Friday Night Fights Primer: Another Video, This One Featuring Ladies

NEW YORK

FNF is tonight, and continuing in their efforts to drum up interest, the promotion has released yet another video of a bout from a past show. Now, I'm not entirely sure if these ladies are actually fighting on tonight's card, but hey, so what? It's still Muay Thai.

Some Aljamain Sterling Fights to Whet Your Appetite

UFC

UFC Fight Night 45: Cowboy vs. Miller will make Atlantic City, N.J. interesting this coming Wednesday, with the eponymous bout of Donald Cerrone and Jim Miller pretty much guaranteeing fireworks. But there are some sparks waiting to fly on the undercard, and you can credit a lot of them to the capable hands of Northeast MMA star Aljamain Sterling.

In case you've forgotten Sterling's level of badassery when he was a regional fighter, here's a little reminder.

Aggressive Combat Championship 7 Primer: A Manup Standup Champ vs. Team Tiger Schulmann

NEW YORK

Saturday night's Aggressive Combat Championship 7 at York College in Queens has a lot to offer in terms of compelling amateur MMA bouts, but there's also an intriguing Muay Thai bout or two lurking on the card - not the least of which is former Manup Standup champ Will Cavali versus Team Tiger Schulmann rep Steve Inoshima.

To fully grasp the potential for excitement in this pairing, watch the following videos. Then we'll be on the same page.

Throwback Thursday: EliteXC's "Heat" Event

AWESOME

EliteXC's "Heat" event, which was on October 4, 2008 at an arena near Ft. Lauderdale, F.L., was awesome on so many levels. The backstage food spread for the press was epic, there was high drama with Ken Shamrock cutting himself with a razor to sink the main event, and there was Kimbo Slice falling to last-minute replacement Seth Petruzelli - thereby pretty much killing EliteXC's prospects for a sustainable future.

By the way, I apologize for the quality of these pics. I was using a model of BlackBerry so retro, it had a rotary dial for making calls.

Aggressive Combat Championship 7 Primer: Up Close With Rashad Clarke

NEW YORK

As they're oft to do, another refugee from the underground fight scene will soon be making the transition to "above the board" event. I'm talking about none other than Rashad Clarke, who's been a staple in the Underground Combat League for years, and who will step into the cage on Saturday night at Aggressive Combat Championship to face Eric Taylor. In the spirit of getting to know New York City's MMA fighters better, The MMA Journalist shot Clarke a few questions; here are his answers.

Yes, There Are Compelling Regional MMA Stories Outside of New York - Why Do You Ask?

AWESOME

Sometimes it's good to gaze beyond the borders of the Empire State and examine the regional scenes that exist elsewhere in the world. Thanks to Portland, O.R.-based filmmaker Jin Ryu, here's a brief documentary on an aspiring local fighter (local to Portland, that is) named Hadi. Check it out.

Friday Night Fights Primer: Another Video Featuring NJ Mac

NEW YORK

Based on the frequency with which the promoters are releasing videos of kickboxer NJ Mac, you'd think Friday's edition of Friday Night Fights is all about that fighter and what he's going to do to the rest of the unsuspecting competitors of the eight-man tournament. Anyway, here's Mr. Mac in action once more. Watch him below, then show up at the Broad Street Ballroom down by Wall Street tomorrow night and watch him again.

Flashback: Aggressive Combat Championship - 5.10.14

NEW YORK

Aggressive Combat Championship 7 is just about upon us, so here's a look back at their last show, which took place in May at the same venue in Queens. On Saturday you can expect more of this brand of thrills and action.

Pics From the Last MMA Platinum Gloves

NEW YORK

In case you missed the last MMA Platinum Gloves event on Long Island, fear not, photographer Joe LoBianco has got you covered. Check them out here.

Check Out This Commercial for the Upcoming Fighters Source Show

NEW YORK

On July 26, the MMA World Expo at the Javits Center will play host to the culmination of Fighters Source's latest national amateur MMA tournament. If the prospect of seeing top amateurs from across the country isn't enough to convince you to come check it out, maybe this video will do the trick.

UFC COO Ike Lawrence Epstein Talks MMA

UFC

There was another installment of the Columbia University Sports Management Program's class on MMA in New York last night, and the guest lecturer was a doozy. UFC Chief Operating Officer Ike Lawrence Epstein took a turn with the conch shell, and with New York-based lobbyists David Weinraub and Steve Greenberg on hand, the pearls of wisdom were seemingly endless.

The class began with a sizzle reel, then came a Power Point presentation packed with all kinds of great info. After that came a lengthy question-and-answer session.

Some of the more salient points of the knowledge dropped by Epstein, Weinraub and Greenberg included:

Resolution Delayed in Zuffa vs. New York Lawsuit

NEW YORK

The Office of the Attorney General has asked for - and gotten - an extension on the deadlines for all the motions and responses that were supposed to be flying around around now in regards to the ongoing lawsuit Zuffa filed against the State. If you'll recall, Judge Kimba Wood recently put her foot down on all that stuff, making a resolution to the case seem imminent. Alas, that has changed.

As per MMAPayout:

In a letter to the Court on June 25, 2014, the New York Attorney General requested an extension of time as one of its lead attorneys on the case was leaving the office on July 3rd. In addition, New York indicated that key non-party witnesses were out of the office and could not be contacted. It appears that these witnesses would provide declarations that would support New York’s Motion for Summary Judgment which, if the Court granted, would effectively end the lawsuit. New York also argues that Zuffa’s Complaint is long and two weeks to respond to Zuffa’s Response to its moving papers would not be enough time.

MMAPayout has the document embedded so you can read the sob story if you want, but honestly, lawyers are people too and things happen that require a little flexibility. Besides, so what if the dates are pushed back a month or two? NEW YORK STATE IS STILL GOING TO LOSE.

Fists of Fury Poster

NEW YORK

Friday Night Fights Primer: Henry Lee vs. NJ Mac

NEW YORK

Apparently NJ Mac is slated to take part in the eight-man tournament at this week's Friday Night Fights installment. Who is NJ Mac? Watch the video below and find out.

Words of Wisdom From "Sambo" Steve

NEW YORK

New York-based coach Stephen Koepfer, a.k.a. "Sambo Steve", has been around the block. But that mileage means he's lost interest in MMA on the grand scale. Lower level MMA though - like what goes on in the amateurs - is a different story. Here's an excerpt from a recent Facebook post:

Video: ACC Champ Gerald Javier Playing Coach

NEW YORK

Gerald Javier may be the best "little" fighter in New York, but the Aggressive Combat Championship title holder is also a coach it seems. Here he is putting a female student through her paces via focus mitts, courtesy of 750 Square Feet.

Friday Night Fights Primer: Prairie Ruglio vs. Tiffany Cass

NEW YORK

If you're looking for something to do on Friday, you can't go wrong with Friday Night Fights, whose latest installment of Muay Thai goodness should include an eight-man tournament, funky Thai music and a brand of beer you've never heard of. Anyway, here's a video of a recent FNF bout to get you motivated.

East Coast MMA Show Poster

NEW YORK

Ode to BJ Penn

UFC

Fun fact: I saw BJ Penn's first seven MMA fights live and in person. That's right, his UFC debut - back at UFC 31 in 2001 at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City - was the first time he'd fought in the cage. Prior to that, he was "just" some highly-touted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenom with a ton of hype behind him.

The hype was justified, obviously. He put away a scrub named Joey Gilbert that night at UFC 31, got voted by online fans to be the co-main event for UFC 32 (yeah, that was a thing), and went on to crush Din Thomas and Caol Uno before going the distance against champ Jens Pulver.

Aggressive Combat Championship 7 Primer: Angel Rodriguez

NEW YORK

The next big show in New York City is Aggressive Combat Championship's seventh installment, which is set for Saturday night at York College in Queens. Yes, there will be a full card of amateur MMA action, but always nestled in there are a slew of Muay Thai bouts. Here's a video hyping one of them, courtesy of 750 Square Feet.