NO HOLDS BARRED

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman begins by commenting upon the implications for the combat sports of the firing of radio host Don Imus for his blatantly racist and sexist remarks.

We next comment upon what potentially could be one of the most important stories in the combat sports this year: the announcement of "a strategic partnership" between the International Fight League (IFL), the world's first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and USA Wrestling, the National Governing Body for wrestling in the United States.

We also raise a number of issues about the combat sports and the media, including the weakness of the business model which relies on revenue from pay-per-view television events.

Next, we review some of the highlights of the IFL event held Friday, April 13, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., which we covered live from ringside.

We spoke with Carlos Newton, head coach of the Toronto Dragons, whose team evened up its season record at 1-1 by defeating the Tucson Scorpions, coached by Don Frye, four fights to one.

We spoke with Kevin Jackson, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion in freestyle wrestling, and the head freestyle coach for the U.S. national team, who served as the interim coach for the Portland Wolfpack at this event. The Wolfpack were edged by the New York Pitbulls, 3-2, and now dropped to 1-1 on the season, while the Pitbulls remained undefeated at 2-0. We discussed both what happened at this event as well as the strategic partnership between the IFL and USA Wrestling.

We also spoke with Jamal Patterson, the light heavyweight fighter for the Pitbulls, who defeated Matt Horwich of the Wolfpack with a guillotine choke in just 37 seconds of the first round.

And we spoke with former Cleveland State wrestler Gerald Harris, fighting here as a middleweight for the Wolfpack, who, in a thrilling bout, dropped a controversial split decision to Fabio Leopoldo of the Pitbulls, who is a three-time world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

My main regret at this event: Not being able to talk to even more people, friends both old and new alike.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here or here or here and just press the play button on the player. (Please note that if one of these sites has a technical problem, please use another one.) You can also listen to it through this blog and my MySpace page, also by pressing the play button on the player. (And if the player does not display the latest episode, please go directly here or here or here.)

Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. You can also catch the IFL's newest show, "IFL Battleground", every Monday on MyNetworkTV from 8-10 PM. An encore presentation will run each Saturday night from 8-10 PM. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.