This right now is a pivotal point in history for the fledgling sport of Mixed Martial Arts. In the past few months we have seen one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s self-proclaimed rivals, the IFL crumble to the ground, with EliteXC looking like it might follow. Both are publicly held companies, and if anything, there are lessons to be found in each one, as every aspect of their business plans are available for us to view. There is still no word if Zuffa has outright purchased the IFL or if they have simply bought out a few fighter contracts and licensed some footage to use for highlights for said fighters. The IFL announced earlier today that they are 35.7 million dollars in the hole, with a grand total of 4 remaining employees right now. It is safe to say that the International Fight League was an interesting approach to capitalizing on the MMA boom, but an untimely failure.
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Its time for another weekly roundtable with the wonderful crew of Total-MMA.com. We try to focus on the upcoming EliteXC event as well as some of the fallout from this past week.

IL: Iain Liddle
JS: Jonathan Snowden
LC: Lee Casebolt
DW: Dave Walsh
CH: Chris Henderson
AC: Alan Conceicao

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Mohegan Sun is a hotel/casino roughly in no man’s land Connecticut, which is about where you would think the US government would throw Native Americans after destroying their culture and killing most of them. It would probably come to the surprise of many decades later that it was a very good place to put a casino that would draw both from New York City and the Boston area. It would also likely surprise those early American empire builders that a sport like MMA could exist and be televised around the world, and that an arena in that same locale would be the center for the sport in New England rather than other similarly sized arenas in Hartford, Bridgeport, Springfield, Worcester, Boston, or Providence. And yet, that’s exactly how its turned out.

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Total MMA mentioned earlier this year that this could be an issue for the IFL . Hope to see him back in the ring soon.

From the IFL:

McGIVERN TO REPLACE KENNEDY IN IFL MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE BOUT AT ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS

Kennedy Called to Military Duty; McGivern To Battle Horwich for 185-lb. Crown; Four Other Bouts Finalized On Eight-Fight Card on Feb. 29

NEW YORK and LAS VEGAS, February 4, 2008 – Miletich Fighting Academy middleweight standout Ryan McGivern (Bettendorf, Iowa), recognized as one of the most improved, up-and-coming athletes in the International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), will fight for the 185-lb. title against current champion Matt “Suave” Horwich (Portland, Ore.), one of three championship matchups at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Friday, February 29. McGivern replaces Tim Kennedy (Fayetteville, N.C.), an active U.S. Military member who has been called into duty.

Four other bouts have also now been finalized on the eight-bout card, including three featuring Xtreme Couture vs. Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center camps. Benji Radach (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) will compete for Xtreme Couture in a middleweight bout against Leopoldo Serao (Brazil), Lew Polley (Coconut Creek, Fla.) will battle Alexandre Ferreira at 205 lbs., and Santino Defranco will take on Rafael Dias in a featherweight contest. The Lions Den’s Pat Healy (St. Louis) will take on Team Quest’s Jake Ellenberger (Omaha, Neb.) in a matchup that may determine a future title bout at 170 lbs. (Team Xtreme Couture’s Jay Hieron of Las Vegas holds the belt at present).

“While it is disappointing to us and to Tim that he will be unable to compete due to his military obligations, we are excited and fortunate that a fighter of Ryan McGivern’s caliber is available to step in,” said Bas Rutten, IFL Vice President, Fighter Operations. “Ryan has been a great success story and his all-around style should make for an entertaining matchup with Matt Horwich.”

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The training discussed in this article is a look at general Army training. I did not talk specifically with Tim Kennedy about his Special Forces training and we did not discuss his tour in Iraq. Opinions expressed are my own and not SSG Kennedy’s or the Army’s.

By Jonathan Snowden

For some fighters going to the resort town of Big Bear, California, for a few weeks before a fight helps toughen them up and get them focused. Army Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy is not that brand of tough. Before the Army Combatives tournament in 2005, Kennedy wasn’t “roughing” it in cabin with his boys, he was completing one of the Army’s most difficult courses. SERE stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. One soldier I know who has been through Ranger and Airborne school and been in combat says it is the hardest thing he’s done in the Army. You start in the woods of Fort Bragg, on your own, with some of the Army’s top Special Forces soldiers trying to track you down. That’s the easy part.

When you are captured, and you will be, you are taken prisoner. Then they will break you however they can. Remember all of the atrocities at the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq? Forced nudity, stress positions, endless physical training, even water boarding? The Army does this to its own soldiers at SERE school to prepare them for the worse case scenario. So, one week before his fights in 2005, the Army tried to break Tim Kennedy. Despite this, he won the tournament. Tim Kennedy is that kind of tough.

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by Tommy Hackett

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It’s a new day for Mario Sperry, the newest coach for the International Fight League.

The two time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion and 13 year veteran of MMA is busy creating not only a new competition team and school, but one in a new home, in a new country, and for a new organization. While plans for his Las Vegas school are being finalized, he’s imparting his wisdom to students at seminars across the US, like yesterday at Marcelo Alonso’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Seattle. The occassion marked Sperry’s fourth visit to the Emerald City to visit his old friend from the Carlson Gracie Team.

“Mario Sperry demonstrates an entry into an armlock at last night’s Seattle seminar”

Working with MMA and BJJ champions like Rodrigo Nogueira and Ricardo Arona may seem like a world apart from conducting a seminar where he may be expected to help introduce the “gentle art” to a new student. But in conversation with Sperry, the two appear to have a surprising amount in common.

“I’ve always believed that jiu-jitsu is a very simple art,” the world champion begins, taking a break as the seminar breaks between its gi and no-gi instruction.
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A late Holiday gift for you all! You didn’t think we had forgotten you? Inside this FREE pdf we’ll talk with Chris Horodecki prior to his fight this weekend for the IFL, look at the Fight of the Year for 2007, play the latest MMA video game, and do a little post Christmas shopping. Plus the world famous TOM Gentleman rankings go 70 deep this week!

Issue 8 (Right Click to Download)