PITBULLS VS. RED BEARS INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE MATCHUP DEBUTS ON FRIDAY NIGHT ON FSN
Renzo Gracie’s New Yorkers Battle Expansion Red Bears Squad
NEW YORK, March 28, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and television partner Fox Sports Net present last month’s crowd-pleasing bouts between the Pitbulls, based in New York and coached by Renzo Gracie and the Red Bears, making their inaugural IFL appearance under the tutelage of Russian MMA star Igor Zinoviev. The show debuts across the FSN Regional Networks on Friday, March 30, at 11 p.m. in most markets.
Friday’s show features five bouts, including the charged battle between New York rival heavyweights Bryan Vetell of the Pitbulls and Mo Fowzi of the Red Bears and Brazilian sensation Delson Heleno taking on Red Bears standout Mark Miller in the welterweight division. The event was contested at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in suburban Atlanta.
The upcoming IFL on FSN schedule, with dates and times on each Regional FSN network, can be seen at http://www.ifl.tv/TV-Schedule.html. Viewers can also check their local schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/tv/schedule.
The FSN schedule will continue each Friday, following the order of IFL events in the first third of the regular season. Then on April 13, the battle at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., between the Pitbulls and 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland’s Wolfpack will air on same-night delay at 11 p.m. in most markets.
The 22 hours of original programming scheduled on FSN this year represents nearly 70% more than the 13 hours shown in 2006, when the network aired three hours of coverage of the IFL Legends Championship in May and June and followed up with 10 hours of IFL World Team Championship action, September through December.
The FSN coverage is in addition to the 22, two-hour episodes of “International Fight League Battleground,” seen on over-the-air MyNetworkTV nationwide every Monday (8 p.m. ET/PT).
In all, 66 hours of original IFL programming are scheduled to run on the two networks, which together reach more than 95% of U.S. television households.
The remaining schedule of matchups on each FSN debut date is as follows through April:
April 6, Condors vs. Sabres (Los Angeles, March 17)April 13, Wolfpack vs. Pitbulls (Uncasville, Conn., April 13 same day show)April 20, Anacondas vs. Razorclaws (Los Angeles, March 17)April 27, Dragons vs. Scorpions (Uncasville, April 13 show)
Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing. The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans.
Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15.
About the IFL
International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s first professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York, NY and offices in Las Vegas, NV. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv.
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