(Photo via the Justin Levens Remembrance Album on CombatLifestyle.com / Props to Deadspin‘s brilliant “Dead Wrestler of the Week” feature for the inspiration.)

By Ben Goldstein

All murder-suicides are shocking. Not all of them are entirely surprising.

On December 17th, 2008, UFC/WEC veteran Justin Levens and his wife Sara McLean-Levens were found dead inside their condominium in Laguna Niguel, California, both from gunshot wounds. Initial evidence suggested that Justin was the shooter. “It was a chest wound that penetrated her heart and killed her, and his was to the head,” said O. C. Sheriff Coroner’s Office spokesman Jim Amormino.

Amormino confirmed that painkillers and anti-depressants were discovered in the Levens’s home, along with the handgun Justin allegedly used to end their lives. Police had visited Justin and Sara at least twice in the previous month, once to investigate a possible drug overdose.

At the time of his death, Justin Levens was 28 years old and hadn’t won an MMA match in over two years. He’d gone 0-5 in 2007 — an agonizing year in which his close friend and IFL teammate Jeremy Williams committed suicide, also by shooting himself — and was dealt a six-month suspension by the California State Athletic Commission in July 2008 when a pre-fight drug test came back off-the-charts for the painkiller Oxymorphone. For the last five months of his life, Levens was unable to earn a living as a fighter, and fell deeper into a spiral of depression and prescription drug use.

Justin didn’t leave a suicide note. There were no signs of a struggle. He and Sara had already been dead for four days when their bodies were discovered.

It takes a special kind of cojones to stare down permanent injury and say "Eff it, I ain’t tappin’." Inspired by the DVD we’ve been plugging lately, we decided to pay tribute to the technical submission — that thrilling moment when a fighter is caught in a health-threatening submission hold, but is too stupid much of a warrior to concede defeat, so the referee has to do it for him. Because as a wise man once said, "Tapping out is for bitches." Enjoy…

***

#8: Daniel Gracie vs. Wes Sims
IFL Championships 2006, 6/3/06

After their first chaotic mess of a bout was ruled a “Technical Draw,” Gracie and Sims met again in the IFL for another technical ending.  Though Sims has always had a hazy understanding of the rules in any given MMA bout, he got taken down too quickly to launch any illegal stomps in this one, and had to settle for giving up his back and then trying to grab on to the ropes (thankfully Stephen Quadros reminds him that he can’t do that) as Gracie stayed on him like a backpack and choked him unconscious.  There’s nothing quite like seeing a 6’10” guy drop to the canvas like somebody just pulled his plug.  Sleep well, buddy.

#7. Frank Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni
Strikeforce/EliteXC: Shamrock vs. Baroni, 6/22/07

(Choke starts at the 8:35 mark.)

Thanks to Shammy’s pioneering work in video trash talk, this fight was epic before it even began. Strikeforce’s first middleweight title fight paired two loud-mouthed badasses who would never admit defeat — but unfortunately, there could be only one champion. After battering the NYBA with punches for almost two full rounds, Shamrock took Baroni’s back, wrapped an arm around his neck, and squeezed. While most men would tap to the hold, Baroni went out like a warrior, throwing punches into Frank’s mug until he lost consciousness. Shamrock celebrated his win by shoving Baroni’s lifeless body then kicking him in the ass, proving that he wasn’t just the better fighter that night, he was also the bigger asshole.

(These fond memories now belong to HDNet.)

In an apparent attempt to bolster their MMA content, HDNet has purchased the IFL’s remains for $650,000. The purchase includes the IFL’s video library, their brand name, intellectual property, as well as some of their liabilities. Since the IFL hasn’t put on a show since May, and since much of their 2008 season was broadcast on HDNet anyway, the question we have to ask regarding this purchase is, now what?

Not that the IFL didn’t put on some good fights, but how much is old fight footage really worth? With the exception of the really good bouts, watching old fights can be a lot like watching old college football games on ESPN Classic, which is to say it appeals to a very select audience, mostly the unemployed and the very, very drunk, either of whom are likely to think they’re watching live TV.

But HDNet seems too savvy to pay that much for a bunch of old fights that have already been aired on Fox Sports Net and MyNetwork, not to mention spread around the internet. So what do you have up your sleeve, HDNet? Don’t tell me you paid more than half a million dollars just to air Chris Horodecki highlights in between old episodes of Hogan’s Heroes. All right, I admit I’d watch that.

After battling a series of bizarre and career-threatening injuries, Benji Radach ran up an impressive winning streak in the IFL. He beat mostly mid-level fighters like Ryan McGivern and Gerald Harris, but he did it convincingly and in exciting fashion. Then he got TKO’d by Matt Horwich in his last fight. Apparently that was enough for the UFC to decide to pass on him when it came time to bid on IFL free agents after the company’s collapse. In an interview with Sam Caplan, Radach can’t seem to make sense of why MMA’s biggest organization wouldn’t want to sign a guy who’s coming of a loss and has a history of injuries:

“The UFC actually never pursued anything. I actually gave them the option at first (to negotiate) by letting them know I was interested in fighting for the UFC again. But they said I needed to win a fight before I could be a part of the UFC. That really was kind of retarded from my point of view. If there’s a good fighter out there, then you want to grab that good fighter. It doesn’t make a difference if he goes out there and beats a nobody and then gets a win and comes back in. It’s just really stupid. Why is it important that I go out and smash somebody just to get a win rather than fight a top guy in your organization?”

On one hand, Radach has a point. He could go to one of the smaller shows and knock out a guy no one has ever heard of, and it wouldn’t prove anything (aside from perhaps silencing lingering doubts as to his durability). On the other hand, if you want to fight for the UFC, why not go ahead and do that?

(Remember the good times. Photo courtesy of DayLife.com.)

Despite a less-than-attractive sales pitch, it seems like the bankrupt IFL has found a sucker to buy its kinda worthless video library. From biz.yahoo.com via Fightlinker:

On September 19, 2008, IFLC filed with the Court a motion for orders (a) authorizing IFLC to sell all or substantially all of its assets to HDNet LLC (“HDNet”), subject to higher and better offers, (b) approving bid procedures, (c) scheduling auction and sale hearing and (d) granting related relief (the “Sale Motion”). In connection with the Sale Motion, on September 19, 2008, IFLC and HDNet entered into an asset purchase agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”), which contemplates the sale of substantially all of IFLC’s assets (the “Purchased Asset”) to HDNet for total consideration of $650,000 in cash and the assumption by HDNet of certain liabilities of IFLC. The Asset Purchase Agreement is subject to higher and better offers as set forth in the Sale Motion…

A hearing to consider the Sale Motion is scheduled for October 10, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. (prevailing Eastern time).

$650,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to the IFL’s total losses, but it’ll be enough for Jay Larkin & Co. to pay the lawyers, fly somewhere tropical, and lay low for a while. It’s hard to imagine they’ll get any “higher and better offers,” which means HDNet is about to add another peg to its MMA broadcast kingdom. Sweet — does this mean an “Ultimate Roy Nelson” HDNet special is on the way?

Semi-related: HDNet’s broadcasts of DREAM events have been great for American insomniac MMA fans, but unless DREAM gets its ratings up in its own country, they could be heading for an IFL-style extinction. As MMA Mania reports:

DREAM has underperformed in all three of its contracted four television events, prompting FEG’s Sadaharu Tanikawahas to consider dissolving the company if they eventually lose their television contract. With their inability to hit their target numbers, it almost seems like a foregone conclusion…

FEG had plans to hold its fourth televised event on New Year’s Eve. If you’re a fan, I suggest finding a way to watch it. It could be the last time you see mixed martial arts in Japan.

Renzo Gracie Legacy Trailer – Watch more free videos

This is a preview of an upcoming documentary about Renzo Gracie, which I admit I am very eager to see. MMA Payout has an interesting interview with the director of “Renzo Gracie: Legacy” and in it you can hear how Gracie’s charisma and magnetism convinced him that a film needed to be made about this man.

Having been around Gracie a good deal during my IFL days, I can certainly relate. And because some of you have claimed an interest in wanting to read some of these IFL tales, I figured Gracie was as good a place as any to start.

(Make an offer, but ring announcer Tim Hughes comes as part of the set.)

Even though the IFL has filed for bankruptcy and their best fighters have all signed on with other organizations, they are apparently still looking for a buyer who wants their video library badly enough to pay for it. Jay Larkin told Sherdog that when the UFC used some of their footage to hype former IFL fighters who had signed on with Zuffa, it wasn’t because the UFC had paid for the video, it was because the IFL was just “helping out.” It’s the least they could do, after all the help the UFC did for them.

But check Jay Larkin’s sales pitch when it comes to the IFL:

“You don’t always know what you got till it’s gone. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned,” said Larkin, a longtime boxing programming executive with Showtime. “One of the things I tried to do was do it in a more professional manner. The bottom line is, I feel MMA is a one-organization industry. I think UFC has done a spectacular job of branding, and UFC has become synonymous with MMA. And there’s a couple of hangers-on now. Wall Street’s having a hard time right now. I’d like to see MMA flourish but I’m very skeptical.”

In other words, please buy this stuff, but if you’re anyone other than the UFC, you’ll just be wasting your money.

I once went to Sears to buy a power drill and the stoned college kid working there responded to every one of my questions about various drills by telling me all the bad things about them, finally concluding that the one they had on sale “just generally kind of sucks.” I did not buy a drill that day. As sales strategies go, pessimism and ennui rank somewhere near the bottom. Larkin would do well to keep that in mind.

(Just level with me here: does this mean no Hex?)

Well, it’s finally happened. The IFL has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Something tells me a government bailout isn’t coming any time soon. Anyone want to buy a Quad Cities Silverbacks t-shirt? It’s a collectible. Seriously, I’ve got about seven of them. I’m entertaining all offers, including interesting trades. Seems to me like we wouldn’t be in this financial mess to begin with if we hadn’t abandoned the barter system.

As a former employee of the IFL, it’s possible that I’m the only one who cares about this news. It’s also possible that the ones who are really to blame here are the fans. In other words, you. The fans the IFL didn’t have. If you didn’t love gay foreplay so much, the IFL might be thriving and AIG would still be financially viable. You just won’t be happy until you destroy everything, will you?

In a last gasp of IFL news, Lithuanian lightweight Deividas Taurosevicius has signed with Affliction, joining other IFL refugees like Roy Nelson, Chris Horodecki, and Jay Hieron. Hope they can box.

Because we may never again have cause to mention the IFL, I’ll leave you with this.

Former IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has reportedly verbally agreed to face Drew Fickett at the next Affliction event in Las Vegas on October 11. The real question is, will Fickett find some clever new way to screw it up? Fickett’s manager, Alexander Oxendine, seems open to that possibility:

“We’re in discussion with a few organizations and Affliction is one of them,” said Oxendine. “They are at the top of our list. As far as Drew is concerned, he’s made a great turnaround with his life and training. He is ready to move forward.”

If you don’t know, Fickett is the same guy who managed to get himself fired from MFC and booted off a Strikeforce card in one glorious weekend when he tried to breach his contract in the apparent hopes that no one would figure it out. They did, chaos ensued, and Fickett went on to lose via questionable stoppage in a Rage in the Cage event.

So now one of MMA’s favorite troublemakers is being offered a spot in Affliction against one of the tougher welterweights outside of the UFC, and he’s not sure if he wants to take it? Affliction should not only be at the top of his list, it should be the entire list. He should run down there and sign the contract in his own blood before they have a chance to change their minds. Let’s hope this is just a negotiating ploy by his agent. If Fickett ends up turning this down to fight in some small show at a fairground somewhere, we’ll know it’s time for new management. No, not Mark Dion, either.

Perhaps the most talented of the unsigned IFL fighters out there — featherweight champ Wagnney Fabiano — may have finally found a new home. Tatame reports that the Brazilian has signed with the WEC, supposedly to fight in the bantamweight division. That already seems a little fishy, and then you add in this garbled quote from Fabiano that mentions WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber, and it seems like there might be a slight mistranslation problem:

“My objectives is to grown in the event and get the title. Let’s start with a tough and focused work. It won’t chance anything in my life, I’m always serious and go to any event to win. My goal is to fight for the belt and do my best”, said the athlete, that analyzed the champion, Urijah Faber.

“Faber is the best of the world now. To beat him, I think you have to be in a good shape. He’s an expert fighter and he has a good gas, it’s complicated to beat a guy like him. You have to set a good game plan and be calm and watch the elbows, because if you hits you can change a whole fight.”

Well, I’m officially confused. Either Fabiano is planning to drop down to 135 pounds and the remarks about Faber were just for kicks, or Tatame has it wrong and he’s really signing on as a featherweight. With the WEC hurting for challengers to Faber’s throne, the latter seems more likely.

- In other news, MMA Rated reports that the KJ Noons-Nick Diaz bout that Elite XC had hoped to add to their October 4 event on CBS is now officially off. Elite XC VP Jared Shaw said the organization was unable to come to terms with Noons’ agent, Mark Dion, and added that throughout the entire process no one from Elite XC was able to personally speak with Noons. Shaw said they wouldn’t be stripping Noons of the lightweight title just yet, but expressed hope that he would “wake up and smell the Hawaiian coffee.” That’s the kind of remark that should convince him to come around.

(Is Jay Hieron the latest IFL refugee to be rescued by Affliction?)

Some more news and rumors emerging about Affliction’s October 11th show in Las Vegas…

— Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell’s agent Monte Cox has informed Five Ounces of Pain that the two Miletich big boys are unlikely to be added to “Day of Reckoning,” though they could be part of Affliction’s third event.

— According to Tom Atencio, Aleksander Emelianenko “still faces licensing problems” and will not fight at “Day of Reckoning.” Said the CSAC’s Bill Douglas: “The one thing that I can absolutely say is that he (Emelianenko) was not and will not be cleared to fight in California. He is officially denied a license and that will stand for all of the United States of America.” The reason for Emelianenko’s rejection is still unclear, though he and his camp continue to refute reports that he tested positive for Hepatitis B before “Banned.”

— According to MMA Junkie, the middleweight bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort that was slated for “Day of Reckoning” could be scratched due to a hand injury suffered by Belfort. No word yet on who might replace him on the card against Lindland.

— And finally, some good news: Junkie also reports that IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has been approached by Affliction and is expected to compete at their October event against an opponent to be determined later. If this is true, Hieron would be the third reigning IFL champion that Affliction has picked up, after Roy Nelson and Vladimir Matyushenko. Of the remaining three, middleweight champ Dan Miller signed with the UFC, Ryan Schultz is heading to Japan to be a part of Sengoku’s lightweight GP, and featherweight champ Wagnney Fabiano is apparently still weighing his options.

(‘Who has the nachos? Don’t act like I don’t know nachos when I smell ‘em!’)

After reports that Zuffa was buying the video library and at least some of the IFL’s fighter contracts, we kept expecting the flood of stories about all the ex-IFL’ers making the jump to either the UFC or WEC. So far news has been relatively light on that front, but it looks like Affliction has swooped in to pick off a couple of top prospects for themselves.

MMANews.com reports that Roy Nelson will face Xtreme Couture’s Jay White at Affliction: DoR (the abbreviations have already begun, deal with it) in October. Nelson was the IFL’s only official heavyweight champ, and White is…2-5. Wonder which of these guys is being groomed for a big future in the stacked Affliction heavyweight division?

Meanwhile, Sherdog is passing along info that a rematch with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been offered to IFL light heavyweight champ Vladimir Matyushenko. Vladdy beat Little Nog via decision in 2002, and he never faced much of a test during his unbeaten run in the IFL. Matyushenko would make an excellent addition to the growing 205-pound ranks in Affliction, which should soon include Tito Ortiz, who Matyushenko lost a decision to in 2001.

In other news…

- Fightlinker has enlisted the services of Matthew Polly — author of this hilarious and highly recommended book — to review several of the MMA “memoirs” that have hit the shelves in recent months. Polly does to their sense of narrative and craft (and their ghostwriters’ sense of exactly how much work they’d have to do to get paid) what these same fighters would likely do to the face of anyone who uses words like narrative and craft. Fun times. Check out his review of “Iceman: My Fighting Life” and you’ll see what we mean.

- Ever wondered how rich Dana White really is? Well, rich. But Wall Street Fighter tries to nail down a solid figure. It’s actually harder than it sounds, although their photoshop of the UFC Prez is just adorable.

(Dan Miller. Kneebar. Get some.)

When news dropped that the UFC was indeed buying the IFL’s video library and some fighter contracts, the logical next question was, which contracts? Surely the champs were a good bet, but what of Wojtek Kaszowski? While Wojtek might have missed the boat, the dynamic brotherly duo of Dan and Jim Miller are on their way to the big show.

The two have signed with the UFC, making them two of the biggest prospects yet to make the leap. Dan Miller won the IFL’s middleweight title with a submission victory over Ryan McGivern in May, but the company went in the tank before he could defend it.

Jim Miller, a promising lightweight, debuted with a decision victory over Bart Palaszewski and has since been waiting in the wings for another fight. Of course it’s been crowded in those IFL wings of late.

Check out clips of both of them in action after the jump, including an insane guillotine choke by Dan. Also enjoy the journey into the IFL’s yesteryear with all the fun “Battleground” features, like ringside correspondent/obligatory hot chick Tiffany Fallon. Wonder if the UFC bought the entire video library, including the IFL coaches rap song. We can only hope.

(Metaphorically speaking.)

Fighters.com is reporting that Zuffa (the parent company of the UFC and WEC) has acquired certain assets of the International Fight League, including the IFL’s video library and fighter contracts:

The deal is similar to the buyout of the World Fighting Alliance in 2006 and allows Zuffa to get its hands on the valuable IFL video library and fighters without assuming the failed company’s debt…

[T]he anonymous former IFL fighters who’ve confirmed to Fighters.com that they’ve been notified of the acquisition of their contract by Zuffa, LLC have also confirmed that their contractual obligations are now to Zuffa, LLC according to their respective managements and legal counsels.

Observant MMA fans noticed that the UFC was using IFL footage to introduce several of the new fighters during Saturday’s “Silva vs. Irvin” broadcast on SpikeTV, and that commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg made several references to the defunct fight league — a practice that was previously verboten. And it seems that the more financially clever of these observant MMA fans made the connection and started buying up the IFL’s stock.

Obviously, those fighter contracts are the only things worth salvaging from Jay Larkin’s Death Ship. Reigning featherweight champ Wagnney Fabiano would be perfect for Urijah Faber’s next WEC title defense (assuming he walks through Mike Brown in September, which he will), Chris Horodecki and Ryan Schultz could help energize the WEC’s ho-hum lightweight division, and Roy Nelson would bring some big-bellied jolliness to the UFC’s malnourished heavyweight roster. And as we saw on Saturday, even the IFL’s lesser-known guys are often good for a highlight-reel head-kick knockout, or a comeback fight for Brandon Vera. If the UFC can steal the IFL’s ring girl contracts as well, it’ll be a total success.

(Props: MMA Training)

(It ain’t personal, baby. It’s strictly business.)

Despite Dana White’s love of criticizing every aspect of the IFL and citing them as a cautionary tale for MMA startups, it seems fighter contracts and an extensive video library are just too attractive for him to pass up. According to a report on MMA Payout, Zuffa is very close to buying the IFL.

The deal isn’t finalized, says Sam Caplan, but this is the most credible report thus far regarding the potential purchase of the IFL. The company was said to be on the market for around $1 million, but the UFC is believed to be getting it for less than that. Sources within the IFL could only confirm for us that the talks have been under way for some time now and the UFC is the leading suitor.

In case you’re wondering why the UFC would buy the company they spent so much time badmouthing, a clue could lie within Saturday’s “Silva vs. Irvin” fight card. The event features three former IFL fighters — Reese Andy, Rory Markham, and Brad Blackburn — whose entry into the Octagon was hastened by the UFC’s decision to put together an event to rival Affliction’s.

The UFC may be hoping to pick up some of the IFL’s better known stars, along with the video library to help promote them, in order to shore up their fighter roster before the likes of Jay Hieron, Chris Horodecki, Ryan Schultz, Jim Miller, and Roy Nelson (to name just a few) get snapped up by competitors like Affliction and Elite XC.

You know what the best part of this video is? It isn’t hearing IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron do his best not to bash the IFL even though they canceled his next fight and yet aren’t allowing him to take another, though that is uncomfortable watch.

No, the best part is at the 1:54 mark when MMA Rated’s Ariel Helwani informs him of Jay Larkin’s comments comparing ground fighting to “gay foreplay”. The look on Hieron’s face at that moment, it’s priceless. He also goes on to say that he’s never met Larkin, which seems odd.

Hieron seems to be taking the whole IFL cancellation in stride, though I have to say I might be slightly more pissed off if my employer was keeping me from making a living. They aren’t giving him a fight in August, and also aren’t allowing him to look for other fights until after August. So basically they’re telling him to take the summer off, and if he doesn’t want to, then they’re forcing him to take the summer off. Nice.

Nothing like hanging out in fighter purgatory to make you wonder what happened to that organization that was supposed to be taking great care of their fighters.

(Quit it, you homos!)

IFL CEO Jay Larkin is no stranger to making crybaby speeches when things aren’t going so well. But with the IFL canceling events until further notice, and with its publicly traded stock currently hovering at two fucking pennies (down from $17 per share in January 2007), it’s not going to get much worse than this, business-wise. Larkin knows it, which gives him the freedom to say whatever pops into his head, no matter how gross it makes him look.

Business magazine Portfolio just published a profile on IFL’s current tailspin, in which it revealed that the company is now on the auction block for a cool million. Here’s the third paragraph, which follows a description of a recent IFL fight, written in wildly purple prose:

Jay Larkin surveys the inaction with a weary, seen-it-all expression. “This isn’t my idea of fighting,” he says of the world’s fastest-growing spectator sport. “To me, two guys rolling around on the floor is tedious, like watching gay foreplay.”

Wow. And this guy runs an MMA league? He sounds like your average message-board troll. Later, presumably after a few more whisky-sodas, Larkin drops another gem:

As many of you are probably unaware, there’s an IFL event going down tonight in Uncasville, CT, which will feature Roy Nelson defending his heavyweight title against Brad Imes, and Ryan Schultz defending his lightweight belt against Deividas Taurosevicius. (You can watch the action live on HDNet beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.) And here’s something you might not know about the IFL: They require all their fighters to get shitty tattoos on their shoulders. Honestly — the photos from the weigh-ins prove it. My favorite is Matt Horwich‘s (above left), which is a screaming pencil with musical notes coming out of its eraser. More insane ink after the jump.

(The inspiration for the IFL’s new ring design.)

This morning we got a spam e-mail from the IFL imploring us to buy presale tickets to “IFL Summer Throwdown,” which goes down August 15th at the IZOD Center in the Meadowlands, New Jersey. And just as we were about to hit the delete button, we saw this at the bottom:

The night will also feature the world debut of “The HEX,” the IFL’s brand new six-sided ring. This is the future fighting surface for all of MMA. To introduce this new era in fighting, the IFL Summer Throwdown fight card will present the most explosive Mixed Martial Arts action the East Coast has ever seen!

Ho. Lee. Shit.

Merriam-Webster defines “hex” as a “jinx” (in its noun form), or “to affect as if by an evil spell” (in its verb form), which is astoundingly appropriate considering how cursed the IFL is. This is their response to public disinterest? A six-sided ring!? As we saw last week, IFL CEO Jay Larkin believes that since MMA fans haven’t taken to their events, we all must be Affliction-wearing, Xyience-swilling jokers who care more about light shows and dancing girls than high-level mixed martial arts competition. (The rebuttal to that misguided viewpoint is long and complex, and is expressed in the analysis and comments in the original post.)

So, my first thought was wow, what an idiot. Doesn’t Larkin know that gimmicky ring surfaces are the tool of the desperate and creatively bereft? American MMA fans don’t respond well to the ring, so the answer is to give them a different, more fucked-up ring? Really?

But now I’m starting to think that the “HEX” is Larkin’s final “Kiss My Ass” to all of us.

From 411Mania via BloodyElbow. Behold, the lament of a broken man:

“The question it all comes down to for me is, is there a market for MMA? Now coming from the boxing world, when I first saw MMA I didn’t like it. I didn’t enjoy watching it. I found it boring and when it wasn’t boring I found it grotesque. Now what I had to do was learn about it. I had to learn more. I had to learn the moves, the players, the disciplines and the different camps and what they meant. The more I learned about it the more I found I enjoyed it and the more I could appreciate the strategies and I have found that for the most part, the fan base out there doesn’t have a clue. Not a clue what they’re seeing, not a clue what they’re watching and therefore they’re almost uniformly attracted to the UFC light show. The dancing girls, the music, the UFC brand and the spectacular job the UFC’s done in creating that brand…

I sincerely question whether or not there is a market place for legitimate MMA outside of the UFC. Now if you look at the card we had at the IZOD center that was spectacular. That was as good as MMA fighting ever gets and it didn’t make a blip on the radar screen. It was difficult selling tickets, the Monday morning reviews of the event were the fights were spectacular but the place wasn’t very full. What does one do to grow the audience? What does one do to sell tickets besides putting on the best show you could possibly put on? And when you put that show on and you still can’t sell tickets well then you have to ask yourself does the public want this? Do they really want fights? Do they want mixed martial arts? Do they want competition at the highest level of the sport? Or do they want to run around wearing their Affliction t-shirts and swigging Xyience. What is this really about? Is there really a fan base for this or is it a cult? And I’ll tell you, as truthfully as I can, I don’t know the answer.”

— Jay Larkin, CEO of the International Fight League

Well, first off, contempt for the audience will get you nowhere — and I’m not sure that the IFL’s fanbase has a smaller percentage of Affliction-wearing, Xyience-swilling meatheads than the UFC’s. Larkin may eventually be proven correct that there’s no mainstream market for MMA outside of the UFC, but I don’t think the failure of the IFL should be held up as proof of his thesis. I can’t speak for the general public, but as an MMA fan, I’ve been excited about recent fights held in the WEC, Strikeforce, EliteXC, and DREAM in a way that I’ve never really felt for matches held in the IFL. I get the sense that a lot of other MMA fans feel the same way, and for me, the reason is because the IFL never succeeded in promoting and building individual stars. EliteXC is Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano. WEC is Urijah Faber. Strikeforce is Frank Shamrock and Cung Le. The IFL, on the other hand, is a questionable camp system where no single fighter is given more attention then his legendary coach. Larkin seems to think that solid matchups between up-and-comers should have been enough to make his league marketable. Am I a fake MMA fan for thinking that personalities create interest, not just talent?

— Ben Goldstein

(The Fertitta brothers, preparing to order something expensive.)

The poor get poorer while the rich land on the cover of Forbes: Financial stability was a recurring theme in MMA this week, as two prominent leagues face death while another cemented its place at the top. First the bad news…

— The IFL filed their 10k SEC report on Tuesday, and things are looking grim. Since the league was founded in January 2006, it has suffered losses of $31 million. Last year’s revenues weren’t nearly enough the make up for the $15.9 million it spent on events; notably, the IFL only took in $498,000 in sponsorship revenue and $117,544 in branded merchandise sales in 2007. At this rate, the company won’t be able to survive past the third quarter of the 2008 fiscal year, and due to their continued losses, the IFL’s auditors have included a paragraph in their financial statements questioning their financial viability, which will make it even harder for the IFL to secure the additional financing it needs to sustain operations. As the report says, “If revenues grow slower than we anticipate, or if operating expenses exceed our expectations or cannot be adjusted accordingly, we may not achieve profitability and the value of your investment could decline significantly.”

— An earlier rumor that BodogFight was near death gained more traction yesterday with MMAWeekly’s report that the Bodog subsidiary may be ceasing operations next week. The company lost a reported $38 million in 2007, and hasn’t announced any more events since it sponsored a Las Vegas Tuff-N-Uff show in February. From the article:

Asked if the company was folding, one executive who declined to be named told MMAWeekly.com, “I can neither confirm or deny that.”

When asked what Bodog Fight was currently working on, the executive responded, “I’m sitting in an empty office.”

Of course, in the land of the Octagon, it’s all champagne and caviar…

Wagnney Fabiano defended his featherweight belt in shocking fashion at Friday night’s IFL event, first blasting out Shad Lierley’s legs with a low kick, then knocking him into last week with an overhand right. The knockout was only his second KO in 11 pro fights; Fabiano won his last five via submission. Action starts at the vid’s 1:40 mark.

(“The Janitor” cleaned “The Suit” at the IFL’s Jersey joint.)

Three titles were on the line at last night’s IFL event in East Rutherford, New Jersey and Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko, Wagnney Fabiano, and Jay “The Thorobred” Hieron all successfully defended their titles in front of 5,131 fans at the Izod Center. Matyushenko seemed to be in for quite a fight when his opponent, local boy Jamal “The Suit” Patterson, had a strong showing in the opening frame. The second was a different story, however, and the champ ended the fight with a series of blows for a TKO win with 30 seconds left in the round to raise his record to 21-3.

In Fabiano’s fight, the champion KO’d Seattle fighter Shad Lierley just 37 ticks into the fight, which was somewhat unexpected due to Fabiano’s love for taking it to the ground early. The other championship fight also ended in the first, with Jay Hieron dominating Mark Miller. The fighter picked up a TKO after a vicious GnP of his Chicago challenger.

The camp match-ups pitted Miletich Fighting Systems versus American Top Team and Midwest Combat versus Renzo Gracie Academy. Featherweight LC Davis of KC, got a win for Miletich when he KO’d Rafael Dias in the Brazilian’s second fight for the IFL. The fight was an exciting one throughout and Davis just managed to get the KO with seconds left in the bout. ATT got a win when welterweight Emyr Bussade got a second-round kneebar sub over Jesse Lennox. The deciding fight ended up being a non-decisive one when it was ruled a no contest. It was a light heavy match-up featuring two Pennsylvania fighters, Carmelo Marrero and Mike Ciesnolevicz. The no contest came about when Marrero received a cut on his head from an inadvertent head-butt and the gushing wouldn’t stop. Where’s “Stitch” when you need him?

(Undefeated light-heavyweight Jared Hamman looks to make it 10 in a row tomorrow night. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Just a quick reminder that the IFL has their latest untitled event tonight at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey; it will air live on HDNet starting at 8:30 p.m. ET, so set your DVRs post-haste. Champions Jay Hieron (welterweight), Wagnney Fabiano (featherweight), and Vladimir Matyushenko (light heavyweight) will all be defending their belts, while lightweight star Chris Horodecki will make his first ring appearance since his title fight loss last December.

Also, Pro Elite is putting on another ShoXC Challenger Series card tomorrow night at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, CA; you can check it out on Showtime starting at 11:30 p.m. ET. The main event pits undefeated Californian Jared Hamman — who boasts nine straight victories, all by stoppage before the third round — against Hawaiian light heavyweight Poai Suganuma, who has put in work in Pancrase, Icon Sport, and K-1 Hero’s. You’ll also get to see Shayna Baszler kick the ass of Keiki Tamai — who has lost her last five fights — and up-and-comers Matt Lucas and Givanildo Santana battling to keep their flawless records intact. The full lineup looks like this:

Televised Card
Jared Hamman (9-0) vs. Poai Suganuma (8-1)
Fabricio Camoes (7-4) vs. Joe Camacho (10-11-3)
Shayna Baszler (8-4) vs. Keiko “Tama Chan” Tamai (16-14)
Matt Lucas (9-0) vs. Givanildo Santana (10-0)
Doug Evans (5-2) vs. Bao Quach (12-8-1)

Undercard
Melanie LaCroix (1-0) vs. KC Noland (1-2)
Jaime Iracheta (debut) vs. Brent Cooper (1-0)
Telly Sanders (debut) vs. Roberto Vargas (1-0)
Yasser Pezzat (debut) vs. Luke Riddering (debut)
Carl Saumantafa (2-0) vs. Terrell Dees (2-1)
Yoko Takahashi (13-9) vs. Breanne Vickers (0-1)

If you don’t have HDNet or Showtime, call your cable provider, and come back here this weekend for complete results and recaps.

(Mark Miller (L) will attempt to knock Jay Hieron’s shades off.)

Quiet out on the MMA plains this evening, but here are a couple of news pieces to check out:

— The official weigh-in for tomorrow night’s IFL show in Jersey came and went today, and all went smooth. The show kicks off at 7:30 pm (ET) and goes live on HDNet at 8:30 pm (ET).

Here are the weigh-in results:

Title Fights
Jay Hieron (170) vs. Mark Miller (170.4)
Wagnney Fabiano (145.4) vs. Shad Lierley (145.8)
Vladimir Matyushenko (205.4) vs. Jamal Patterson (205.6)

Non-Title and Team Fights
Delson Heleno (170.8) vs. Brad Blackburn (171)
Jim Miller (155) vs. Bart Palaszewski (155.5)
Nate Lamotte (155.8) vs. Chris Horodecki (154.6)
Mike Ciesnolevicz (206) vs. Carmelo Marrero (205.8)
Emyr Bussade (170) vs. Jesse Lennox (170)
Rafael Dias (145.6) vs. L.C. Davis (145.6)
Alex Schoenauer (204) vs. Brendan Barrett (205.5)

We would post video of the weigh-ins, but it was just too intense for a Thursday.

— Keith Kizer and his NSAC boys weren’t able to bust any of the fighters from WEC 33. Fighters were tested for the normal perf-enhancing drugs and those of abuse. Brian Stann, Doug Marshall, Logan Clark, Alex Serdyukov, Richard Crunkilton, Chael Sonnen, Bryan Baker, Steve Cantwell, and Marcus Hicks were given a pass for their piss. Kizer said that the state of Nevada has had “no positive tests yet this year, although we have tested way more fighters in January through March 2008 than in any other January through March period of years past.” Brag, much?

We would post video of the piss — and other — tests, but it’s too early on a Thursday for that sort of thing.

(Ryan McGivern, on his back, will defend his title for the first time in May.)

The IFL‘s next event is this weekend, but the organization is already rolling out the card for its May event. The show is to go down on May 16th and mark a return to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The fights will, of course, be live on HDNet, as always. Staying true to their word of multiple title fights at every event, the IFL has scheduled three title defenses — heavyweight champion Roy Nelson, newly-crowned middleweight champ Ryan McGivern, and lightweight title holder Ryan Schultz. This will be the second defense for Nelson and Schultz.

Two new camps are also joining the action — The Bomb Squad and Team Prodigy. The Bomb Squad is a Northeast-based camp that will do battle with Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center (Vegas). Team Prodigy is based in Ohio and will take on Matt Lindland’s Team Quest (Portland).

For the title fights, here’s a snip from the press release:

In the title bouts, Nelson will defend his heavyweight belt against UFC veteran Branden Lee Hinkle (Weirton, W. Va.). Nelson won the title in December at Mohegan Sun with a knockout of Antoine Jaoude, then defended with a decisive first-round TKO over Fabiano Scherner in Las Vegas in February. Schultz will battle Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) for the lightweight crown. Schultz also won his title in his last visit to Mohegan Sun in December, bouncing Chris Horodecki from the ranks of the unbeaten, then earned a decision win over John Gunderson in Las Vegas in February to defend. McGivern, one of the most improved fighters in the IFL, took the middleweight belt from Matt Horwich in February and has won three of his past four bouts.

Team Quest’s three fighters will find out their Team Prodigy opponents soon, but we do know that Zac George, Matt Horwich, and Aaron Stark will be representing Lindland’s group. The Bomb Squad’s John Howard — a Boston fighter — will fight Mario Sperry’s Marcello Salazar, and WCFC’s Danillo Villefort will take on BS’s Mike Massenzio in other camp action.

Here’s the card so far:

World Class Fight Center vs. Bomb Squad
170 lbs: Marcello Salazar (7-1-2) vs. John Howard (8-3)
185 lbs: Danillo Villefort (6-2) vs. Mike Massenzio (10-1)
155 lbs: TBD vs. TBD

Team Prodigy vs. Team Quest
155 lbs: TBD vs. Zac George (12-2)
185 lbs: TBD vs. Matt Horwich (21-10-1)
205 lbs: TBD vs. Aaron Stark (5-4)

Championship Bouts
265 lbs: Roy Nelson (12-2) vs. Branden Lee Hinkle (13-9)
185 lbs:Ryan McGivern (12-5) vs. Dan Miller (7-1)
155 lbs:Ryan Schultz (19-9-1) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (9-2)

(Alex Schoenauer, in his sleek IFL tank, joins the April 4th event.)

A signing and a fight addition today for two organizations. Check it out:

— The EliteXC is going the way of the UFC…by signing a former NFL cast-off. ProElite has the dish from Mike Camp, manager of former baller Bobby Jones. No not that Bobby Jones. The difference between Bobby Jones and other NFLers like Brock Lesnar, Johnnie Morton, and Bob Sapp is — he’s undefeated (2-0). Oh, and he doesn’t have a penis on his chest.

B.J. won his first fight on August 24th of last year and his second was in January — both via TKO. Jones played in eleven games with the Giants during the ’02 NFL season, then bolted (aka, was released) for the mighty Arena Football League. And now he’s on to MMA. Why, you ask?

He ultimately decided to test his competitive fire by transitioning into mixed martial arts after being exposed to the sport through competitive grappling and televised MMA events.

“Somebody introduced me to submission wrestling, grappling, and I got into that and I loved it, and did very well there,” Jones was quoted as saying in an ESPN.com article last year. “I wanted to do something more and I watched MMA on TV all the time, UFC and Pride, and I fell in love with it.”

Reminds me of the time when I grew a mustache after watching a rerun of “Magnum, P.I.” It’s coming in nicely.

— The IFL has added a fight to its April 4th Jersey card. Alex Schoenauer will face Jersey boy Brendan Barrett, increasing the fight card to ten bouts on a night that will see title defenses by Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko, Jay “The Thorobred” Hieron, and Wagnney Fabiano. Matyushenko will defend against Jamal Patterson in a light heavy bout, Hieron against Mark Miller for the 170 belt, and Fabiano steps in with Shad Lierley at 145 lbs. The IFL also named two replacements for the show — Jason Black, reppin’ Miletich Fighting Systems, and Jim Miller of Renzo Gracie Academy.

(Brad Blackburn: “My nickname sucks ass.”)

It’s about three weeks away from the IFL’s next event – which will see the return of Chris Horodecki when he takes on the just added lightweight, Nate Lamotte. Lamotte is an IFL virgin and is not the only fighter being added to the April 4th fight card. Featherweight Rafael Dias will be fighting in his second IFL battle when he joins another IFL addition, first time IFLer Carmelo Marrero, to battle for American Top Team.

ATT will face Miletich Fighting Systems’ fighters Mike Ciesnolevicz and L.C. Davis (Davis will face Dias). The last addition is “Bad” Brad Blackburn, who has compiled a 3-6 record since 2005 with one no contest. No stranger to the IFL, “Bad” Brad is slated to face Delson Heleno, who at 13-4, will be looking to bounce back from an injury TKO to Jay Hieron in December.

Here’s the rundown for the rest of the event:

When: Friday, April 4, 2008
Where: East Rutherford, N.J.

Additional Bout
155 lbs.: Chris Horodecki (11-1) vs. Nate Lamotte (6-2)

American Top Team vs. Miletich Fighting Systems
145 lbs.: Rafael Dias (10-3-1) vs. LC Davis ( 9-1)
170 lbs.: Emyr Bussade (10-5) vs. Rory Markham (12-3)
205 lbs.: Carmelo Marrero (7-2) vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz (13-3)

Midwest Combat vs. Renzo Gracie Academy
155 lbs.: Bart Palaszewski (29-10) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (9-2)
170 lbs.: Brad Blackburn (11-9-1) vs. Delson Heleno (13-4)
205 lbs.: Vladimir Matyushenko (20-3) vs. Jamal Patterson (4-1)

Additional Championship Bouts
170 lbs.: Jay Hieron (14-4) vs. Mark Miller (8-2)
145 lbs.: Wagnney Fabiano (9-1) vs. Shad Lierley (2-1)

Despite the IFL’s inability to generate much dough via their live shows, they’ve been wheelin’ and dealin’ recently. The league announced yesterday that they have partnered with Media Prima Berhad – the largest integrated investment group in Malaysia and puppet masters of four Malaysian TV stations – to air “IFL Fight Night” every week in Malaysia. The agreement begins sometime this year. Adding Media Prima Berhad to their programming partners increases the IFL’s coverage to over 300 million homes worldwide. Other carriers include HBO Latin America, HDNet and FSN here in the homeland, MBC for the Middle East and some areas of Africa, Star TV for Asia coverage, CanWest Global and Fox Sports Canada in Canada, EGO in Israel, TV4 in Sweden, and Armed Forces Television worldwide, among others. This goes along with their continued efforts to keep their IFL content on-line for the fans – a stark contrast to other organizations like, say the piss-on-our-parade UFC.

The IFL has now added Throwdown Industries to the financially-challenged family. Throwdown is set to become the official energy drink, fight gloves and ring of the IFL for 2008-2009. This is a good move for Throwdown considering the global scope the IFL covers. The company is one of the top providers of MMA gear, cages, rings, and training equipment – plus they have sweet, sweet Arianny hanging around. The energy drink is distributed by Cott Corporation, one of the largest nonalcoholic beverage companies in the history of the universe and the world’s largest retailer brand soft drink provider, but of course everyone knows that.

(Shawn Tompkins works out with Wanderlei Silva.)

Here’s a story from over the weekend that fell through the cracks during our full-court-press of UFC 82 coverage yesterday. Remember when the IFL announced it had changed the name of Team Xtreme Couture to Team Tompkins out of respect for Couture’s legal situation with the UFC? Turns out, it didn’t go down like that. Randy Couture has a much different version of the events on the Xtreme Couture blog. Dig:

On January 8 we submitted a list of seven (7) fighters to the IFL that would be available to fight in the IFL event from the Xtreme Couture gym. The fighters were: Dennis Davis 145lbs (16-8), Jay White Heavyweight (2-5), Phil Friedman Heavyweight (1-0), Eric Uresk 155lbs (2-3), Josh Haynes 185lbs (8-8), Johnny Hendricks 170lbs (3-0), and Karina Taylor 135lbs (0-1).

The IFL informed us that Dennis Davis would be booked to fight a prelim bout against Ian Loveland and that none of our other fighters would be utilized. According to the IFL none of our fighters were a proper matchup for Mario Sperry’s team of Brazilian fighters. The IFL intended to field a team of Benji Radach (who due to injury was replaced by Josh Haynes), Santino DeFranco and Lew Polley. Radach had been a member of Shawn Tompkins’ Anacondas team, while DeFranco and Polley are from American Top Team.

Lew Polley and Santino DeFranco are tremendous athletes and excellent fighters. However, they are members of American Top Team not Xtreme Couture. American Top Team is a great squad and by all means seem to be deserving of having their own team in the IFL. We have 35 athletes that train in our Las Vegas gym and proudly wear the Xtreme Couture patch on their shorts during fights. Yet the IFL decided to field a team called “Xtreme Couture” without putting any Xtreme Couture athletes on the team. The Patriots didn’t show up in the Super Bowl with a bunch of players from the Packers. Why would the Xtreme Couture name be put on the line and not be represented by Xtreme Couture fighters.

It is because of this that the team name was changed to ”Team Tompkins”.

DeFranco and Polley lost their fights, and Josh Haynes won, so nyeh nyeh nyeh on you, IFL. It’s kind of shocking that they would reject the guys that Randy Couture wanted to compete for his gym, and replace their actual fighters with ringers. When Couture signed on to field a team for the 2008 season, I figured that the IFL would bend over backwards to keep him happy. But they had their own plans, and now Randy’s like “I’m done with these jokers, let Tompkins worry about it.” The main reason we were excited about the IFL’s new camp vs. camp system was the idea that we’d be seeing the relatively unknown guys that each coach had hand-picked to represent their gyms. Unfortunately, the new season isn’t any less artificial than the last. Oh well; maybe they can get their shit together in 2009.

There’s another notable recent post on the Xtreme Couture blog which mentions Ken Shamrock swinging through the gym to work out when he was in town for the IFL event: “The World’s Most Dangerous Man tells us he hopes to fight Kimbo and his brother Frank after his March fight in the UK.” Could we be seeing Slice/Shamrock on CBS this summer? Cross your fingers and toes, because that would be huge — not only as a ratings draw, but because Kimbo would finally get the challenge he deserves.

What do y’all think, Kimbo by KO or Shamrock by leg-lock?