Big Dan Miragliotta is Building an Ark - Should We Worry?

NEW JERSEY

I don't know about you, but when someone starts building an ark, I have the urge to check up on the weather forecast.

Such is the case with "Big" Dan Miragliotta, who can often be seen refereeing bouts in the UFC, Bellator and in smaller shows around the country, but who lately has been building something wooden and capable of holding two of every animal.

After the jump, check out the pics of his handiwork (and yes, I'm pretty sure that's Russell Crowe with him in some of the photos).

Ring of Combat 48 Card Shaping Up Nicely

NEW JERSEY

Ring of Combat 48 isn't until May 16, so a million things can happen between now and then that could change the card, but there is a preliminary version up, and it looks awesome.

The first thing that sticks out in terms of tantalizing match-ups is the pairing of Chris Wade and Frankie Perez. Wade is the current 155-pound champ, Perez is undefeated, and together they make for a bout that's going to have their respective extremely-sizable cheering sections going wild.

Flashback: Cage Fury Fighting Championship 16

NEW JERSEY

I'm not going to lie - I've covered so many shows in my 13 years of reporting on the sport that sometimes I have to get creative just to stay interested. Yes, sitting cageside is always awesome, but do a million stories from that vantage point and you become stale and complacent. Which is why this flashback to Cage Fury Fighting Championship 16, which took place in Atlantic City on August 25, 2012, is a good one. For this CFFC, I followed around a NJSACB inspector. The perspective was enlightening.

Long Island-Based UFC Fighter Database is Noble But Sad

UFC

Generally, when you look for a fighter database to use as a reference tool, you want something with depth, i.e., a lot of fighter entries. That's why mixedmartialarts.com and Sherdog have good ones, and even Wikipedia is servicable. But Newsday put together a database of all Long Island-based fighters who've made it to the UFC, and while the cause behind it is noble - celebrating the hometown heroes who made it to the big leagues - there's something fundamentally sad about the whole thing.

There are only 13 entries.

Sure, our sport is just 20 years old, and the pool of talent as a whole is still relatively small. But 13.... damn.

Anyway, check it out. It worth looking at to remind you who those lone 13 guys are.

UFC Fight Night 38 Primer: Gian Villante

UFC

There's a UFC this Sunday night (!), and headlining the card is a rematch between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Dan Henderson - two guys who probably don't have much fight left in them, but so what, right? Anyway, since the event takes place in Brazil, the undercard is of course stocked with a ton of Brazilians. But tucked away in there somewhere is Long Island native - and former Ring of Combat champ - Gian Villante. Hooray!

In case you don't remember, throughout 2009 and 2010, Villante was widely considered to be the next superstar coming out of the Northeast. And though his friend and training partner Chris Weidman ended up being "that guy", Villante remains one tough S.O.B. capable of thrilling us.

Below is probably one of the worst videos ever of Villante fighting in ROC. Still, it's better than nothing. Enjoy!

New York Fight Exchange 2: Mess with the Bull, Get the Horns

NEW YORK

If you mess with the bull, you get the horns. This was the lesson learned by Jonathan Lopez, who took a fight on short notice to challenge New York Fight Exchange welterweight champ Jerome "The Bull" Mickle at Saturday night's NYFE 2: "Ides of March" show.

Observations From My Couch: UFC 171

UFC

• I'm not going to come out and say Bubba McDaniels sucks, because that would be cruel to a fighter who's dedicated so much to the sport. But he sucks.
• Dennis Bermudez is now far more successful than Diego Brandao, who beat him to become the winner of TUF 14. Think about that.
• Kelvin Gastelum won. To those of you who had the TUF winner losing within two Octagon appearances in the "The Ultimate Fighter Stinks" pool, sorry. He's definitely beating the odds.
• Look at Ovince St. Preux slowly creeping up the rankings. What a sly dog.
• Hector Lombard is a great two-round fighter. That third round is a tough one, though.
• Add Jake Shields to the list of fighters who are faded and should retire soon.
• Oh God, please, no more fights for Diego Sanchez. He's going to die out there.
• Tough break for Carlos Condit, but I'm still not sold on Tyron Woodley.
• Johny Hendricks versus Robbie Lawler is the closet an MMA bout has come to re-enacting the fight scene in a '70s kung fu flick. They literally stood in front of each other throwing strikes while blocking and parrying. It was ridiculously awesome.

Flashback: The UFC 159 Herald Square Takeover

UFC

Everyone loves it when the circus comes to town, and for MMA fans, that circus is the UFC. Thanks to archaic New York State law, obviously the closest the UFC can come to staging fights is to have them in nearby New Jersey, but that doesn't mean all the media and fan stuff can't happen here! Take a trip down memory lane for UFC 159, and the Herald Square takeover they did.

Results: New York Fight Exchange 2 "Ides of March" - 3.15.14

NEW YORK

• Rob Diggle def. Uniah Banks via Submission (Heelhook) at 1:16, R1
• Elija Punzone def. Eric D'Arce via Split Decision
• Alfred Jones def. Rich Pabon via Unanimous Decision
• Kenny Sweeney def. Matt Shamloo via TKO (doc stoppage - broken nose) at 1:26, R2
• Pat Carroll def. Ahmed Aboras via TKO (Punches) at 2:59, R1
• Omowale Adewale def. Nick Olson via Technical Majority Decision (after duel shin injuries)
• Rick Schaffer def. Juan Rosario via TKO (knee injury) at 1:12, R3
• Pedro Villa def. Will Joya via TKO (Punches) at 1:49, R3

NYFE Featherweight Title

• Rob Scotti def. Felipe Carlos via Technical Submission (Heelhook) at 1:15, R2

NYFE Welterweight Title

• Jerome Mickle def. Jonathan Lopez via TKO (Punches) at 1:34, R2

For fight videos, go here.

Kung Fu Dude to UFC: "Stop the Bullying!"

UFC

The saga of the angry kung fu dudes continues.

Because of the UFC's efforts to force Novell Bell to cease using an octagonal shape in his logo, others from within New York City's traditional martial arts community have stepped forward and made videos that take the number one MMA promotion in the world to task. Here's one from a Tai Chi guy:

Live Coverage of Tonight's NYFE 2 "Ides of March" Show

NEW YORK

The MMA Journalist will be cageside for tonight's NYFE 2 "Ides of March" show, so if you want live updates and pics, follow me on Twitter. Otherwise, you can just wait for the postfight write-up to be posted here. It is literally up to you.

NYFE 2 "Ides of March": Eric D'Arce on Life of a Fighter's Podcast

NEW YORK

The website Life of a Fighter had up-and-coming New York bantamweight Eric D'Arce on their podcast this week, and since D'Arce is a tough guy with a lot of promise who's fighting at the NYFE show tonight, it behooves you to check it out.

More UFC 171 Preview Vids

UFC

UFC 171 graces our televisions tomorrow night, and though I'll be cageside at the NYFE show in Queens doing my thing there, I most definitely will come home afterwards and watch all the Octagon action (which you will have already seen by that time - don't spoil it for me, please).

In the spirit of the UFC fun we'll have at various times tomorrow night, here are a bunch of preview videos for the event.

Manup Standup vs. the UFC?

UFC

Okay, now this video makes sense.

It seems New York City-based underground fight league Manup Standup is having a bit of a dust-up with the folks at the UFC. Novell Bell, MUSU's promoter, trademarked a logo for his organization that includes an octagonal shape - and as everyone knows, the UFC owns all things with eight sides (including stop signs and this Chuck Norris flick from the '80s).

Here's Bell's logo:

New York State Senate Still Likes MMA

NEW YORK

It literally means almost nothing, but it's a good gesture nonetheless. The New York State Senate, which every years takes a pair of scissors and a marker to the governor's annual budget proposal and cuts and adds what they think is important, has opted to include MMA in their suggested edits this year.

The entirety of the reference to the sport is: "Part VV: The Senate advances language to allow mixed martial arts in the state of New York."

That's it. And like I said, it doesn't mean much, especially since for the past few years the MMA bill has been breezing through the Senate. But hey, it's the thought that counts - right?

Throwback Thursday: Bob Reilly's "The Case Against Ultimate Fighting in New York" Memo

NEW YORK

For a few years, the battle for lifting the ban on pro MMA in New York invariably involved dealing with the anti-MMA vitriol spouted by Assemblyman Bob Reilly (who has since retired). No one against the sport was as vocal as Assemblyman Reilly, and because any MMA bill on its way to the Assembly floor had to first get past the subcommittee he sat on, we were constantly subjected to his cries of excessive violence and the decay of society.

In the 2009 legislative session, Assemblyman Reilly circulated a memo titled "The Case Against Ultimate Fighting in New York", delivering it to his fellow legislators to help sway their opinions on the matter.

Of course, since the email addresses of all New York State legislators are readily available on their webpages, there was nothing stopping a concerned citizen from drafting a memo of their own and sending it out to the Assembly.

Which is what I did. You can read my memo below.

Throwback Thursday: Christian Montes vs. Joe Lauzon

NEW YORK

Photo courtesy of Full Contact Fighter - I think. God, it was so long ago that I can't even remember.

One of my first longer features for Full Contact Fighter was "A Tale of Three Fighters", a 2003 story which involved me interviewing three fighters who were at three very different points in their careers, the interviews happening both before and after a fight they had coming up. Nick Strehle was the rookie, and he was stepping into the ring at a BAMA Fight Night; Ricco Rodriguez was the UFC champ, and he was to defend his belt against Tim Sylvia. Playing the role of journeyman was Christian Montes, who was slated to compete at a Reality Fighting.

Back then, you could almost divide up the New York City MMA scene into cliques, with the Team Renzo guys dominating a big portion of the cafeteria, the Matt Serra/Ray Longo guys hanging out by the gym teacher, the Tiger Schulmann crew hitting on the lunch lady, and the various other smaller groups trying to eat their mac & cheese and drink their chocolate milk in relative solitude. But smoking cigarettes behind the janitor's shed were the Jeet Kune Do dudes - the original martial arts cross-trainers - who were learning jiu-jitsu techniques along with boxing and stick fighting and whatever else looked cool.

Christian was part of the JKD clique (he was Straight Blast Gym - pretty much the same thing).

Anyway, Christian won his Reality Fighting bout, which made for a happy ending to my article (especially considering that Rodriguez got KO'd by Sylvia). Below is the fight Christian took afterwards, a Mass Destruction match-up against some youngster named Joe Lauzon. Enjoy.

NYFE 2 "Ides of March" Preview, Part 3

NEW YORK

We're just a couple days away from the NYFE event now, which is good because I'm running out of relevant videos to post. Anyway, Saturday's card will see Jerome Mickle - who owns a shiny UCL belt to go with his NYFE welterweight championship strap - take on... well, someone. I think it's Jonathan Lopez now, but at various times it was other people who for one reason or another had to drop out. But that's okay! Because a fight's a fight!

And for your viewing pleasure, Jerome's last fight is after the jump!

UFC 171 Preview Stuff: Robbie Lawler in Action

UFC

Thanks to champ Georges St. Pierre hitting the road and leaving a cloud of dust in his wake, there's now a vacant UFC belt - and on Saturday at UFC 171, Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks are going to slug it out to determine who deserves the right to wear it.

Fun fact: I was cageside for Lawler's first UFC appearance, which was at UFC 37. He was a beast then, and he's a beast now. (If you want to read something I wrote about that experience, go here.)

Anyway, the UFC was kind enough to post some vids of Lawler training, so watch and enjoy.

NYFE 2 "Ides of March" Preview, Part 2

NEW YORK

Another day passes, and another day we're closer to the New York Fight Exchange's next show. As I said yesterday, doing a preview for Saturday night's event at the Amazura Concert Hall in Jamaica, Queens, could be problematic given the amount of changes an amateur fight card undergoes up until fight time. But the NYFE event is a big, important one in the New York MMA scene, so it deserves some sort of coverage.

Here, then, are more videos of some of the fighters on the card in action. Enjoy!