Move over Branch Rickey. Roy Englebrecht has established the first minor league system for mixed martial arts.The Southern California fighter promoter on Oct. 28 announced the creation of the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League, which will provide the fledgling sport with its own team-based feeder system. Set to open for business in 2010, the PMMAL will award charter ownerships to teams in six Southern California counties and Las Vegas.“As a club promoter of MMA since it was approved in California in 2006, I know firsthand the struggle young fighters have in trying to get fights and the major struggles small mixed martial arts promoters encounter just trying to promote a show, give the fighters and fans a good experience and, most important, hopefully turn a small profit,” said Englebrecht, who once served as chief operating officer of Golden Boy Promotions. “With the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League, some of the best young MMA fighters competing today can be part of a team, know when and where they will fight each month and be paid and treated like the professional athletes they are.”The eight-team league will be divided into two conferences: the Ocean Conference -- which will consist of San Diego County, Orange County South, Los Angeles County and Ventura County -- and the Desert Conference, which will consist of Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Orange County North and Las Vegas. The PMMAL will hold a league draft next month.Each team will compete in an eight-event -- four home, four away -- regular-season schedule, beginning in February. All eight teams will qualify for the playoffs, which will kick off in October. Semi-finals will be contested a month later, and the two surviving teams will meet for the league championship in December 2010. Fighters -- who must be between ages 18 and 30 and can have no more than eight professional bouts under their belt when they enter the PMMAL -- will be paid a minimum of $10,000 per year but could earn upwards of $25,000.Seven fighters -- a bantamweight and two featherweights, lightweights and middleweights -- from a 12-man roster will compete at each event. They will compete under a point-based system. For instance, fighters will be awarded four points for a knockout, three points for a submission and two points for a unanimous decision. The team with the most points at the end of each event will be declared the winner.“I just felt that if the sport of MMA was to really become mainstream and greatly enlarge its footprint to consumers, sponsors and regulatory bodies that a minor league system needed to be established,” Englebrecht said. “Over the past three years, young MMA fighters just didn’t have the proper stage to perform on, and club promoters had great difficulty in making it a viable business. With the PMMAL, there will finally be a platform in place so that fighters who dream of one day competing in the UFC or Strikeforce can see their dreams come true.”