WCL Fighters
Spratt, Mezger Join Chuck Norris' World Combat League
By Loretta Hunt

"Martial arts fighting, in its many forms, is the world's most popular combat sport," reads the World Combat League's website.

Tonight at the Dallas Convention Center Arena in Texas, martial arts icon Chuck Norris put his own spin on the recent surge of martial arts in America with a sneak preview of his World Combat League, a project he says he envisioned 30 years ago.

Combining "the excitement of combat martial arts and the thrill of routing for your favorite team," says the recognized film and TV star, the WCL claims it is the first to meld kickboxing into the standard league format utilized by mainstream sports—and mixed martial arts fighters Pete Spratt and Guy Mezger have been drafted to take the ride.

Tonight's event, along with more scheduled in the next few months across the country, will be a trial run for an 8-team national league Norris is set to launch in May 2006. Of the four teams scheduled to compete, the Houston Enforcers versus the Los Angeles Stars and the Dallas Dragons versus the Oklahoma Destroyers, Texan Spratt is scheduled to fight Paul Cantrell. Mezger serves as the Houston team's coach.

"Guy actually contacted me and thought it would be a good idea for us to go and try out for this thing and see where it goes," says the man dubbed "the Secret Weapon." "Knowing that Chuck Norris was behind it, it seemed like a good opportunity to get onboard with it."

How does the WCL work? Teams consist of seven members, pre-matched by weight and sex with their opposing team. Each competitor fights one three-minute round against his or her challenger and is scored on a "modified five-point must" system. After all seven individual rounds have concluded, a half-time period allows coaches to strategize and prepare their athletes for a second and final round with the same opponent (fighters KO or TKOed do not continue on). Final scores are tallied at the end to determine the victorious team.

Jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts, back fists and spinning backfists above the waist are a go; clinching, wrestling, sweeping, or throwing are a no-no. Knees to the head are allowed above the waist and to the front and side of the torso. Roundhouse kicks may be delivered to the inside and outside of the front leg, above the knee. All competitors wear Commission-approved gloves and padded shin, instep, and foot protection commonly utilized in American kickboxing events.

With bouts held in a specially designed circular ring surrounded by a 10-inch lip that is elevated 18 inches off the ground, the WCL's 2006 season of eight teams will also host playoffs and a "Crystal Glove" championship to crown the "toughest city."

WCL Fighters

"Chuck's vision is to have this league competing with the NFL, the NBA, the WBA, Major League Baseball, everything," says Spratt. Norris' vision also includes expansion to a worldwide market, with plans to eventually add 16 teams in Europe and 16 teams in Asia to the league.

Portions of WCL will go to the KickStart Foundation, a community service organization started by Norris in 1990 geared toward instilling self-esteem, discipline and respect in youngsters through the martial arts.
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