INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE ANNOUNCES NEXT TWO EVENTS IN PORTLAND, OREGON AND MOLINE, ILLINOIS FEATURING TWO SPECIAL SUPER FIGHTS
Tickets on Sale June 26 For World Team Championship Event on September 23 With MMA Legends and IFL Coaches Renzo Gracie and Pat Miletich Squaring Off at The MARK of the Quad Cities
New York City – June 22, 2006 – The world’s first team-based mixed martial arts organization, International Fight League™ (IFL), has announced its next two events to take place on September 9 and September 23 in Portland, Ore. and Moline, Ill. respectively. Tickets for the World Team Championship on September 23 will go on sale June 26, 10:00am, at The MARK of the Quad Cities pitting Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls vs. Pat Miletich’s Quad City Silverbacks. The evening’s stellar card 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 will retail from $28.50 – $148.50 and will be available at all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at (563) 326-1111, and The MARK of the Quad Cities Box Office.
Tickets for the World Team Championship on September 9 at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum, will go on sale Saturday, July 1 The evening’s lineup will feature the world premiere of MMA legends, Matt “The Law” Lindland’s Portland Wolf Pack and Antonio Inoki’s Tokyo Sabres. The teams will face off against the Seattle Tiger Sharks and Los Angeles Anacondas respectively. In addition to the team bouts, the World Team Championship on September 9 will also feature a legendary super fight that will be announced soon.
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 over 1.3 million viewers. The televised shows were produced and directed by 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.
“Mixed-martial-arts is the new frontier in fight-related sports,” said The Mark at the Quad Cities spokesperson Scott Mullen.” We are thrilled to be having the world class fighters of the IFL at our arena right in the Silverbacks backyard.”
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.
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