Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Sunday, July 19, 2015

It Was a Good Week for New York Fighters

NEW YORK


(Yeah, I know Jimmie Rivera lives in New Jersey, but he teaches in New York. Pic courtesy of the UFC's Instagram.)
There was a ton of MMA this week, what with two UFCs, a Titan FC on Fight Pass and a Cage Fury Fighting Championship event in Atlantic City, N.J. For the discerning fan of good scraps, there was a lot to be happy about - and even more so if you were from New York. That's right, New York repped hard. Here's a list of who kicked some ass:

Friday, July 17, 2015

New York Amateur MMA Champ Set to Make Pro Debut

NEW YORK



Cage Fury Fighting Championships 50 is tomorrow in Atlantic City, N.J., and while there are a number of fighters of note competing on the card - like TUF vet Tim Williams, Garden State staple Lester Caslow and rising female scrapper Jenna Serio - one competitor worth keeping an eye on is Jungle Gym standout Paul Grant.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Monday, July 13, 2015

New York MMA Bill Could Pass As Early As January

NEW YORK


Last week I laid out a timetable on getting the New York MMA bill passed in 2016, and it presupposed that the issue would get addressed after the budget gets done in April. But it seems it could get done sooner.

"There is no reason why the Legislature can’t pass the bill in January or February," says David Weinraub, a lobbyist for the UFC.

Although more contentious issues get handled after the budget, legislation does get passed early on, and working in the MMA bill's favor is the fact that it had more the necessary Democratic "yes" votes needed to trigger a trip to the floor by the time the end of the 2015 session rolled around.

Obviously, this means nothing in regards to getting a UFC into Madison Square Garden this year, but getting the bill passed in January is a lot better than getting the bill passed in June.

A lot better.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Fighters Source Returns With an International Tournament

AWESOME


The above memo says it all: Fighters Source, the International Fight League of amateur MMA, is returning this summer for a tournament that will cull the best amateur fighters in the US and pit them against a team from Brazil in the spring. Since their last tournament was pretty damn awesome, I expect this one to be a killer.

A Simple Plan to Get the New York MMA Bill Passed in 2016

NEW YORK


Sheldon Silver arrested. Carl Heastie, an MMA supporter in the past, named as the new Assembly Speaker. A revamped MMA bill. More Assembly members on board than ever before. All of these things really made it seem like 2015 was going to be the year that New York State lifted its statutory ban on sanctioned mixed martial arts. But alas, it was not to be, and once more the fight will continue on for another year.

This time things will be different though. Because the one good thing about getting your butt kicked round after round is what it teaches you, and years of getting frozen out of the Democratic conference, killed in committees and suffocated by the process have finally taught us how to win. We just need a plan.

And here it is.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Tracking the Elusive BX Fight Club

NEW YORK


A few months back, the Bronx-based underground boxing promotion was canceled at the last minute when the police showed up. The authorities were looking for guest rapper DMX, who had allegedly robbed someone the night before, but the end result was the same: Like a ninja in the night, BX Fight Club disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing only when and where they're least expected.

Seriously, it is pretty much impossible to track where these guys are going to do a show next.