With just about every lightweight applicant making his way through the final cut, the competition was stiff in Schaumburg, Illinois, perhaps more so than in either of the other two sessions. (Costa Mesa, CA and Mamaroneck, NY) The two IFL coaches present, Pat Miletich and Maurice Smith were pleased, but not surprised with the turnout and the talent.

"I was expecting a lot of good athletes to come out to the L.A. and New York drafts, but I knew Chicago would bring some hammers," said Miletich. Smith, never short for words had a few comments of his own. "The striking was good, not quite at the Maurice Smith level, but it was good and I was impressed with the grappling," he added. It wasn't all jokes for Smith, though. At one point, frustrated with a perceived lack of effort, the 6'2” kick boxer lost his cool and showed a side of him that the public rarely gets to see as he threw down his clipboard and let everyone know just how he felt. 

Among the talent was former Green Bay Packer Herbert "Whisper" Goodman, who made it to the final round but was cut from the overall draft pool.  There were also military specialists, doggy day sitters and not one, but two certified arborists, or tree doctors. There were also some familiar faces, as Wayne Cole, formerly of the Tokyo Sabres , came out for a second try and impressed Miletich with his potential. Adam Maciejewski, former Red Bear, and John-David Shackelford of the '06 Anacondas both came back for round two as well.

Antonio Hervey, one of the many lightweights to make the final cut, fills his free time in several, rather unusual ways. While one of his day jobs consists of designing video games, he also uses his creativity to help pay the bills through his career as a professional break dancer. "It's just something I love to do," he said of break dancing.  “You have to be flexible and acrobatic.  It's not all that different from MMA, which is something I also love to do. I'm grateful to the IFL for giving me this opportunity and I just hope I can impress the coaches.”

Jim Martens, a police officer by trade, found himself getting involved with MMA to help save his life. "I've been on the force for a few years and with my strong wrestling background, I was always able to take guys down to the ground when they resisted me and from there, I had no problem controlling them,” he said. “Then one day, I was out walking the beat with my partner and we got into it with this guy. I couldn't get him to the ground and I was in big trouble. Luckily, my partner was trained in Muay Thai and had no problem handling the guy. I asked him what that stuff was and he told me, 'Muay Thai.' From there I knew I had to learn it."

In addition to having  the IFL coaching staff present, Bart Palaszewski of the Quad Cities Silverbacks took a break from his tight training schedule to come help out and scout his potential competition. Giedon Ray, welterweight for the Toronto Dragons who was recently shifted onto the World Grand Prix card due to a Brad Blackburn injury, also made a brief appearance.