Mixed Martial Arts Legalized in Connecticut and Canada; New York State Still Waiting

By: Rich Bergeron

Connecticut became the 49th state to legalize Mixed Martial Arts last Wednesday, and after years of hazy confusion regarding MMA's status in Canada the sport finally became legal across all provinces there last week. The lone holdout state here in the USA is New York, and the reasoning behind that failure to launch seems to have little to do with safety concerns. Instead, the legalization of mixed martial arts in the Empirie State appears to be a political football in the hands of a powerful union called Unite Here.

While attempting to force Station Casinos to unionize their workforce, a Las Vegas subsidiary of Unite Here called The Culinary Union (Local 226) is using a peculiar strategy to intimidate and irritate the casino chain's ownership. The Culinary Union is waging a war on all business interests owned by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III, the billionaire brothers who own the majority of both Station Casinos and Zuffa, LLC (The parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championships). Though the jury is still out on how this campaign will actually pay any dividends toward unionizing Station Casinos, it is apparently beginning to cause massive headaches for politicians in New York who support legalizing MMA there.

51 Year Old Herschel Walker Seeks UFC Fight

Herschel Walker is mostly known for his Heisman campaign at the University of Georgia and his time in the NFL as a running back, but Walker is looking to take the next step in his MMA career by competing in the UFC.

Walker was on the Lavar Arrington Show and had this to say about his MMA Career:

“I absolutely love MMA. I think it’s an excellent sport.”

“If I were younger, I’d be doing it right now.”

“Because I’m a little bit older and I have a business going, I say I’d like to do one more fight, and then I think it’s time for me to step aside and give it to the young people. But I’d like to do one more fight.”

‘Cyborg’ Santos to Ronda Rousey: ‘Step up b*tch, I’ll kick your ass with one hand tied behind my back’

Esther Lin for Showtime

Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos is raving mad at critics who say she is afraid to step up against UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey. In fact, she is willing to fight ‘Rowdy’ with one hand tied behind her back to prove she can ‘kick her ass.’

Oh no she didn’t!

Former Strikeforce women’s Featherweight champion Cristiane Santos is fed up with all the naysayers, including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White, who feel she is ducking current Bantamweight champ, Ronda Rousey.

“Cyborg” wants to make it clear she is “not afraid” of “Rowdy” and her slick submission skills; she simply can’t make the drop down to 135 pounds. However, Santos is more than willing meet Rousey at a catch weight of 140 pounds.  If that’s not enough, she will gladly step into the Octagon against the former Judoka with one hand tied behind her back.

What does Rousey’s signing mean for the UFC?

The worst kept secret in MMA was finally made official by UFC President Dana White when he confirmed that current Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey will be headed into the largest MMA organization in the world as the UFC’s first woman fighter and inaugural women’s 135 pound champion.

White had been infamously against the idea of women in the UFC for a long time, citing concerns of the amount of depth such a division would hold. But the sudden stardom of Rousey has convinced him to abandon that train of thought and see if Rousey’s star continues to rise with the UFC promotional machine behind her.

Many of the specifics of Rousey’s arrival are as of yet unknown, including her opponent. Names such as fellow Olympian Sara McMann and a possible rematch with former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate have been rumoured, as well as a possible fight against former women’s 145 pound champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

Santos has campaigned for Rousey to come up to 145 pounds to fight her, even finding a doctor who said that cutting to 135 pounds would be hazardous to Santos’ health. But White was adamant at the UFC 154 post-fight media scrum that if Santos wants Rousey, she will have to come down to fight the champion at her weight class.

Strikeforce Going Out of Business as Usual: Rousey and Tate Among Early Transfers to UFC

By: Rich Bergeron

Showtime's failure to renew their broadcasting contract with Strikeforce was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The latest Zuffa-acquired fight league finally fell not too long after promising to be a promotion that tried to buck the trend of being broken up immediately by Zuffa owners. It was a slow, choking death for Strikeforce and Showtime as the UFC looted some brawlers from the smaller promotion and didn't exactly follow their "business as usual promises" to the letter.

Though there did seem to be something oddly different about this arrangement between Zuffa and Strikeforce, the UFC was always going to be Zuffa's marquee fight league. Strikeforce could never survive and prosper with everybody wondering when the looting would finally begin.