User:Ocee/ICSF

The International Sport Combat Federation (ISCF) is a sanctioning body for the sport of mixed martial arts with an aim of recognising a set of worldwide champions. The ISCF sanctions professional and amateur MMA, as well as submission wrestling. MMA Zone has credited the ISCF with bringing MMA into the mainstream as a worldwide-recognised sport

History
The ISCF was formed in 1999. In 2006, the UFC Organization made MMA a more recognized sport with a TV deal with Spike TV. The show was a great success and almost overnight, the sport of MMA Exploded in the publics eye in the United States. Because of the sports popularity and the need for safety and fairness through "Sanctioning" of the sport throughout the USA, ISCF's number of sanctioned events grew as well. Soon the ISCF became one of the, if not THE, largest neutral-non promoting MMA sanctioning body in North America, sanctioning hundreds of events a year. .

The ISCF has sanctioned MMA in many places. Some States before MMA was an accepted sport and several that use MMA Sanctioning Bodies such as the ISCF to oversee all aspects of an event even today.

As of January, 2010, the ISCF has sanctioned events in Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Nevada, Idaho, Louisiana, Virginia, Washington DC, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, North Dakota, Michigan, Massachusetts, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Connecticut and California along with Canada, Mexico, England, India, Iran and even an armed forces event in Iraq in 2009.

As was the case for States such as Georgia, Nevada, Missouri, Idaho, Virginia, Louisiana, Washington DC, Oklahoma and Tennessee, { Tennseee Athletic Commission as a sanctioning body. } in January of 2010 the State of South Carolina recently approved ISCF as a Pro and Amateur sanctioning body.

The ISCF is the sister organization of the International Kickboxing Federation. It is based in Newcastle, California, and its President is Steve Fossum and Vice President is Steve Crawford out of Kansas City, Kansas.

Involvement with United States Armed Forces
The ISCF has a history of working with other MMA organisations to help the United States Armed Forces. In 2006, they sanctioned an event benefitting the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign. Also, in 2009, the ISCF was involved with organising the first professional mixed martial arts fights in Iraq as part of a way to entertain the United States Armed Forces. The event was called "A Fight Night for Heroes."