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.