What is the International Fight League?

The International Fight League is one of the leagues in a fast growing sport that uses mixed martial arts as it's fighting techniques. But what exactly is mixed martial arts and how did the IFL come into being?

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
Mixed martial Arts is an unarmed combat sport in which combatants use a variety of techniques including the use of kicks, boxing, and striking to name just a few of the techniques fighters use.

Mixed martial arts teams have five fighters on each team and one player from each team fights a player from an opposing team until all players have had a chance to win for their team. Each player is in a weight class very much like boxing.

Weight Classes
Lightweight (146-155 lbs.)
Welterweight (156-170 Lbs.)
Middleweight (171-185 lbs.)
Light Heavyweight (186-205 lbs.)
Heavyweight (206-265 lbs.)

International Fight League (IFL)
Kurt Otto, who was a real estate developer, founded the IFL in 2006 along with Wizard magazine founder Gareb Shamus. Both of these men were avid fans of the sport and with hopes of improving the lives of these fighters; they created the International Fight League giving the men who worked for them better pay and health benefits.

The IFL, since growing in popularity, is rumored to be in direct competition with another MMA organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and lawsuits against each other were initiated with tension remaining on both sides. Paligent Inc. acquired the IFL in August of 2006 and it's estimated worth is about 150 million dollars. In 2007 the IFL made a TV deal with the Fox Sports Network, and MyNetworkTV making it the first mixed martial arts organization to regularly appear on television in the US.

Teams
The IFL consist of twelve teams, which are owned by the league, and each team has a veteran MMA fighter as a coach. The cities they represent are not necessarily where the teams are located or where they train. The list that follows is the teams and coaches for each team.

Los Angeles Anacondas-Shawn Tompkins
Toronto Dragons-Carlos Newton
New York Pittbulls-Renzo Gracie
San Jose Razorclaws-Frank Shamrock
Tokyo Sabres-Ken Yasuda
Quad City Silverbacks-Pat Miletich
Seattle Tiger Sharks-Maurice Smith
Portland Wolfpack-Matt Lindland
Tuscan Scorpions-Don Frye
Southern California Condors-Marco Ruas
Nevada Lions-Ken Shamrock
Chicago Red Bears-Igor Zinoviev

World Team Championships
Four teams with the most wins at the end of the 2007 season will go into the semi-finals of the IFL World Team Championship. Tiebreakers will be determined using a point system as follows:
KO (knockouts) TKO (total knockouts) will be awarded 10 points.
Unanimous Decisions awarded 7 points.
Majority Decisions awarded 5 points.
Split Decision awarded 3 points.

Grand Prix
The Grand Prix of the IFL includes all five-weight classes, and at least one member from each team earns a place in the Grand Prix competition. The winners of the Grand Prix will earn the honor of being named World Team Champions.

It doesn't matter at what level you watch this sport (I don't usually like sports like this) it will capture your attention in a way that's almost mesmerizing; and the IFL is definitely earning It's place in the complex world of MMA fighting and is sure to continue to do so for years to come.