"This is the wrong sport for hesitation"
Dubai, 11 June 2007: Get ready to experience the adrenaline rush of your life starting this Thursday, 14 June, 12:00midnight KSA, as MBC Action presents the International Fight League: the world's first team-based professional Mixed Martial Arts league (MMA), bringing fans the most action-packed fighting events possible.
An intense, grueling sport demanding the utmost in personal fitness, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is the nexus of four Olympic sports (karate, judo, boxing and wrestling) combined with the disciplines of tae kwon do, kickboxing and muay thai, amongst others.
There is no doubt that MBC Action is turning up the heat with International Fight League. "We made a commitment to our viewers when we first launched, in March 2007, that we'd deliver 24/7 action, first-run free-to-air series and high impact movies. We're delivering on that promise," states Mazen Hayek, MBC's Group Director of Marketing, PR and Commercial. "We're thrilled that MBC Action is the first channel to bring MMA, through International Fight League, exclusively to the Middle East. And it's full-on viewing!"
"Wearing nothing but a mouthpiece and boxing shorts, the contestants battle it out in the ring - fighting for their lives. By the end of the show, you'll be as pumped full of adrenalin as the contestants are!" concludes Hayek.
The league consists of 12 teams of five athletes each, with one representative fighter in each of the five weight classes: lightweight (155 lbs.), welterweight (170 lbs.), middleweight (185 lbs.), light heavyweight (205 lbs.), heavyweight (265 lbs.).
Competitions are decided with a best of five series between two teams of five fighters each, to win matches by knockout, submission, or judges' decision. The teams are coached by world-renowned veterans of the sport, many of whom still compete in various superfights throughout the season. Matches consist of up to three four-minute rounds, fought inside a five-roped boxing ring. The teams with the best overall records at the end of the regular season advance to the postseason competition to compete for the World Team Championship and the IFL Championship Ring.
The IFL series consists of two separate, parallel running shows: 'Battleground' - a behind the scenes look at individual team members, and team preparation (screening Thursdays at 12midnight KSA), and 'Fight Night' (screening Fridays at 12midnight KSA) - where the 12 teams battle it out in high-charged display of physical combat that is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
International Fight League: where a good day at the office is a knockout in under 10 seconds!
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About MBC Action
Launched 5 March 2007, MBC Action delivers young Arab men (and women) the best in high-octane western series, movies and action reality shows, keeping everyone buzzing 24/7. In record time, the channel made it to the top 10 list of FTA TV stations in the Arab world. Hit shows include the exclusive free-to-air award winning series, Lost, Prison Break, The 4400 and the unbelievable International Fight League. You'll be so wired you'll never want to sleep again!
About IFL:
The IFL was created to organize, host and promote live and televised MMA sporting events and to benefit from the growing popularity of MMA in the United States and around the world.
Committed to bringing the true sporting nature of MMA to the forefront of the sports world, the IFL promotes the best, most exciting, and fairest matches possible, and has outlawed the use of such techniques as elbow strikes to the head, which commonly result in fight ending cuts before the outcome has been legitimately decided by the fighters.
The IFL rules also prohibit: kicking the head of a downed opponent, head-butting, groin strikes, eye-gouging, strikes to the spine or back of the head, and other techniques deemed needlessly brutal or dishonorable.
Because of our team format, every match in the IFL is meaningful. Not only is the fate of each team at stake with every match, every fighter is also competing for individual honors and a spot in the year-end Grand Prix-style tournament in each weight class.
© Press Release 2007
