TICKETS GO ON SALE JULY 1 FOR INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE’S FIRST EVENT IN PORTLAND, OREGON ON SEPTEMBER 9
World Team Championship Event at the Rose Quarter Will Debut Matt Lindland’s Portland Wolf Pack vs. Maurice Smith’s Seattle Tigersharks
New York City – June 28, 2006 – Mixed martial arts fans in the Northwest are eagerly anticipating the International Fight League™’s (IFL) debut on Saturday, September 9 at the Memorial Coliseum arena at the Rose Quarter in Portland, Oregon. Tickets for the World Team Championship will go on sale July 1 at 10:00am. The event will feature four teams competing: Matt Lindland’s Portland Wolfpack vs. Maurice Smith’s Seattle Tigersharks and Bas Rutten’s Los Angeles Anacondas vs. Antonio Inoki’s Tokyo Sabres. Inoki, an icon in Japanese professional wrestling, celebrated the 30th anniversary of his historic 1976 fight with Muhammed Ali on June 26, 2006. Portland’s event will also include a to-be-announced super fight. Tickets will retail from $28 – $148 and will be available at the Rose Quarter Box Office, all participating Safeway ocations, by phone at 877.789.ROSE (7673) or online at RoseQuarter.com.
Coaching the Wolf Pack will be Portland’s own Olympic Silver Medalist, Ultimate Fighting hampionship (UFC) star and local Sportfight promoter, Matt “The Law” Lindland. Lindland won the Silver Medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Greco Roman Wrestling and a World Silver Medal in 2001.
Tickets for the World Team Championship at The MARK of the Quad Cities on September 23 went on sale June 26, 10:00am. That night’s card features Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls vs. Pat Miletich’s Quad City Silverbacks. The evening will be rounded out with a special Super Fight between Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master/Pitbulls coach Gracie and local legend/Silverbacks coach Miletich. Full team rosters to be announced. Tickets retail from $28.50 – $148.50 and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at (563) 326-1111, and The MARK of the Quad Cities Box Office.
After two successful events in April and June at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, the IFL is off to an impressive start, with Miletich’s Silverbacks winning the inaugural season championship. The league scored high ratings on its Fox Sports Net broadcasts reaching two million viewers. The televised shows were produced by nine-time Emmy award-winning producer Peter Lasser, who has worked on several Olympic telecasts as well as with ESPN, NBC Sports, NFL Films and FSN, among others. Other exciting news includes the announcement of four additional teams to the IFL, taken the league up to eight teams.
Officially announced in January 2006, the International Fight League is the brainchild of Kurt Otto and Gareb Shamus. The avid, business-minded executives have created a stir by introducing the team-based league and a more regulated approach to the aggressive sport. The team concept, which truly sets the IFL apart from other MMA organizations, mirrors national sports leagues such as the NFL and NBA and allows MMA, the combination of jiu-jitsu, karate, judo, kick-boxing, wrestling, and boxing to reach a broader audience.
Currently, eight teams comprise the International Fight League: Quad City Silverbacks, Los Angeles Anacondas, New York Pitbulls, Seattle Tigersharks, Portland Wolf Pack, Toronto Dragons, Tokyo Sabres and Columbus Razorclaws. Teams will represent numerous regions of the world, as well as the various disciplines currently highlighted in the sport. Each team will consist of a lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
About the International Fight League: Founded in 2005, Gareb Shamus, founder and chairman of the comics empire Wizard Entertainment Group, and Kurt Otto, a highly successful New Jersey real estate investor and a life-long martial arts participant, the International Fight League™ (IFL) and Pure Sport™ were created to establish a centralized and structured organization that brings the power and influence of the mixed martial arts industry together. Currently, eight teams comprise the IFL: Quad City Silverbacks, Los Angeles Anacondas, New York Pitbulls, Seattle Tigersharks, Portland Wolf Pack, Toronto Dragons, Tokyo Sabres and Columbus Razorclaws. For more information and action, go to www.IFL.tv