IFL International Fight League 2006 - First Season (2006) - Official Event Program

 IFL International Fight League

Season 1 First event

April 29th 2006: Silverbacks Vs Anacondas & Pitbulls Vs Tiger Sharks

Jens Pulver Vs Cole Escovedo Superfight 

IFL: Legends Championship 2006 took place on April 29, 2006 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Results:
Heavyweight Devin Cole def. Carlos Cline Decision (unanimous) 3 4:00
Light Heavyweight Jamal Patterson def. Matt Horwich Submission (rear naked choke) 1 2:57
Welterweight Dennis Hallman def. Delson Heleno DQ (illegal kick) 1 3:59
Welterweight Brad Blackburn def. Gustavo Machado Decision (split) 3 4:00
Lightweight Erik Owings def. Justin Jones Submission (guillotine choke) 1 2:50
Lightweight Jens Pulver def. Cole Escovedo KO (punch) 1 0:56
Welterweight Rory Markham def. Mike Pyle KO (punch) 1 0:44
Middleweight Ryan McGivern def. Amir Rahnavardi Decision (unanimous) 3 4:00
Light Heavyweight Alex Schoenauer def. Travis Wiuff Submission (heel hook) 2 3:23
Heavyweight Ben Rothwell def. Krzysztof Soszynski TKO (punches) 1 3:59
Lightweight Bart Palaszewski def. John Shackelford TKO (punches) 2 1:31

Official Event Program 

(small format approx 4x6 inches)

Featuring many future UFC stars

The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008. Instead of the established norm for MMA events, where matchups are strictly one-on-one affairs, each IFL card was a showdown between two camps of at least three fighters, each fighter fighting one match against another in the opposing camps.
History
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 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 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 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 the Seattle Tiger Sharks vs the New York Pitbulls, with a superfight between Jens Pulver and Cole Escovedo.

First Season
The first half of the season consisted of two events and only four teams (New York Pitbulls, Los Angeles Anacondas, Quad City Silverbacks, and Seattle Tiger Sharks). The Pat Miletich lead Quad City Silverbacks won the first Championship event defeating the Maurice Smith led Seattle Tiger Sharks on June 3, 2006.

Second Season
The Second half of the 2006 season saw the addition of four new teams to the IFL (Toronto Dragons, Tokyo Sabres, Portland Wolfpack and San Jose Razorclaws). The championship event was held at the end of the year between defending champions, Quad City Silverbacks and newcomers Portland Wolfpack with the Silverbacks capturing their second consecutive team championship.

Each event in the 2006 season had at least one superfight along with the team format matches.

Awesome Piece of MMA history.

Great Condition - Minimal Edgewear - See Photos