Le Banner, Park, Sperry, and Henderson join IFL as coaches

Jerome LeBanner, Grandmaster Park, Mario Sperry, and Dan Henderson are the latest martial artists to join the IFL as coaches.

The IFL made the announcement at a Friday news conference prior to the IFL World Team Finals.

K-1 kickboxer Jerome LeBanner first duty as coach will be to assemble a team based in France. While the sport is popular in France, mixed martial art is not legal, and this is part of an effort for the IFL to help legalize the sport in France.

Grandmaster Park will be in charge of putting together a team in South Korea, where he said, all martial arts schools in Korea have transformed into mixed martial arts schools.

Henderson will bring in fighters from his Team Quest camp and won't have a problem adjusting to a team-based format. "Growing up as a wrestler, we had this team concept," said Henderson. "We all had a common goal."

Mario Sperry will use his powers as a coach to bring in talent from Brazil, where Sperry said provides no opportunities for fighters. "The best guys from Brazil, for sure, they are dying (to fight)."

Also in attendance were Igor Zinoviev and Marco Ruas.

Chicago Red Bears coach Zinoviev said he is happy to be "getting a second breath" in the business. Zinoviev has been away from the sport since 1998 after being put out of action from a Frank Shamrock slam. Zinoviev said he is open to returning as a fighter in 2007.

Condors coach Marco Ruas already has a team of Brazilian fighters - one of whom is his nephew. Ruas is slated to fight Maurice Smith on March 17th in Los Angeles, California.

Source: MMAFighting.com