If you can believe it, they are actually taking a page out of the YAMMA playbook. Unreal:
...
While not addressing the issue directly, it's likely that the IFL's decision to use a six-sided ring is based on claims by critics that their product looks too much like boxing on television. Publicly, the IFL is indicating that its audience enjoys the ring and that they are going with a six-sided version in order to create a larger fighting environment.
"From a production and live event standpoint, the ring has proven to be the most fan and media friendly environment, as well as providing the safest possible environment for our athletes," IFL CEO Jay Larkin is quoted as saying in a press release. "The Hex allows for the larger surface that is utilized in other MMA organizations while still retaining the advantages we have enjoyed with the ring."
I just don't understand this. Was anyone crying about the ring only having four sides? Did ANYONE you know say, "You know what the IFL needs? A six-sided ring. That four-sided ring is for boxing, not MMA." No, you didn't because no one said it.
I feel for the IFL because they take so much abuse in the punditocracy when they show flashes of brilliance at times. But this is not one of those times. Not by a longshot.
-- picture from fightlinker.com