Press Release:
INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE (IFL) NAMES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
IAN FREEMAN AS COACH OF BRITISH TEAM FOR 2008
Expansion into Europe for world’s first Mixed Martial Arts league
begins in the United Kingdom
NEW YORK, November 1, 2006 – The International Fight League (IFL) today
announced the beginning of expansion into Europe by naming world
champion Ian Freeman as the coach of the IFL’s English team, which will begin
participation in the IFL in 2008. The English team will begin
training and participating in IFL activities later this year.
“We are very excited that Ian Freeman has decided to become the first
of what we expect to be several IFL entries from various countries in
the next few years,” said IFL co-founder and commissioner Kurt Otto.
“The United Kingdom has fervent support for fight sports in general and is
a growing hotbed for MMA, and we are proud to be able to begin to
establish our European base with Ian and his athletes.”
“Being a part of the team concept that the IFL has put together is an
honor for me,” Freeman said. “The UK is the perfect starting point for
the league in Europe, and I am looking forward to working with, and
competing against, some of the sports greatest legends as well as training
many of its future stars.”
A former boxer, “The Iron Ambassador,” is arguably one of the most
popular figures in the fight game in Europe. He began his MMA career
training with world champions (and now fellow IFL coaches) Renzo Gracie and
Marco Ruas and competed in amateur vale tudo before turning pro in 1999.
He steadily gained notoriety, eventually taking the UFC title over
Frank Mir in front of a record British crowd at Royal Albert Hall in July
2002. Freeman has trained, coached and competed in various
organizations over the past few years, most recently taking the British Light
Heavyweight title from Mark Epstein in September 30, 2006.
The addition of a team in the UK now brings the total of teams outside
the United States to three, with more teams expected to be named in the
near future. The Sabres, based in Tokyo and coached by Antonio Inoki,
and the Dragons, based in Toronto, Ontario and coached by Carlos
Newton, have already begun play and will be part of the IFL inaugural 12 team
season that will begin in the first quarter of 2007. The final two
entries for 2007, which will both be United States-based, will be
announced shortly, with the full 11 date IFL schedule to follow.
Founded in 2005 by Kurt Otto, a real estate investor and a life-long
martial arts participant and Gareb Shamus, chairman of Wizard
Entertainment Group, the International Fight League (IFL) was created to
establish a centralized and structured organization that brings the power and
influence of the mixed martial arts industry together. On August 25,
2006, IFL entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Paligent, Inc.
(PGNT:OTCBB), pursuant to which IFL would emerge as the surviving
entity. For further information regarding the merger, contact Paligent at
(212) 755-5461. For more information on the IFL, go to www.IFL.tv.
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