(Firing ring girls is one thing, but experienced executives aren’t just hanging out at the local Hooters.)

It’s no secret that the IFL is in financial trouble, but two recent cuts to the IFL’s operations staff are a sign that the end may be near.

MMA Payout reports that Keith Evans, IFL VP of Operations, and Lisa Faircloth, Director of Events, have both been let go. This is a significant blow to the IFL’s Las Vegas office, which handles the bulk of event operations and includes tasks like signing fighters and organizing live events.

Both Evans and Faircloth are former Zuffa employees. Evans played a role in Zuffa’s initial lawsuit against the IFL, with Zuffa alleging that he gave away trade secrets. While it might be a stretch to say that both are absolutely essential to the IFL’s staff, it isn’t a stretch to say that they are essential to the IFL putting on a strong event any time in the coming months. A VP of Operations isn’t so easily replaced, especially an experienced veteran of the MMA wars like Evans. Faircloth held together much of the Vegas staff, and her departure is said to have other IFL Operations employees sending out resumes as fast as they can print them off.

This could be a sign that the IFL is considering drastically scaling back their live event operations in the near future, if not closing their Las Vegas office altogether. If that’s the case, it makes you wonder what the IFL’s plan is over the long term. It seems as if they may be counting on finding a buyer soon, and are content to wait it out without losing any more money on events in the meantime.

Then again, you know what they call an MMA organization that doesn’t put on fights? A place where you can buy a really cheap six-sided ring.