IFL Caps Record Week By Breaking Attendance Mark In State Of Washington
World’s Number One Team-Based Mixed Martial Arts League Adds Eight New Episodes of “IFL Battleground” on MyNetworkTV, Announces September On-Sale Date For
First Warner Home Video and Breaks Washington State Attendance Mark for Boxing and MMA, Highlighted by 2007’s “Best Fight” Between Undefeated Rising Stars
Chris Horodecki and Shad Lierley
NEW YORK, June 4, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one team-based professional mixed martial arts league, completed
one of the busiest weeks in its one-year history with a number of landmark announcements. Capping the week was a near-sellout crowd of 6,977 on Friday
night at the Everett Events Center just outside Seattle, the largest crowd ever to see an MMA or boxing event in state history.
“May will go down as one of the landmark months for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and our outstanding events in Chicago and Everett show that the IFL
brand is growing exponentially, with more to come,” said Gareb Shamus, IFL co-founder and CEO. “With a growing number of long-term partners like Warner
Home Video, MyNetworkTV, Microsoft Xbox, FSN and new partner HeadBlade, not to mention our world champion coaches and outstanding athletes, we are just
getting started.”
In addition to record crowd, Friday night saw one of the strongest fight cards in MMA in 2007, as the Los Angeles Anacondas and Tokyo Sabres both posted
wins to advance to the IFL playoffs August 2 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The highlight fight of the night saw the
Anacondas’ undefeated lightweight Chris Horodecki take a decision from the Seattle Tiger Sharks’ previously unbeaten former New York University wrestler
Shad Lierley, a fight which announcers Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten both dubbed the best fight of the year in 2007.
“That fight showed everyone what the IFL is all about,” said Rutten. “You had two different styles go against each other in a very competitive weight class,
and both athletes traded punches, kicks and other moves for every second of the three rounds. It is a fight that all MMA fans who weren’t there will need
to see on MyNetworkTV and FSN. It was the continued emergence of two of the next stars of the sport.”
The IFL has now drawn the largest MMA audience in the states of Illinois (Moline), Oregon (Portland) and Georgia (Gwinnett) in addition to its record in
Everett, all in the past seven months.
The in- and out-of-the-ring successes in Washington for the IFL were not the only highlights of the week. Earlier, MyNetworkTV announced that “IFL Battleground,”
hosted by Rutten and Tiffany Fallon, will be a key anchor for its fall lineup. The show, which has seen the new network dramatically increase its viewership
in the male demo, will add an additional eight, two-hour episodes in the fall, on top of the original 22. It will continue to be seen Mondays at 8 p.m.
Eastern and Pacific/7 p.m. Central, with a re-air at the same time on Saturday nights. Also, Warner Home Video, the world’s largest distributor of DVD’s,
announced that its first IFL-themed video, “IFL Greatest Knockouts and Extreme Action,” will hit stores on September 18.
The groundswell of activity is not expected to stop any time soon, as the IFL moves to Las Vegas for its first-ever event in the state of Nevada on Saturday,
June 16, at the Las Vegas Hilton. The final two playoff spots, as well as many individual slots in the year-end World Grand Prix, will be at stake when
Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls meet Carlos Newton’s Toronto Dragons, while Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions take on Don Frye’s Tucson Scorpions.
About the IFL
International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York and offices
in Las Vegas. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv.
First Warner Home Video and Breaks Washington State Attendance Mark for Boxing and MMA, Highlighted by 2007’s “Best Fight” Between Undefeated Rising Stars
Chris Horodecki and Shad Lierley
NEW YORK, June 4, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one team-based professional mixed martial arts league, completed
one of the busiest weeks in its one-year history with a number of landmark announcements. Capping the week was a near-sellout crowd of 6,977 on Friday
night at the Everett Events Center just outside Seattle, the largest crowd ever to see an MMA or boxing event in state history.
“May will go down as one of the landmark months for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and our outstanding events in Chicago and Everett show that the IFL
brand is growing exponentially, with more to come,” said Gareb Shamus, IFL co-founder and CEO. “With a growing number of long-term partners like Warner
Home Video, MyNetworkTV, Microsoft Xbox, FSN and new partner HeadBlade, not to mention our world champion coaches and outstanding athletes, we are just
getting started.”
In addition to record crowd, Friday night saw one of the strongest fight cards in MMA in 2007, as the Los Angeles Anacondas and Tokyo Sabres both posted
wins to advance to the IFL playoffs August 2 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The highlight fight of the night saw the
Anacondas’ undefeated lightweight Chris Horodecki take a decision from the Seattle Tiger Sharks’ previously unbeaten former New York University wrestler
Shad Lierley, a fight which announcers Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten both dubbed the best fight of the year in 2007.
“That fight showed everyone what the IFL is all about,” said Rutten. “You had two different styles go against each other in a very competitive weight class,
and both athletes traded punches, kicks and other moves for every second of the three rounds. It is a fight that all MMA fans who weren’t there will need
to see on MyNetworkTV and FSN. It was the continued emergence of two of the next stars of the sport.”
The IFL has now drawn the largest MMA audience in the states of Illinois (Moline), Oregon (Portland) and Georgia (Gwinnett) in addition to its record in
Everett, all in the past seven months.
The in- and out-of-the-ring successes in Washington for the IFL were not the only highlights of the week. Earlier, MyNetworkTV announced that “IFL Battleground,”
hosted by Rutten and Tiffany Fallon, will be a key anchor for its fall lineup. The show, which has seen the new network dramatically increase its viewership
in the male demo, will add an additional eight, two-hour episodes in the fall, on top of the original 22. It will continue to be seen Mondays at 8 p.m.
Eastern and Pacific/7 p.m. Central, with a re-air at the same time on Saturday nights. Also, Warner Home Video, the world’s largest distributor of DVD’s,
announced that its first IFL-themed video, “IFL Greatest Knockouts and Extreme Action,” will hit stores on September 18.
The groundswell of activity is not expected to stop any time soon, as the IFL moves to Las Vegas for its first-ever event in the state of Nevada on Saturday,
June 16, at the Las Vegas Hilton. The final two playoff spots, as well as many individual slots in the year-end World Grand Prix, will be at stake when
Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls meet Carlos Newton’s Toronto Dragons, while Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions take on Don Frye’s Tucson Scorpions.
About the IFL
International Fight League™ (IFL) is the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts sports league. IFL has its headquarters in New York and offices
in Las Vegas. For more information about IFL, please see: www.ifl.tv.
Labels: IFL, Mixed Martial Arts, Press Release
posted by Casey Trowbridge at 6/07/2007 01:11:00 AM
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