NO HOLDS BARRED

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this packed edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman reviews the 2007 International Fight League (IFL) World Championship Semifinals, which were held Thursday, Aug. 2, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. On that card, the New York Pitbulls defeated the Tokyo Sabres by a score of three fights to two, and the defending IFL team champions, the Quad City Silverbacks, bested the Los Angeles Anacondas four fights to one. Both the Pitbulls and Silverbacks thus advance to the IFL World Team Championship, set for September 20 in Hollywood, Florida.

Right after the fights, we spoke with several fighters and coaches from that event, and, as always, discussed a number of issues and hot topics in the mixed martial arts and the combat sports.

We spoke with Randy Gordon, former editor of The Ring magazine and chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission from 1988 to 1995, who also now has a show on Sirius Satellite Radio called Fight Club. We discussed why he has gone from being an opponent of the mixed martial arts to becoming an outspoken advocate for the sport, the prospects for New York finally legalizing MMA, and just who it was who helped him change his mind.

We spoke with Antonio McKee, welterweight fighter for the Sabres, about his split decision victory over Delson Heleno of the Pitbulls. We also discussed in depth his work with underprivileged children through his organization, Fight for Kids.

We spoke with Ben Rothwell, heavyweight for the Silverbacks, whose 13-second knockout of Krzysztof Soszynski of the Anacondas set a new IFL record for the quickest knockout. We spoke with middleweight Benji Radach of the Anacondas, who defeated Gerald Harris of the Silverbacks by a TKO at 3:03 of the first round. We also spoke with Gerald Harris about this fight and his plans. And we spoke with Alex Schoenauer, light heavyweight of the Anacondas, who lost a controversial three-round split decision to Mike Ciesnolevicz of the Silverbacks.

Plus, we spoke with victorious coaches Renzo Gracie of the Pitbulls and Pat Miletich of the Silverbacks about how they analyzed their teams' performances in the semifinals and what to expect in the finals. And we spoke with Ken Yasuda of the Sabres about the semifinals and what to expect next season.

You can read the full results of this event here.

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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.

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

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: Alex Schoenauer, Antonio McKee, Ben Rothwell, Benji Radach, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Gerald Harris, IFL, Ken Yasuda, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, Pat Miletich, Randy Gordon, Renzo Gracie