Carlos Newton first received international MMA attention on May 15, 1998, when he made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 17: Redemption, defeating Bob Gilstrap by triangle before going the 15-minute distance against Dan Henderson, only to lose by decision.

Carlos later went on to win UFC’s Welterweight Title on May 4, 2001, when he submitted Pat Miletich by bulldog choke at UFC 31:Locked and Loaded. Newton also fought in PRIDE, where among other names he defeated Renzo Gracie at Bushido 1, on October 5, 2003.

More recently, Carlos was approached by the IFL to coach a Canadian-based team for the International Fighting League (IFL): the world’s first team-based MMA organization.

And Newton is now leading one of the new teams entering phase two of the organization’s competition. IFL’s first season commenced with four teams: Anacondas (6-4), Pitbulls (2-3), Silverbacks (7-3) and Tiger Sharks (7-8). They have now added four more teams: Dragons (0-0), Razorclaws (0-0), Sabres (0-5) and Wolfpack (3-2).

On Saturday, September 23, Carlos’s team, the Dragons, will be competing against Frank Shamrock’s Razorclaws at The MARK of Quad Cities, Moline, Illinois. During the week before the competition, ‘The Ronin’ was in the US, preparing for his team to make their IFL debut.

“I’m in the hotel in Illinois. The Dragons guys are here and I’m just getting them filled in. They’ll be ready to fight the Razorclaws on Saturday night,” says Newton.

Carlos, at age four, what made you take up a martial art?

“Basically, I came home from school and I told my step-dad that a kid hit me. And my step-father hit me and told me, ‘Don’t you come home and tell me a kid hit you and you didn’t hit him back.’ So I learnt karate for self defense as a young boy.”

You were born in Anguilla, British Virgin Islands. Why did you move from there to Ontario?

“For a better education and for a variety of choices for the future. I was also the eldest of five boys, and I knew it would make life easier for my family in the near future. I met my aunt in Canada for the first time and lived with her.”

How did you celebrate your 30^th birthday (born 17 Aug. ’76)?

“I was training with the guys – nobody was able to give me any birthday beatings.”

What is Dragonball?

“It’s something that I use to describe my fighting style, and something a lot of the kids up there in Canada identify with and what it represents. They have a real understanding of the values, the concepts involved, and the type of person I am.”

Is there any striking in Dragonball, or is it more grappling?

“Dragonball is primarily MMA. There’s only one rule: Win.”

Some of your victories in MMA have included defeating Renzo Gracie, and submitting Pat Miletich. Why did your bout with Renzo only go two rounds? Were they five-minute rounds?

“They were two 10-minute rounds.”

Will you be fighting the winner of the Pat Miletich vs. Renzo Gracie bout?

“It’s something we’re considering right now, and we have to wait till after their fight to see what the circumstances are. But it’s something everyone is interested in, and there’s a possibility it could happen.”

You’ve spent a lot of your career in Japan, and you have your Dragonball system. Is that why you’ve been assigned the Dragons for your team logo?

“Well, as coaches, we get to choose our team logo. We have the opportunity to contribute our input, and I chose Dragons.”

You have some experienced fighters in your team - Joe Doerksen and Dennis Hallman – does that help?

“Yeah, it’s a great help to the team to have guys who are so experienced. We also have a lot of young talent training with us, so it’s beneficial for them to train and interact with the more experienced guys who are able to raise the less experienced ones to a higher level. At the same time, the younger guys help to keep the veteran fighters motivated and more energetic. They have to show the young ones what they’ve got. It makes things very interesting for us – we have a new experience every day and it makes training a lot of fun. It’s very challenging.”

With the exception of Dennis Hallman (Cowboy Karate), the style listed on the IFL site for each team member is just MMA at this stage. Are your members mainly grapplers?

“We have a real mix of guys. We have a great striker: Wojtek Kaszowski, and an excellent grappler in Rob Di Censo. The rest of the guys fall in the middle of those two, so we’re very well rounded… extremely well rounded.”

Does the four-minute round suit the striker more than the grappler?

“No, actually it levels the playing field. I think the five-minute round suits the grappler much more: A person can grapple quite hard for five minutes – their body and muscles won’t lose their strength. Muscles lose their speed after three minutes – that’s the problem, and speed is a direct ally of striking. Without speed, you have a hard time knocking someone out or catching them off guard.

“Whereas, when you wrestle, it’s a pace that your muscles can sustain for a much longer period of time than five minutes. How long your strength can sustain, that’s another question, but five-minute rounds do favor grapplers more.”

Is the Warrior Martial Arts Center where the team trains?

“Yes, that’s our home gym. That gym is owned and operated by my coach and manager Terry Riggs – together we run the operation of the gym.”

Are all the team members staying in Ontario now?

“Most of the guys do. For the ones who commute to our mandatory training sessions, we board them up for the time they are in town, then they go back and train at their own gyms.”

How often are these mandatory sessions?

“For the guys I train locally, they do a minimum of three or four times a week. For the guys who have to fly in, they do two or three times a month.”

How is Wojtek going? Are you expecting a big weekend from him?

“Yeah, I expect a lot from Wojtek. He’s going to make his debut in IFL, and personally, I think he’s one of the most exciting heavyweights I’ve ever seen. I really enjoy watching him strike and doing his stand-up. He has a great appeal to the crowd, an amazing personality, and he’s a wonderful showman. He has great abilities and skills, and is only a young guy.”

Carlos, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I’d like to add that the IFL as an organization made some incredible strides in the last year, they’re going to grow at a phenomenal rate, and although we covered a lot of ground in the last year, we’re going to cover ten times that. This is an organization that is going to blow everyone’s mind. The sport in this type of package is ideal. It’s going to grab everyone’s attention and the fighters love one-hundred-percent being part of the IFL. We enjoy all the prospects and we look forward to our future in the IFL.”

Your sponsors?

“Suzuki, Dale and Thomas Popcorn, Double Sport, Full Contact Fighter, Gladiator, Xbox 360, Ticket Master, and Fairtex.”

For more on Carlos Newton and IFL: www.ifl.tv.