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45-506: The IFL was founded January 7, 2006, by real- estate developer Kurt Otto and Wizard magazine founder Gareb Shamus , two well-financed devotees of mixed martial arts who were inspired by the Mark Kerr documentary The Smashing Machine . With the IFL, they intended to create a system not only to showcase mixed martial arts action but to also provide a business plan that would allow fighters

90-408: A 17% rise over the previous record of 0.6. However this episode was criticized by MMA journalists and fans, saying it glorified violence and brutality. Kurt Otto apologized to fans, their fighters and coaches, and critics for the content of that show, and that "we made a mistake with some parts of the show, but we will learn from this and grow." On February 5, 2008, the IFL announced a partnership with

135-601: A better view of the action. This never came to fruition as the IFL soon folded. The IFL used six weight classes: There are three other weight classes specified in the Unified Rules which the IFL does not use: flyweight (125 lb. and below), bantamweight (126–135 lb.), and super heavyweight (266 lb. and above). Wizard (magazine) Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture (previously titled Wizard: The Guide to Comics and Wizard: The Comics Magazine )

180-570: A few matches in 2007 but won't start officially for the IFL until the 2008 season. The San Diego, France, South Korea and Brazil teams have yet to have a team logo and name. ³ At the 3/17 show in LA, Bas Rutten stepped down from being the coach of the LA Anacondas to become the "face/spokesperson" of the IFL as well as the co-host of the "IFL Battleground" show on MYnetwork TV. Rutten was replaced by assistant coach Shawn Tompkins. On 9/13/07 it

225-591: A few thousand dollars. In February 2014, Zuffa was one of a number of major combat sport promotions to support a major brain trauma study that was being conducted by the Cleveland Clinic . This was further followed up in February 2016, when Zuffa donated a million dollars to the Ruvo Center . Around May 11, 2016, ESPN's Darren Rovell reported that Goldman Sachs was helping Zuffa set up

270-444: A greater share of profits. In a marked contrast with the rest of the industry, instead of paying fighters only purses after fights, the IFL paid a salary and health benefits to train and fight. The team concept was intended to be conducive for television, where episodes could be regularly produced. It had been widely speculated that the IFL, with the deep pockets of its founders, television deal and innovative business plan, would become

315-460: A lawsuit against video game publisher Ubisoft , for what they claimed was a violation of trademark on the game, Fighters Uncaged , packaging. On the packaging of the game the trademarked term, "Ultimate Fighting" is shown in all capital letters. Zuffa claimed that the use of the term is identical or confusingly similar to the use of the UFC's trademarks. While Ubisoft failed to provide any comments on

360-546: A major circuit for MMA in North America, directly competing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship . The UFC and IFL had a hostile relationship, as the UFC accused the IFL of and sued them for illegally using proprietary information obtained by hiring executives from the UFC organization. The IFL shot back with their own suit claiming the UFC was threatening potential partners not to work with

405-471: A minimum of eight fights each). A planned August 15 event was canceled due to the company's financial condition as mentioned in a June 10 press release. The IFL subsequently ceased all operations. Originally Tim Kennedy was supposed to face Horwich for the IFL Middleweight title but Kennedy was called away to serve in the armed forces. Militech fighter Ryan McGivern took his place. In 2007,

450-436: A practice of producing specially offered Wizard #½ issues. These were special issues of ongoing major comic book series which featured in-continuity stories that supplemented the regular series' published issues. The issues were numbered #½ so as not to disrupt the series' ongoing numbering system. Often Wizard would also include free pack-in issues with their magazines, usually numbered as Wizard #0. The magazine presented

495-465: A round table discussion with creators in the comic book film industry. Despite all these changes, however, the magazine was losing subscribers at an unsustainable rate; by December 2010, its circulation was just 17,000 copies. On January 24, 2011, Rich Johnston of the website Bleeding Cool confirmed that the magazine would cease print publication, that almost all of its magazine staff had been laid off, and all freelance engagements were canceled. This

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540-460: A sale of its majority ownership to one of four bidders at a speculated price range between $ 3.5 billion to $ 4 billion. Immediately after Rovell reported this, UFC President Dana White went on The Dan Patrick Show and denied that the UFC was up for sale, claiming that Zuffa was more focused on "working on deals and our expansion globally" than selling the promotion. However, White would further add that Zuffa would be listening to offers if they met

585-639: The Seattle Tiger Sharks vs the New York Pitbulls , with a superfight between Jens Pulver and Cole Escovedo . On August 31, 2006, publicly traded ( OTCBB ) company, Paligent Inc., principally held by New Jersey developer and real estate industrialist Richard J. Kurtz, authorized a merger agreement that coincided with its acquisition of the IFL. The IFL became the parent entity as Paligent agreed to change its name to International Fight League, Inc. Subsequently, on November 29, 2006,

630-599: The Wizard Fan Awards annually for works of distinction within the comics industry from 1993 to 2006. In 1993, the awards were presented at Dragon Con ; in 1994, they were presented at Great Eastern Conventions ' Philadelphia Comic Book Spectacular; in 1995, the awards moved their home to the Chicago Comicon (later renamed Wizard World Chicago), where they remained for the remainder of their existence. Zuffa Zuffa ( / ˈ z uː f ə / )

675-594: The *ISCF - International Sport Combat Federation In contrast with most mixed martial arts promotions in the United States, the IFL staged their fights in a five-roped ring similar to the one used in PRIDE . On 5/08/08 the IFL announced the unveiling of a new six sided ring that would have been used for the IFL. Nicknamed the "hex", the ring was created by Throwdown, an MMA equipment manufacturer. The ring would have been allowed more surface area to fight and gives fans

720-454: The HDNet to air the first three events of their 2008 season live. On February 15, 2008, MyNetworkTV cancelled IFL Battleground . The IFL consisted of nine camps, all owned by the league, and each coached by a veteran MMA fighter. Originally the IFL had teams that were associated with cities but that proved to be a lark as many of the teams did not train in their respective cities nor did all

765-549: The IFL also has occasional super fights between various fighters that do not count towards any team system and may include fighters not associated with any IFL team. So far these superfights have occurred along with their results: The IFL followed the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts established by the New Jersey Athletic Board, with several exceptions. In addition, the IFL was also sanctioned by

810-435: The IFL became a publicly traded company, under the symbol IFLI. Their market capitalization as of 2006 was around $ 150 million. In September 2007, Kurtz sold his interest in the IFL. On December 20, 2007, IFL Commissioner Kurt Otto made an announcement in regards to some major changes for the 2008 season. First and foremost, the team concept would be changed to instead focus on distinctive MMA camps. Otto reasoned that many of

855-424: The IFL made a television deal with Fox Sports Net and MyNetworkTV . This made it the first MMA promotion to appear regularly on broadcast TV in the United States. The premiere of IFL Battleground on March 12, 2007, on MyNetworkTV scored a 0.8 household rating (1.12 million viewers), and gained 250% in all key male demographics (0.7 vs. 0.2) over February. This represented a new MyNetworkTV high for male 18–34,

900-424: The IFL will stay at 12 teams in the 2008 season with one or more franchises moving from their current location and at least one of them closing down. To replace the closing team will be a team coached by Mario Sperry based in either Florida or Las Vegas. On 9/25/07 IFL commissioner Kurt Otto reiterated that in the 2008 season there will only be 12 teams in the IFL with TWO new teams emerging. One of them coached by

945-688: The IFL, including Fox Sports Net (a deal with Fox Sports was later signed before resolution of the suit). The tension between the IFL and the UFC worsened with accusations that the IFL has attempted to buy out several top UFC fighters. The inaugural event was held on April 29, 2006, at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City , New Jersey , featuring the Quad City Silverbacks vs the Los Angeles Anacondas and

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990-486: The UFC's airing of IFL footage on its programming, and the signing of previous IFL fighters, as an indirect confirmation of the purchase. The 2008 International Fight League season was to have had at the minimum eight events which would be based out of three main sites; Las Vegas, New Jersey and Connecticut. Each event would have two camps competing each other in three on three match-ups while at least two titles would be defended at every event (allowing each fight card to have

1035-477: The already mentioned Marrio Sperry and the other by Cage Rage veteran Ian Freeman. On 10/10/07 Frank Shamrock revealed that he and his team, the San Jose Razorclaws, were let go from the IFL. Shamrock thought that Razorclaw Brian Foster might still be offered a stay in the IFL but will join a different team due to his successful 2007 season and his entrance into the 2007 GP. In order to appease

1080-506: The comic speculator boom, Wizard was an instant hit, with a monthly circulation of more than 100,000 copies. The magazine's success led Wizard Entertainment to launch several ongoing magazines dedicated to similar interests — such as InQuest Gamer for collectible game cards (published 1995–2007), ToyFare for toys and action figures (1997–2011), Anime Insider for anime and manga (2001–2009), and Toy Wishes for mainstream toy enthusiasts ( c. 1999– c. 2008). In 2006, Wizard

1125-552: The company to the Abu Dhabi government-owned Flash Entertainment. With the sale, company ownership would be 40.5 percent held by Lorenzo Fertitta, the company's CEO and chairman, 40.5 percent held by his older brother, Frank Fertitta III, 10 percent by Flash Entertainment and nine percent by Dana White. Flash Entertainment was formed in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi government's Executive Affairs Authority. In December 2010, Zuffa filed

1170-466: The fighters live in those cities as well. Thus in 2008 the IFL changed the format to revolve around existing camps and their established fighters. The camps for this season were as follows: Antonio Inoki was originally going to be the Tokyo Sabres' coach and mentor but has since been dropped by the IFL. Japanese bodybuilder Ken Yasuda is now the head coach. ² The Bulldogs will participate in

1215-512: The lawsuit, by August 2011, the two companies announced the dissolution of the lawsuit. In May 2011, it was announced that Zuffa would be holding a charity auction featuring more than 100 items to benefit the Lone Survivor Foundation during the last week of May 2011. All products were autographed by UFC fighters and included baseball caps , T-shirts , MMA gloves , and DVDs . Products generally ranged in price from $ 50 to

1260-457: The magazine, shifting focus from reviews and humor to information about upcoming comics and the industry as a whole. The three-page "Magic Words" section, which consisted of reader questions, was dropped and replaced by "Fan Mail", a half-page section allowing three short (and often humorous) letters. Soon after, in August 2008, longtime Wizard Editor Brian Cunningham was removed. The final editor

1305-420: The many MMA critics who felt that the team concept the IFL displayed had no place in the one-on-one sport of MMA, the IFL decided to conduct an end of the year Grand Prix which would take the four best fighters of each weight class to fight it out in a mini tournament that would be conducted over two events. The first event took place on November 3, 2007, and the second on December 29, 2007. Each Grand Prix winner

1350-410: The new entity and White remaining as UFC president, replacing Zuffa as parent entity of the UFC. The merger was completed on September 12, 2023. The Zuffa name remains in use as the copyright holder of UFC events as a TKO subsidiary. On January 12, 2010, Zuffa sold a minority interest in the company to Flash Entertainment. The company announced the completion of a deal in which a 10-percent interest in

1395-556: The price of $ 4.025 billion. After the Endeavor deal closed, the Zuffa logo and brand were retired from on-air usage in favor of the UFC brand, but Zuffa was retained as the legal name of the company. In April 2023, Endeavor Group Holdings announced that UFC would merge with the wrestling promotion WWE to form TKO Group Holdings , a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor, with Vince McMahon serving as an executive chairman of

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1440-525: The proceeds from the IPO to buy out Zuffa's other shareholders at a value of $ 1.7 billion, making Zuffa a wholly-owned subsidiary of Endeavor. From the start of 2023, professional wrestling promotion WWE began to explore a potential sale of the company, amidst an employee misconduct scandal involving its owner Vince McMahon that had prompted him to step down as chairman and CEO, although he returned as executive chairman. In April 2023, Endeavor and WWE announced

1485-590: The reported $ 4 billion. Despite White's denial of a potential sale, Dave Meltzer of SB Nation's mmafighting.com reported a month later that the sale of the UFC was imminent, as Zuffa received two bids within the range of $ 3.9 billion to $ 4.2 billion from both WME-IMG , the events and China Media Capital . Finally, on July 11, after months of speculation, the UFC released a statement confirming that Zuffa had sold its majority stake to an ownership group headed by WME-IMG for $ 4.2 billion. ESPN's Darren Rovell and Brett Okamoto would go on further to report that, despite

1530-568: The sale to WME-IMG, Dana White would be staying on with the UFC as President and would "be given a stake in the new business." They would also add that the Abu Dhabi-based Flash Entertainment would still maintain its 10 percent stake in the company. In 2017, WME-IMG reorganized as Endeavor. On April 29, 2021, Endeavor launched an initial public offering (IPO) and became a publicly traded company listed on New York Stock Exchange . Endeavor subsequently used some of

1575-446: The teams did not train together, nor did many of them live in the respective cities they represented. Instead, the new concept of the IFL would focus on camps and the fighters that already train in those camps. Also changing will be the five on five format to a more simplified three on three format. This was designed to allow more flexibility in matchmaking, as the teams would not be confined to pick one fighter in each weight class. Instead

1620-444: The three fighters can be from any weight class or they can all be from the same class. The "team" concept would still be somewhat intact as the camps would compete with each other for points in a final standing. Otto also announced that the IFL would extend an open invitation to any camps not already affiliated with the IFL to participate in "one off" events, where a non-IFL camp could challenge an IFL camp for supremacy. Similarly, any of

1665-438: The title defenses could also involve fighters who were not currently signed with the IFL in a "one off" fight. Otto announced that there would be eight shows in 2008 with no plans for a GP final. On May 8, 2008, the IFL revealed during a conference call that their August 15, 2008, event would feature the debut of a six-sided cage called "The Hex." This event was cancelled due to the company's financial problems, and no announcement

1710-586: Was a magazine about comic books , published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011. It included a price guide , as well as comic book, movie , anime , and collector news, interviews, and previews. Wizard launched in July 1991. With issue #7, the magazine switched to glossy paper and color printing. Wizard strongly supported new publishers Valiant Comics and Image Comics , heavily promoting their new releases. With its high-end production values and embodiment of

1755-415: Was a former staff writer and managing editor Mike Cotton. On February 27, 2009, Wizard laid off 10% of its workforce, including its three staff writers, in order to make room for freelance writers. Wizard was relaunched with issue #228 (August 2010), which featured Mark Millar as a guest editor. The magazine returned to its strictly comic book roots. The issue featured a Green Hornet film cover and

1800-660: Was an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts . It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas , Nevada , by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after they purchased it from the Semaphore Entertainment Group. Zuffa was acquired in 2016 by a group led by WME-IMG including Silver Lake Partners , KKR , and MSD Capital for

1845-600: Was announced by the IFL that Shawn Tompkins was let go from the IFL and removed from his duties as coach for the Los Angeles Anacondas . Reasoning was that Tompkins has "spread himself to thin" between his duties of coaching the Anacondas and becoming a new trainer at the Randy Couture owned gym in Las Vegas. A replacement has yet to be named. On 9/20/07 IFL commissioner Kurt Otto announced in an interview that

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1890-618: Was confirmed later that day by Wizard , who also revealed that its sister magazine, ToyFare , was also canceled. According to the publication's representatives, Wizard would be relaunched in February 2011 as an online magazine called Wizard World . The first issue of Wizard World was made available online and through major digital distribution channels on March 2, 2011. The magazine went through an ever-changing line-up of regular and semi-regular features, including: Retired features include Both Wizard and ToyFare often featured mail-away offers for exclusive merchandise. Wizard began

1935-440: Was crowned the first IFL champion of their weight class and awarded titles to defend during the 2008 season. As announced on September 25, 2007, the IFL underwent their very first IFL draft to find new talent to fill the ranks of fighters that were cut from their IFL contracts (due to poor records). The draft took place in the three different locations on October 13, 2007. Along with the traditional five on five team system matches

1980-451: Was made in regards to when or if it would resume full-scale operations again. In July 2008, there were reports of the IFL's possible purchase by the UFC . That same month, Joe Favorito, former IFL senior vice president, cited financial troubles for the closing of the company on July 31, 2008. Anonymous sources stated that parent company of the UFC, Zuffa , had bought the IFL. Other reports cited

2025-464: Was revamped with a bigger look and more pages, switching from the "perfect bound" staple-free look to that of a more traditional magazine. In November 2006, Wizard magazine editor-in-chief and co-founder Pat McCallum was fired, after more than a decade with the company. Wizard declined to say why he was removed. On February 21, 2007, Scott Gramling was announced as the new editor-in-chief. After issue #200 (June 2008), Wizard made several changes to

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