Press Release:
INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE (IFL) NAMES WORLD CHAMPION KEN SHAMROCK
COACH OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM
NEW YORK, November 2, 2006– The International Fight League (IFL) today
announced that MMA legend Ken Shamrock has been named as coach of the
Northern California-based Lions. The addition of the Lions brings to
11 the number of teams for 2007, with one more to be added shortly. The
inaugural IFL season will begin in the first quarter of 2007.
“This is a great day for the IFL and for fans of Mixed Martial Arts in
general,” said IFL co-founder and commissioner Kurt Otto. “We have
been able to bring one of the sports greatest personalities and champions
in Ken Shamrock to our organization.”
“I am very proud to be joining the IFL, and believe fully in the
concept as a big part of the future growth of the sport,” Shamrock said.
“The athletes in this sport are some of the best in the world, and I am
looking forward to working with the organization to take MMA to the next
level and help create the game’s next stars.”
Originally one of the most popular members of the WWE, Shamrock has
enjoyed a 13 year career in MMA and wrestling that has made him one of the
fight world’s most recognizable personalities. He has been an MMA
trailblazer, beginning in 1993 with the launch of Pancrase in Japan, and
quickly emerged as one of the sports early stars. He brought that star
power back to the United States, joining the original UFC group to
participate in the first-ever “Superfight” (with Royce Gracie in 1993), and
went on to become a star of the highly-acclaimed series “The Ultimate
Fighter” on Spike TV. He also began his highly successful coaching and
training career, founding the Lion's Den, a group dedicated to the
training of mixed martial arts fighters. Shamrock returned to professional
wrestling during it’s late 1990s success as well, competing in some of
the biggest WWE cards ever before returning to MMA again in 2000. He
competed first in PRIDE before retuning to the UFC in November of 2002.
In late November of 2005, he was selected by the UFC as a coach for the
third season of The Ultimate Fighter and has enjoyed great success as
an author, competitor and coach over the last nine years. He was
inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2004.
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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