much time left. The Grand Prix looked to be a redeeming event, but failed because of injuries, contractual issues, and overall poor refereeing and uneventful fights. There were some highlights, but there weren't enough people watching to care. Add in the fact that IFL's stock is at about .30 cents and dropping, the laundry list of problems with the IFL is becoming increasingly huge. I doubt that a small increase in the number of hours that the IFL GP Final will have broadcast is going to significantly boost the ratings, but I guess we'll see. My prediction is that we won't see the IFL after next season.

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.

I will have to admit, as of late, the International Fight League has become somewhat an interesting mixed martial arts promotion. The IFL finals had many intriguing matchups that have been overlooked by the mainstream media along with the enthusiastic small community of MMA writers. For two years now, the IFL hasn't been what I would like to call the most exciting organization on the map. They have had some lackluster fight cards, but also some very good matchups. Fact is, the IFL doesn't currently have the right television deal or production to showcase some of those fighters. I'm assuming the hard facts are around, and this is what turned up from my hard nosed research. Most of the topics discussed here root from the conference call that was held on September 25th. Many of the developments from that call raised some flags in my mind as to how the IFL will begin to look. There are also some rumors, as well as some exciting propositions I'd like to see happen.

Conference call thoughts

The first topic during the conference call was the absence of any type of live televised event. I was particularly perturbed about the lack of a pay-per-view or live televised broadcast of the entire IFL Finals. The event was produced and done on Thursday, but wasn't televised until Sunday on FSN and Monday on MyNetwork, at least in my area. I would have no problem with that except that the IFL production team, whether it be FSN or MyNetwork who is also involved, managed to jam the entire event into only one hour of solid MMA action. A lot of casual fans would say that they would rather be without the filler. Would you rather be without half the fights? I wouldn't, especially when the fights aren't big names that anybody involved in MMA would recognize. Fact is, far more people would be inclined to check it out live on television than check it out 4 days later.

The test event will be the IFL Grand Prix tournament. They plan to air a single one hour event from the Sears Center in Chicago, IL. This is the biggest MMA event to hit Illinois since the inception of the new MMA sanctioning in Illinois. This is a legitimately good prospect for the IFL. A test event will help get the production correct, and give us a taste as to how the IFL will handle all the things that come along with broadcasting a show. My thoughts are that this is at least in the right direction if they really want to start giving themselves some kind of foothold in the PPV market and live televised events market. PPV is a step away after getting the production down and getting some key names on the card. More on that later.

One of the more interesting fights in the IFL Finals was the Andre Gusmao vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz. Gusmao is only 4-0 in mixed martial arts, but had beaten the veteran Mike Ciesnolevicz before their IFL Finals beatdown. Gusmao ended up winning the rematch via a brutal knee to the nose and head of Ciesnolevicz. Ciesnolevicz is now suspended from fighting due to the 60 day injury suspension because of the knockout. Gusmao will now fight Vladmir Matyushenko in the 1st round of the Grand Prix on November 3rd. This fight is actually something I am much more interested in that a Mike Cieznolevicz vs. Vladmir Matyushenko battle. Gusmao has some serious skill in the Light Heavyweight Division of the IFL. It'll be a very interesting bout considering Matyushenko is one of the better light heavyweights in the world.

Mario Sperry, Brazilian Top Team co-founder, and former Cage Rage light heavyweight champion Ian Freeman were announced as the new coaches for the upcoming IFL season. Otto, the IFL Commissioner, stated that the IFL will continue to field 12 teams, but did not say which teams will be dropped. Also, they are still trying to find a replacement for Shawn Tompkins. If you've been listening to TaggRadio, Frank Trigg offered his services to Bas Rutten while on the show. Could that happen? Bringing in Ian Freeman and Mario Sperry is definitely a great idea. Not only do you gain some international interest from England and Brazil, but you also gain some valuable coaching experience to bring up some of the young talent that the IFL will be bringing in. Mario Sperry is a legend in Brazil. He was actually able to run through every single ju-jitsu tournament he entered without ever having a point scored against him and he gained his black belt in ju-jitsu without ever being scored on. He has beaten nearly every legendary ju-jitsu guy you can think of, including an unbelievable bout with Royler Gracie in which he became the first man ever to make a Gracie submit. Here's a primer for you, he's trained both Nogueira brothers, Paulo Filho, and Ricardo Arona. He will definitely have a huge impact on the ju-jitsu games of his team.

Ian Freeman isn't the most impressive Light Heavyweight fighter, but he holds the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight belt. He is most notably known for his win over the heavy favorite Frank Mir at UFC 38 in London. Although not an impressive acquisition, he is a legend in the British MMA scene. He will be able to bring in some good British MMA talent, and with the UFC holding events in London, maybe we will see more fighters like Paul Taylor and Terry Etim coming out of England.

Other news at the conference call involved the IFL holding tryout to find new talent, the dropping of Antonio McKee from the IFL due to agreeing to fight for another promotion, and also addressing the financial issues of the IFL. McKee's contract issue brought up the fact that the IFL does sign only exclusive contracts.

Network dealings

The IFL currently has a deal with MyNetwork, a conglomerate of the old UPN and WB affiliates. Originally, they aired crappy original soap operas and reality shows that did poorly in the ratings. They switched their format to a SpikeTV clone and now attract young males with action movies and MMA. They are also a sister network to FOX. According to an IFL press release back in January, the IFL has 2 TV network broadcasts working to their advantage. Fox Sports Net, which obviously has rights due to FOX being a sister network and FOX executives run the MyNetworkTV lineups, and MyNetworkTV. So, in reality, the IFL has a deal with FOX. The deal agrees to 22 one hour shows on FSN and 22 two-hour shows on MyNetworkTV.

So, 22 one hour shows on FSN are mostly edited shows of past events all cut up to cram the fights into the one hour slot. That's fine and dandy for the casual MMA fans who want to just see as many fights as they can in an hour, but for many other fans, the prospect of a live two-three hour event entices them even more. The two hour shows on MyNetworkTV are a bit better due to the added production, but they mostly filled that with Ring Girl competitions. A live event on one of these networks would be great, but there is one thing the IFL needs to do to really gets the masses to begin watching, add better talent. Also, myNetworkTV has around 96% market saturation in the States and can be seen in Mexico and Canada. So, it is available nationwide in the U.S. This is actually a great plan for the IFL. They have enabled themselves to be seen throughout the U.S. and get their name known, much like the UFC. Also, it fills voids of no action on regular cable.

I think the one thing the IFL could really do is possibly end their affiliation with myNetworkTV and partner with a major network. This is probably not the best idea right now, but after a successful Grand Prix hopefully, and after another season of the IFL, we may see the IFL become a big player in the U.S. market. Definitely not as big as the UFC, but it will be desired by MMA fans here in the States. My thinking would be to try for sports specials on ABC, NBC, CBS, or another major network. Air a live event on a major network with a team format that people can understand. It wouldn't be a bad idea at all, especially after SpikeTV's huge success with the UFN 11 card and UFC 75 free airing.

IFL's talent

By far, Horodecki is one of the best fighters in the IFL. He's a main attraction based on the fact that he has great standup, good takedown defense, and he makes his fights very exciting in that he is always aggressive and going for the knockout. Matyushenko is the veteran from the old guard in MMA. He's a proven winner and has very good submission skills that can take nearly any fighter out. There are other big names that have the potential to become something great. Heleno and Gusmao are two up and comers to the IFL divisions and could make big impacts at the Grand Prix. There are many other names I could mention, but the main idea here is that the IFL has some talent within their ranks that has the potential to really shine in the upcoming seasons.

What kind of well-known talent can the IFL obtain? There really isn't much out there that they can really get. They've been very good at grabbing up talent to fit into IFL events as Super Fights. Fighters like Ricco Rodriguez, Jens Pulver, and Robbie Lawler, but they do have a host of coaches that have fought in super fights and do lend name recognition to the equation. Guys like Matt Lindland, Renzo Gracie, Pat Miletich, Marco Ruas, and Frank Shamrock along with a host of other coaches and the forementioned new coaches coming in. But new talent is what the IFL is concentrating on. In an interview with 411Mania.com, Otto stated that the IFL has no plans to bring in any big names, but rather that their sole purpose is to build stars. This is probably why they've announced their talent search. I guess we can't expect a top fighter to ever hit the IFL, but with their current lineup, the prospect of the IFL getting bigger is definitely there.

One of the minor rumors is a possible co-promotion with EliteXC. It's purely a rumor at this point, but I found it to be interesting because EliteXC has recently grabbed up a good number of organizations with young talent that could pose some great battles with the young talent of the IFL. Along with the some of the veteran fighters in each organization, there are potentially some great fights there, and it could launch into a pay-per-view event I'd be willing to buy.

What can we expect!

To be honest, I think we can expect good things from the IFL. Not only do they provide a very good mixture of young and up-n-coming fighters, but they also provide some great veteran matchups and names that you have learned to know and love. They have some great coaches who have definitely brought along the young guys, and it shows in the fights toward the end of the year. With a Grand Prix coming up of IFL fighters that U.S. MMA fans actually know of as opposed to some of the K-1 GP cards, it should be an exciting end of the year for the IFL.