NO HOLDS BARRED

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman previews the 2007 International Fight League (IFL) World Championship semifinals, which take place Thursday, August 2, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. On that show, the top-seeded Los Angeles Anacondas (3-0) meet the defending team champions, the Quad Cities Silverbacks (2-1), and the second-seeded New York Pitbulls (3-0) face the third-seeded Tokyo Sabres (3-0). This week we focus on the Anacondas-Silverbacks match-up.

We also begin to introduce this week our new network of correspondents for NO HOLDS BARRED. We will be having regular discussions and commentaries with a number of the top journalists and analysts in the combat sports.

Our correspondents include Charles Farrell, the award-winning boxing writer and accomplished jazz musician; Todd Hester, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Gladiator Magazine; Kid Peligro, a senior editor of the ADCC News; Keisha Morrisey of Bloodline Boxing Entertainment; veteran wrestling journalist Bob Mayeri; and Chris Thomas, a veteran of both the traditional martial arts and the mixed martial arts.

The IFL held a media teleconference call Wednesday to preview the Anacondas-Silverbacks match-up. On that call, we spoke with Shawn Tompkins, coach of the Anacondas, and Pat Miletich, coach of the Silverbacks. We also spoke on that call with IFL commissioner and co-founder Kurt Otto.

Plus, we had a lengthy discussion and breakdown of the Anacondas-Silverbacks meet with our NO HOLDS BARRED correspondent, Chris Thomas, who also will be covering this event live.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click 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.)

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 night on MyNetworkTV. An encore presentation will run each Saturday night. 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.

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

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

Labels: boxing, Chris Thomas, combat sports, Eddie Goldman, grappling, IFL, jiu-jitsu, Kurt Otto, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, Pat Miletich, Shawn Tompkins, UFC, wrestling