Bart Palaszewski, one of the IFL's premier lightweight fighters, admits that he's toying with the idea of eventually jumping over to the UFC. Notable quote:
Palaszewski: Yeah. I'm not going to lie, I have. But I'm not in a rush. I'm still a young fighter. I mean I've had like 40 fights but I started when I was 18. I have a lot of fights but a lot of them weren't any big names. It was just pumping fight after fight out because I just wanted to fight. Now the IFL competition is a bit tougher and the pay is going up and stuff. Hopefully it keeps going up so I don't have to fight 10 times a year. But like I said I'm not in a rush or anything. If it happens it happens and if not I'm going to stay with the IFL or whoever else wants to take me. Right now I'm kind of fight-to-fight really. When the contract is up I'll worry about it then. Right now I've thought about it. I've matched myself up with guys from the UFC in my head.
Bart would match up well against many of the UFC's top fighters, but it's noteworthy that he views a potential jump to the UFC as a move to take his career to the next level. By no means is he suggesting a switch is a lateral movement. If he's touting the fact that he's a young fighter who's got more to learn and more experience to gain as a reason to NOT move to the UFC, then you've got to be sober in assessments about the talent level in the IFL.
None of this is breaking news, but it's interesting that a top IFL star would be candid enough to say that.
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