Monday, June 6, 2011

NY MMA Bill Clears First Assembly Committee, Two More Committees to Go

Don't celebrate just yet, but the first hurdle has just been cleared for the MMA bill in the New York State Assembly.  The Committee on Tourism, Arts and Sports Development just voted 17-3 in favor of sanctioning MMA.  Now it must pass through the Ways & Means Committee and the Codes Committee, then hit the floor for a vote.  Sambo Steve sent around a press release, and here's a chunk of it: "This, along with the Senate's passage of the companion bill, is a clear mandate that New York wants MMA. Next up is the Ways & Means committee, chaired by Assemblyman Farrell. Farrell has a history of opposition to MMA in New York.  Everyone contact Farrell and urge him to follow this mandate, and put the legislation on the Ways & Means calendar!" 

An Interview with John Cholish's Mouthpiece

If you’ve been following the Northeast MMA scene, you’ve no doubt heard of John Cholish, the Team Renzo rep who juggles fighting with a job on Wall Street.  He’s kicked ass judiciously and thoroughly, displayed a wide range of skills and earned himself a ROC belt, and in his last trip to the cage he submitted TUF vet Marc Stevens with a kneebar at Strikeforce’s grand New Jersey visit back in February.  In short, Cholish is THE next big thing, and on Friday night he headlines the latest Cage Fury Fighting Championship installment with a bout against WEC vet Jameel Massouh.  To gain some insight into this Northeast rising star, MMA Journalist tracked down Cholish’s mouthpiece for a quick interview.

  • So, John Cholish’s Mouthpiece, thanks for taking some time out of your busy schedule to speak with me.  JCM: “No problem.  Pleasure’s all mine.”
  • We’ve seen a lot of skills from John in the cage.  Besides the jiu-jitsu he used to tie Marc Stevens in knots, he used some smooth kickboxing to chop down Hitalo Machado at UCC 2 and he used solid wrestling to out-maneuver Rich Moskowitz at Ring of Combat 32.  Talk about the training that goes into acquiring those skills.  JCM: “Well, I can tell you he does shootboxing with John Danaher and the boys and he also trains at Mushin MMA in Greenwich Village, but I can’t give you a specific breakdown of what he does.  I’m mostly kept in a plastic case in his gym bag.  I only come out for sparring.”
  • Okay.  Then maybe you can talk about John Cholish’s toughest battle in the cage?  He really went to war with Moskowitz to snag that ROC title.  JCM: “Um, you know what?  I really can’t speak for John in that regard.”
  • I see.  You do know that Webster’s Dictionary defines a “mouthpiece” as “one that expresses or interprets another’s views”, right?  JCM: “Dude, I’m just a piece of durable plastic that protects his teeth.”
  • Right.  Got it.  Well, thanks again for your time.  JCM: “No problem.  Thanks for having me.”