UFC Acquires IFL Assets

You may have noticed that former IFL fighters competing on Ultimate Fight Night 14 Saturday night were accompanied by IFL fight highlights.

That wasn’t a temporary arrangement.

Fighters.com has confirmed that Zuffa, LLC has acquired certain assets of the International Fight League, including the IFL video library and fighter contracts.

The deal is similar to the buyout of the World Fighting Alliance in 2006 and allows Zuffa to get its hands on the valuable IFL video library and fighters without assuming the failed company’s debt.

Fighters.com broke the possibility of the acquisition Thursday.  Since, there has been debate in the MMA media about whether the fighter contracts were transferrable.

However, the anonymous former IFL fighters who’ve confirmed to Fighters.com that they’ve been notified of the aqcuisition of their contract by Zuffa, LLC have also confirmed that their contractual obligations are now to Zuffa, LLC according to their respective managements and legal counsels.

Neither Zuffa, LLC nor the IFL have replied to Fighters.com requests for comment, nor have either made official announcements regarding the acquisition.

Unlike the WFA deal where the WFA announced it would cease operations upon the Zuffa, LLC acquisition of its assets, it’s unclear whether the IFL will put the “Out of Business” sign on its offices.

8 Comments

1. 
   July 22, 2008

   joesmailer said:

   Wow I did read about this here first, didn’t think it would actually happen. Kudos to you Chad!

2. 
   July 22, 2008

   Chad Edward said:

   I disagree with most, think it’s a good deal for Zuffa, LLC. They get a fresh talent pool in one scoop, the fight videos to add to their library, and, if nothing else, it reinforces the inevitability of the UFC’s dominance in the market.

3. 
   July 22, 2008

   joesmailer said:

   I wonder how they got out of assuming all that debt.

4. 
   July 22, 2008

   KeithAllen said:

   It’s about time…

   They have been hurting since the beginning. They have acquited ASSETS of the IFL, not the company itself - avoiding debt.

5. 
   July 23, 2008

   daign said:

   Sounds interesting

6. 
   July 23, 2008

   aghj193 said:

   Guess we’ll see what happens from here

7. 
   July 25, 2008

   mmaoverload said:

   Remember when IFL was nearly $20/share?

8. 
   July 25, 2008

   joesmailer said:

   Ah the good ol’days.