ROTHWELL, MARKHAM, GUNDERSON, BLACKBURN AMONG NOTABLES ON INTERNATIONAL FIGHT LEAGUE MOLINE CARD

Veteran Hoger To Fill In For Silverbacks At Light Heavyweight; Jeff Curran, Kevin English To Tangle In Superfight NEW YORK and MOLINE, Ill., March 27, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, returns to the site of one of its most successful events, The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline on Saturday, April 7, with an 11-bout card, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

The rosters feature the local favorites and defending champion Silverbacks, coached by Pat Miletich, taking on Ken Shamrock’s Reno-based Lions. The Tiger Sharks, led by MMA and kick-boxing champion Maurice Smith and based in Seattle, battle the Red Bears, who are coached by Igor Zinoviev and call Chicago home. Popular lightweights Jeff Curran (Crystal Lakes, Ill.) and Kevin English (Lake Station, Ind.) will compete in a Superfight following the team competition.

Both of the matchups have important post-season implications. The Silverbacks (0-1 team, 2-3 individual), who won the 2006 IFL World Team Championship, need the victory to have any hope of advancing to the playoffs. They will depend on standouts Rory Markham at welterweight, Ben Rothwell at heavyweight, and Bart Palaszewski at lightweight. Former UFC light heavyweight Sam Hoger fills in for the injured Mike Ciesnolevicz in a key bout against the Lions’ Vernon White. Shamrock’s squad (1-0, 3-2) also features undefeated heavyweight Roy Nelson and lightweight John Gunderson, who has won his past eight MMA matches.

For the Tiger Sharks (0-1, 2-3) and Red Bears (0-1, 1-4), victory is essential to remain alive for the four-team IFL postseason. Maurice Smith’s Seattle-based team is paced by welterweight Brad Blackburn and heavyweight Reese Andy, while the Red Bears will depend on Chicago natives Mark Miller at welterweight and Chris Albandia at middleweight as they go for their first victory of the season.

The evening is part of the full 11-event IFL 2007 schedule, the most comprehensive advance schedule in the history of fight sports. Below are the matchups for Moline (bout order to be determined by coaches’ choice prior to weigh-in):

Tiger Sharks (0-1, 2-3) vs. Red Bears (0-1, 1-4)
LW/155: Shad Lierley (Seattle) (1-0 IFL, 1-0 overall) vs. Mike Correy (St. Louis) (0-0, 4-1)
WW/170: Brad Blackburn (Olympia, Wash.) (2-1, 9-8) vs. Mark Miller (Chicago) (0-1, 5-2)
MW/185: Bristol Marunde (Sequim, Wash.) (0-2, 2-4) vs. Chris Albandia (Chicago) (0-1, 5-4)
HW/265: Allan Goes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (2-0, 9-4-2) vs. Homer Moore (0-0, 24-7-2)
HW/265: Reese Andy (Billings, Mont.) (3-1, 5-1) vs. Adam Maciejewski (0-0, 5-2)

Lions (1-0, 3-2) vs. Silverbacks (0-1, 2-3)
LW/155: John Gunderson (Medford, Ore.) (1-0, 11-4) vs. Bart Palaszewski (Wonder Lake, Ill.) (5-1, 25-8)
WW/170: Pat Healy (St. Louis) (1-0, 17-11) vs. Rory Markham (4-1, 10-2)
MW/185: Daniel Molina (Carson City, Nev.) (0-1, 6-6) vs. Ryan McGivern (Bettendorf, Iowa) (3-3, 9-4)
LHW/205: Vernon White (East Palo Alto, Calif.) (0-0. 24-30-2) vs. Sam Hoger (Eagle River, Alaska) (0-0, 6-3)
HW/265: Roy Nelson (Las Vegas) (1-0, 7-0) vs. Ben Rothwell (Kenosha, Wis.) (5-0, 20-5)

Superfight
Kevin English (Lake Station, Ind.) (0-0, 9-3) vs. Jeff Curran (Crystal Lakes, Ill.) (0-0, 25-8-1)

Tickets are available through www.ifl.tv or via Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com, by telephone or at Ticketmaster outlets.

Each of the nine regular season IFL events will consist of four teams – each with an athlete in all five weight classes competing. The team that wins the best three of five match setup will be declared the team winner for the match, similar to collegiate and high school wrestling meets. The IFL also differs from other MMA organizations in that the bouts are held in an oversized five-rope boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds, each designed to create the most compelling in-arena experience for local fans.

Each of the 12 IFL teams for 2007 will compete in three regular season events; the teams with the top four overall win-loss team records will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Thursday, August 2, 2007 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2007 IFL Finals will then be held at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 15, 2007.