It’s a big week for the IFL, which is prepping for the finals of its World Grand Prix event this Saturday at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The card, to be televised live on HDNet at 9:30 p.m. ET, will feature five title matches that will crown first-time champions in the featherweight, lightweight welterweight, middleweight, and heavyweight divisions.

Despite a crammed schedule because of the holiday, IFL co-founder and commissioner Kurt Otto still found time to do an interview with me to address a number of issues coming out of last week’s conference call with the media intended to give the public a better idea about planned changes for 2008.

Below is a transcript of my conversation with Otto.

Sam Caplan: The IFL World Grand Prix is this Saturday and will be going up against UFC 79. The WGP is scheduled to be televised on HDNet starting at 9:30 p.m. ET. Initially, I had heard that the IFL was looking to do a two-hour telecast starting at 8 p.m. ET so that the event could serve as a lead-in to UFC 79. Now, you guys will be going head-to-head for an hour and a half. Is there any concern about going head-to-head against the UFC pay-per-view?

Kurt Otto: No, I think that if you’re a true fan of MMA, in my opinion, if I was to buy the UFC pay-per-view, I’d be switching back and forth regardless because there’s such a time span in between the UFC fights that I would want to get everything in.

Sam Caplan: During the conference call last week you chronicled how Kurt Angle joined IFL officials in Florida during the team finals in September. You used the term “buyer’s remorse” in regard to Angle’s feelings about competing in MMA after he had watched the event live. Were you implying that maybe Angle is having second thoughts about getting involved in MMA as a participant?

Kurt Otto: No. I think what happened was that he was very enthusiastic initially and he came down just to see our format and to see some great fights, and to just see our system in place. He was very, very excited and very impressed. And then we had discussed getting him into some type of MMA training regimen with any of our coaches or athletes. At that point he was very busy with his new contract that he had with TNA and his first obligation is to them.

I think it (got) to a point where he started looking at this realistically (and) that there was a possibility that he could be injured and kind of screw up his existing contract that’s paying him very well. I think he just started looking at it realistically. Do I think he’s counting it (MMA) out completely? No, I truly believe that he wants to compete in MMA (but) I just think it’s a timing issue.

Again, when you go and see a fight live and you’re that close, it puts a little different perspective on things and you start to look at this realistically and I think he looked at it like “Wow, you know I could get screwed up here and then ultimately screw up my contract.” In my opinion, I think he held off on that point but he does want to do it. In his heart, I think he does want to do it.

Sam Caplan: Is there any chance of Angle being involved as a coach in 2008?

JUST CLICK HERE TO READ SAM CAPLAN’S INTERVIEW WITH KURT OTTO IN ITS ENTIRETY ON HIS PROELITE.COM BLOG

Saturday’s live broadcast of the first round of the IFL World Grand Prix could be the most crucial event in the league’s brief history.

While new IFL president and COO Jay Larkin has understandably tried to downplay talk that this could be a make or break show for the company regarding whether the ratings performance will determine the IFL’s viability as a live product, I firmly believe that whether the Dec. 29 show gets picked up will have a lot to do with how many people watch on Saturday.

The bottom line is that IFL co-founded and commissioner Kurt Otto has said that the league needs to secure live television in ‘08 if it wants to remain competitive and tonight’s numbers will go a long way in determining whether we’ll see more live IFL telecasts.

MyNetworkTV is not a highly rated network so I don’t even want to begin to guess what numbers would be considered good and what wouldn’t. On average, I would say the league draws between a 0.4 and a 0.7. I’m not a television expert, but I think anything below 0.9 would be considered a disappointment.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG.

I promise I will have my post-UFC 77 thoughts later today. I’m running behind because I attended to IFL draft tryouts in New York on Saturday. It was a full day of MMA for me between the IFL and UFC 77, but I had a blast.

I was xocering the draft cover for CBSSports.com and I will post my professional, third-person feature-style article for CBS later this week, In the meantime I wanted to post my free-form, first-person account here.

As a point of clarification, while the IFL is labeling their three-city tryouts as the “IFL Draft,” I would say that scouting combine would be a more apt description. My understanding is that fighters will be evaluated during the tryouts and then when the tryouts are over and the IFL has verified that these guys aren’t contracted to other promotions, the teams will then be able to choose who they want to join their team.

Overall, I had a lot of fun at this event. It was really great and it is definitely something that should be opened up to the public next year whether it be in a bigger venue or building a webcast around the event.

The tryout process was about as fair as it can be given the circumstances (i.e. a lot of fighters and little time). The fighters were broken down into groups of four and then went through the opening round that consisted of 1:30 of takedowns, a 1:30 of rolling/submission grappling with no closed guard, and 1:30 of standup sparring. Sometimes there were additional rounds if the coaches wanted to see some of the matchups changed. The fighters were told up front not to feel each other out and to get down to business. Most heeded the advice but some did not. Some of the fighters got quick hooks if they were warned to pick up the pace and then didn’t.

CLICK HERE to read the remainder of this article on Sam’s ProElite.com blog.

Yesterday FiveOuncesOfPain.com was the first outlet to report that Ben Rothwell and Mike Whitehead had been removed from the IFL’s upcoming World Grand Prix tournament on Nov. 3 after contracts for the 2008 season could not be secured for either fighter.

The agent for both Rothwell and Whitehead is Monte Cox, who is one of the longest tenured managers in MMA. FiveOuncesOfPain.com contacted Cox for comment in regard to what had been reported yesterday by this site and others.

Below is a transcript of our conversation with Cox…

Sam Caplan: I just wanted to see if you feel that everything that has been reported thus far in regard to Ben Rothwell and Mike Whitehead being pulled from the IFL’s World Grand Prix on Nov. 3 is accurate?

Monte Cox: No, it’s not true. It’s 50% true. The situation is that they wanted to re-sign all three of my guys; Jay Hieron, Mike Whitehead, and Ben Rothwell. They all signed one-year deals and we made one-year deals for a reason — so that we can get to the end of the year and then check the market and see what they’re worth.

Well, then they came up with this Grand Prix that wasn’t in our contact (and) that had never been discussed with me. Then all of a sudden they announce that all of these guys are in the Grand Prix when we never said we’d be to fight.

That being said, they then came to us and said “Oh yeah, to fight in the Grand Prix you have to re-sign for a year plus an option. So basically it was for two years and I said “Our guys won’t do that. We’re not going to fight for two years (when) we only signed for a year. They responded by saying “Well, that’s the way it’s going to be” and I said “Okay, then we’re all out of the Grand Prix.”

Then they came back to us 10 days ago, or whenever, and said “Okay, how about this deal?” And they sent me a new deals with one year deals with three fights. And I looked at them and I looked at Hieron’s and it looked good and I looked at Whitehead’s and it looked it good and then I looked at Ben’s… and I just don’t know what Ben’s worth. I think that I need to wait until the contract ends and I need to check the market to see what Ben’s worth. He’s a big name now.

I called back and I said “Whitehead’s in and Hieron’s in” and they said, “What about Ben?” I told them we’re not going to do anything with Ben (and) that I’m going to wait until the season ends. And they said that “If Ben doesn’t sign then these other two guys are out.” I go “What do you mean?” They said “If Ben doesn’t sign then the other two guys can’t fight in the Grand Prix.”

And I go “Well, that’s retarded. Why would you do that? It’s not even related.” And they said that was the way it is and I said a few choice words to (IFL V.P. of Operations) Keith Evans and told them what I thought of them and the IFL and I said “That’s fine. We’re out. We’re all out.”

Then the next day Keith Evans calls Hieron and tells him they need to meet. So they go meet and drive off and Hieron calls me and says, “You’re not going to believe this. I just went for a ride with the IFL and they tried to get me to sign a contract in the back of their car. They said that ‘Monte wasn’t doing a good job and he’s not handling things properly and you need to sign this thing and you need to do it now.’”

Hieron said “I’m not doing anything without my manager” and he didn’t do it. Then he called me. I’m like, what is the IFL, is this the Sopranos now? So I had them FAX me the contract and I looked at the contract. It was the same contract I had already approved. I already said we’d do this. So I went “Jay, it’s a good contract. I’d sign it.” So Jay signed the contract.

Then, Mike Whitehead calls me and goes “Hey, what about me?” And I go “Let’s call these guys.” He calls them and Kurt (Otto) told them over the phone that “You should have signed yesterday. That was the deadline, you could have done it. Your manager knew.” They just made all this shit up (as if) they never told me if Rothwell didn’t sign that the others were out. (They were) pretending that it didn’t happen.

So Mike said “What are you talking about? What’s the difference if I was good to sign yesterday then I’m good to sign now! I want to fight in the Grand Prix! I’ll sign the deal for next year.”

Nope, they’re not interested, they won’t do it.

So no, he’s (Whitehead) not out of the Grand Prix because of a contract dispute. We 100% absolutely said we would sign with him and Hieron and they wouldn’t let either guy sign and then they backdoored to get Hieron in and decided not to get Mike.

Sam Caplan: When I initially called you for comment you had mentioned that it seemed as though there might have been an assurance from the IFL that Mike would be released from his 2007 contract early if nothing negative was said about the IFL. And now it’s been reported in several articles that Mike won’t be released early.

Monte Cox: That’s why we’re talking (laughs).

Sam Caplan: So do you feel the IFL went back on a promise?

Click here to read the rest of this interview on Sam’s blog at ProElite.com.

There’s a bunch of MMA-related news stories making the rounds right now. How about a quick review?

- MMAWeekly.com is reporting that IFL commissioner Kurt Otto has informed the site that Shawn Tompkins has been released from his duties as head coach of the LA Anacondas.

- The IFL will be releasing its first DVD next Tuesday. “IFL: Greatest Knockouts and Extreme Action” will be available through Warner Home Video at Best Buy, Netflix.com, Amazon.com, Borders, Wal-Mart and other fine retail outlets.

- The Fight Network is reporting that BodogFIGHT will have a hand in Strikeforce’s card on Sept. 29 at the Playboy Mansion. Bodog has sponsored Strikeforce events before and it looks like they will be lending some fighters to the event. According to the report, Matt Lee will fight Jorge Masvidal. Already scheduled for the show is Gilbert Melendez vs. Tesuji Kato, Joe Riggs vs. Eugene Jackson, and Josh Thomson vs. Adam Lynn. Daniel Puder and Bobby Southworth are scheduled for separate bouts.

- UFCMania.com is reporting that Nathan Marquardt is looking to return to the UFC in January.

- Sean Salmon has a new column available on MMAjunkie.com talking about his recent loss to Travis Wiuff on an IFO show in Vegas and an even more recent win on a smaller show in Ohio. He also talks about his involvement with Mark Cuban’s HD Fights but makes no mention of his current UFC status. Bummer.

- Pro wrestling web site PWInsider.com recently posted a one sentence blurb claiming that Brock Lesnar is “finalizing” his UFC contract.

- According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Scott Junk will replace Justin McCully against Christian Wellisch on the UFC 76 undercard next Saturday.

In case you missed it, the first show of “Inside the Cage Radio” is now available.

Joining Matt Cava and I on the show this past weekend were IFL co-founder and commissioner Kurt Otto and BodogFIGHT analyst Paul Lazenby.

Both Kurt and Paul were great guests.

Kurt talked about the semifinals that were just held on Thursday, the possibility of doing live shows in the future, why Bart Palaszewski qualified for the lightweight WGP instead of Shad Lierley, and much more.

Paul was extremely candid in addressing reports that claim Bodog is making cutbacks and in giving his thoughts about who would be favored if a match between Tara LaRosa and Gina Carano was ever signed.

Matt and I also discussed the big stories in MMA right now, including Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca’s appeal hearings before CSAC on Monday, our early thoughts on UFC 74, whether Liddell vs. Jardine is a legitimate main event, and much more!

Special thanks to our producer, John Floyd, and also to Matt, who did all the post-production work in getting the show posted.

Please leave your feedback here.

Also, we’d greatly appreciate it if you could help spread the word whether it be a mention on your blog, an e-mail to your friends, a link in a message forum, etc. Any and all support will be greatly appreciated!

The first show of Inside the Cage Radio is now available!

You can listen by clicking here.

NOTE: If the volume is too low, click on the small speaker icon on the left that appears on your Quicktime player and turn the volume up. 

Joining Matt Cava and I on the show were IFL co-founder and commissioner Kurt Otto and BodogFIGHT analyst Paul Lazenby.

Both Kurt and Paul were great guests.

Kurt talked about the semifinals that were just held on Thursday, the possibility of doing live shows in the future, why Bart Palaszewski qualified for the lightweight WGP instead of Shad Lierley, and much more.

Paul was extremely candid in addressing reports that claim Bodog is making cutbacks and in giving his thoughts about who would be favored if a match between Tara LaRosa and Gina Carano was ever signed.

Matt and I also discussed the big stories in MMA right now, including Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca’s appeal hearings before CSAC on Monday, our early thoughts on UFC 74, whether Liddell vs. Jardine is a legitimate main event, and much more!

Special thanks to our producer, John Floyd, and also to Matt, who did all the post-production work in getting the show posted.

Please leave your feedback here.

Also, we’d greatly appreciate it if you could help spread the word whether it be a mention on your blog, an e-mail to your friends, a link in a message forum, etc. Any and all support will be greatly appreciated!

In addition to Bodog Fight color commentator Paul Lazenby, Matt Cava and I will be joined by IFL commissioner and co-founder Kurt Otto during Saturday’s debut edition of “Inside the Cage Radio.”

Kurt will be on to discuss the IFL’s semifinals that took place yesterday in addition to the upcoming finals and Grand Prix events. We’ll also ask him about other pertinent questions pertaining to the IFL.

In addition to our guests, Matt and I will be talking about the UFC and our thoughts about a lot of the matches they’ve recently announced; our thoughts on Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca and their upcoming appeals  in front of CSAC next week; the WEC’s next live event on Sunday; our picks for the best and worst MMA-related televisions shows; and much more!

If there are any questions that you’d like Matt and I ask to Kurt and Paul, just leave them here in the comments area.

Also, remember to check back here or UFCTakedown.com on Saturday night or Sunday morning for the debut edition of “Inside the Cage Radio!”