The Fight Network is reporting that the IFL is up for sale. This isn’t much of a surprise since their financial woes have been reported for awhile.

The International Fight League is actively pursuing buyers and partners, according to IFL CEO Jay Larkin. The news comes as little surprise to the many who have called the camp-based mixed martial arts promotion’s demise inevitable.

“Are we actively looking for a partner or sale?” Larkin asked. “The answer is yes. We entertain phone calls and questions almost on a daily basis from potential investors, potential buyers, people who want to get in the MMA business, people who are already in the MMA business.”

Seasoned by more than two decades with Showtime, Larkin touted the IFL’s organizational pieces, which include global television deals and partnerships, along with some of the sport’s top young talents and relationships with many of its best-known trainers, including Pat Miletich, Renzo Gracie and Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland.

Many of the staff here at SavSci felt the ‘team based’ concept was doomed from the start. Larkin, however, sees the writing on the wall for the sport and its a vision shared by most of us here:

Larkin, who spoke candidly throughout the teleconference, thinks the sport of MMA can only move forward through cooperation between promotions.

“There are just too many little groups out there fighting over the same meatless bone,” Larkin said. “I do believe the MMA world is a fractured world, and the way to make it a healthier, stronger and mainstream sport is through consolidation and rollup.”

He points to the recent shutdowns of several organizations — the Canada-based Hardcore Championship Fighting ceased operations last week — as evidence and questions whether the popularity of the sport outside the UFC might have been overly exaggerated.

“In the last three to six months, I would say about 10 MMA companies have either folded, changed hands, closed down for reorganization or completely gone out of business,” Larkin said. “That is a very high casualty rate, especially with all the noise about how popular MMA is and how it’s crossing all demographics.”

Having repeated his calls for co-promotion within the industry, Larkin backed up his words with actions. Two of the IFL’s top young stars — Bart Palaszewski and Rory Markham — will compete at Adrenaline MMA’s inaugural show on June 14. Larkin also revealed he had discussed the possibility of loaning welterweight champion Jay Hieron to EliteXC for an event.

“We’re indicating and saying very clearly without hesitation we want to work with other promoters,” Larkin said. “We would happily loan our fighters out if they’re available to fight. That’s the way to do it.”

Larkin forecasted a grim future for the sport — outside the UFC — if promoters do not embrace the idea of co-promotion. Unified championships, he said, are also a must.

“If there is a future to MMA and that future goes beyond UFC, then there has to be co-promotion,” he said. “Fighters have to fight fighters from competing promotional camps, and everyone’s got to work together to have unified champions. Otherwise, this is doomed to peter out.”

The popularity is there, but Larkin’s point is well taken. He’s not a guy that just fell off the proverbial ‘turnip truck’. Larkin was the head of Showtime’s boxing activities for more than a decade before being run off due to restructuring at Viacom, the network’s corporate owners. In other words, he knows what he’s talking about. There’s plenty of money for everyone, but the many small organizations aren’t going to compete with the UFC on their own. More importantly, the public will eventually demand ‘undisputed’ champions–or at least will want to see the various promotions working toward that end. Hopefully the DREAM/EliteXC partnership is a first step in this direction:

IFL is seeking buyers for the troubled league @ Fox Sports/FightNetwork