Press Release:
INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE (IFL) REUNITES LEGENDARY BROADCAST TEAM OF STEPHEN QUADROS AND BAS RUTTEN ON FOX SPORTS NET
“The Fight Professor” and “El Guapo” return to the air for the “IFL World Team Championship” quarterfinals from Moline, Illinois September 23
NEW YORK, September 12, 2006 — The International Fight League (IFL) today announced that the broadcast team of Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten, considered the best and most entertaining commentating tandem in mixed martial arts history, will be reunited as part of the “IFL World Team Championship” quarterfinal event at The Mark in Moline, Illinois on Saturday September 23. Quadros and Rutten will call the matches between the IFL’s Silverbacks and Dragons teams as well as the Pitbulls and Razorclaws and the Superfight between legends Pat Miletich and Renzo Gracie. The events that night will air nationally on Fox Sports Net on Sunday, October 8, and Sunday, November 12, both at 6:00 p.m. local time.
“There is no doubt that Stephen Quadros is the most knowledgeable commentator on mixed martial arts today, and reuniting him with Bas Rutten, one of the sports’ legendary champions, outstanding coaches and most charismatic personalities, will be a treat for all fans of mixed martial arts,” said IFL president Gareb Shamus. “We are very proud not only to be able to bring this pair back together, but to also expose them to a larger sports audience on basic cable for the first time.”
Known as “The Fight Professor,” Quadros has been a martial arts practitioner, teacher and trainer for over 20 years. He has called matches for over 70 events since 1998, and is one of the world's leading martial arts and combat sports journalists, in addition to being an accomplished actor and musician. Rutten, the current coach of the IFL’s Anacondas team, competed professionally for over 20 years in various MMA disciplines, and was a three-time champion in Pancrase (the Japanese precursor to what is now MMA) as well as holding the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight division title.
The pair will be together again for the first time since 2003, when they completed three years of broadcasting with PRIDE on Direct TV and pay-per view. They also are the co-authors of “Bas Rutten’s Big Book of Combat.”
About IFL
Founded in 2006 by Kurt Otto, a highly successful real estate investor and a life-long martial arts participant and Gareb Shamus, chairman of the comics empire Wizard Entertainment Group, the International Fight League (IFL) and Pure Sport were created to establish a centralized and structured organization that brings the power and influence of the mixed martial arts industry together. The first full season of IFL action will begin in the first quarter of 2007. For more information and action, go to www.IFL.tv.
