As Shawn Ennis pointed out in a recent column, he watches IFL BATTLEGROUND and has no clue as to how the IFL team competition works. The sad fact that a lot of IFL viewers (and even MMA writers) don't understand the basic rules behind the competition they're watching says A LOT about why the IFL stock has fallen down to a couple of dollars, after going up over $14 back when 60 MINUTES ran a piece on MMA featuring them. The irony is the rules aren't even that complicated. I've been watching the WORLD POKER TOUR for years. Every week, to the point of nausea, they explain the rules of Texas Hold’em. Even though it may be annoying to people already familiar with the game, I’m sure it’s really helpful to novices or people tuning in for the first time. In fact, every poker show I’ve ever watched has had enough respect to explain the rules of the game to the audience they are asking to watch their programming for the next hour or two.
Why in the world the IFL can’t understand the very basic concept of introducing structure, or explaining their rules to their audience is beyond me. They expect you to watch. But why? Exciting graphics, hot ring girl contests, Don Frye’s love advice, and ambulances. These things are all fine and dandy as filler (well, the Frye segments in particular are fun, not the ambulances), but it ain’t the filling that provides the most sustenance -- it’s the meat. Give us meat, IFL! Let us know what the frak is going on. If you’re going to introduce a new high concept to MMA, at least have the brains to EXPLAIN your concept to us. Mostly it seems they just work hard at undermining their actually-quite-high-minded concept by making it all so very confusing. Let me explain.
The 2007 IFL World Team Championship season consists of 12 teams competing for 4 playoff spots. Each team competes 3 times, and the top 4 teams with the best records advance to a semi-final tournament.
Each team consists of 5 fighters, one from each of the 5 prominent weight classes (Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, Heavyweight).
Teams compete against each other by having a best-of-5 series of fights. The team that wins the best of 5 fights, wins the competition.
Each team competes in 3 of these best-of-5 series. The top 4 teams with the best win-loss records at the end of the season advance to the semi-finals. The winner of the 4-team tournament at the end of the season wins the 2007 IFL World Team Championship.
In case a tiebreaker is needed at the end of the season (which is likely since the teams only compete 3 times each), each team is awarded points based on how their fighters won their matches. A win by KO or submission gives a team more points than a win by decision. A unanimous decision win gives a team more points than a split decision win.
So, that’s how the team competition works in the IFL.
On the MMATorch Podcast, Shawn Ennis also mentioned that the IFL should have champions. Even though they’ve had a Grand Prix tournament to determine champions planned for some time now, as it is with the IFL in so many examples, they’ve been piss poor at building hype for the upcoming event, by simply failing to communicate with their audience.
Individual statistics are being compiled by the IFL during the 2007 season. The fighters with the top 4 records in each weight class will be invited to compete in a Grand Prix after the 2007 season. Five 4-man tournaments will be held, one in each weight division, and the first 5 IFL World Champions will be determined.
Hopefully, the IFL won’t go bankrupt before they get to their Grand Prix. A wise move for the future might be to drop the team concept completely and promote tournaments. Outside of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC hasn’t done tournaments in quite some time. This could be the niche the IFL is looking for. Establish champions with the first Grand Prix, and then have more tournaments constantly to establish new number one contenders. You could still have Superfights and grudge matches on each card, but constantly have tournaments going on. Whatever the case, the current state of affairs is unacceptable. Either change the format to something we can understand without a whole lot of explanation, or take the time on your shows to explain.
Here are the 2007 IFL Individual Standings. There are still a lot of fighters who will get the chance to compete one more time.
Points are awarded for how a fighter wins (KO/SUB = 10 points / UD = 7 points / MD = 5 points / SD = 3 points). Also, total time of victories is tallied for a final tiebreaker. The Top 4 in each weight class advance to the Grand Prix tournaments.
Fighters in Bold have already secured their spots in the Grand Prix, and will be eligible to compete for the newly established IFL titles.
HEAVYWEIGHT
1. Antonie Jaoude (3-0) - 27 points [CONDORS] Season Complete
2. Ben Rothwell (3-0) - 23 points [SILVERBACKS] Season Complete
3. Reese Andy (2-0) - 17 points [TIGERSHARKS] Next: vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
4. Bryan Vetell (1-1) - 10 points [PITBULLS] Season Complete
Devin Cole (1-0) - 10 points [WOLFPACK] Next: vs. Wayne Cole
Roy Nelson (1-1) - 10 points [LIONS] Next: vs. ? Scorpions fighter
Rafael “Custodio” Feijao (1-0) - 10 points [DRAGONS] Next: vs. ? Pitbulls fighter
Krzysztof Soszynski (1-0) - 7 points [ANACONDAS] Next: vs. Reese Andy
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
1. Vladimir Matyushenko (2-0) - 20 points [SABRES] Next: vs. Aaron Stark
2. Tim Kennedy (2-0) - 20 points [RED BEARS] Season Complete
3. Mike Ciesnolevicz (2-0) - 13 points [SILVERBACKS] Season Complete
4. Jamal Patterson (1-0) - 10 points [PITBULLS] Next: vs. Wotjek Kaszowski
Mike Whitehead (1-0) - 10 points [SCORPIONS] Next: vs. Vernon White
Allan Goes (1-0) - 10 points [TIGERSHARKS] Next: vs. Alex Schoenauer
Vernon White (1-0) - 10 points [LIONS] Next: vs. Mike Whitehead
Alex Schoenauer (1-1) - 3 points [ANACONDAS] Next: vs. Allen Goes
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Jeremy Williams (2-0) - 20 points [CONDORS] - RIP (Williams died recently)
1. Benji Radach (2-0) - 20 points [ANACONDAS] Next: vs. Bristol Marunde
2. Brian Foster (2-1) - 20 points [RAZORCLAWS] Season Complete
3. Fabio Leopoldo (2-0) - 13 points [PITBULLS] Next: vs. Brent Beauparlant
4. Bristol Marunde (1-1) - 10 points [TIGERSHARKS] Next: vs. Benji Radach
Brent Beauparlant (1-1) - 7 points [DRAGONS] Next: vs. Fabio Leopoldo
WELTERWEIGHT
1. Jay Hieron (2-0) - 20 points [ANACONDAS] Next: vs. Brad Blackburn
2. Mark Miller (2-1) - 17 points [RED BEARS] Season Complete
3. Antonio McKee (2-0) - 17 points [SABRES] Next: vs. Mike Dolce
4. Delson Heleno (2-0) - 14 points [PITBULLS] Next: vs. Gideon Ray
Mike Dolce (1-1) - 10 points [WOLFPACK] Next: vs. Antonio McKee
Gideon Ray (1-0) - 10 points [DRAGONS] Next: vs. Delson Heleno
Pat Healy (1-1) - 7 points [LIONS] Next: vs. Mike Guymon
LIGHTWEIGHT
1. Wagnney Fabiano (2-0) - 20 points [DRAGONS] Next: vs. Erik Owings
2. Savant Young (2-0) - 17 points [SABRES] Next: vs. Ryan Schultz
3. Shad Lierley (2-0) - 13 points [TIGERSHARKS] Next: vs. Chris Horodecki
4. Bart Palaszewski (2-1) - 13 points [SILVERBACKS] Season Complete
Chris Horodecki (2-0) - 10 points [ANACONDAS] Next: vs. Shad Lierley
John Gunderson (1-1) - 10 points [LIONS] Next: vs. Gabe Casillas
Erik Owings (1-0) - 10 points [PITBULLS] Next: vs. Wagnney Fabiano
Ryan Schultz (1-0) - 7 points [WOLFPACK] Next: vs. Savant Young
Hope this helps clear things up a bit for everyone, since we don't all have the time to play detective just to figure out the complicated workings behind what should be a simple show about people punching each other in the face. Have a nice day!