(The Fertitta brothers doing their best to look upstanding.)

With their efforts to get MMA legalized in New York, the UFC has drawn a lot of attention in the Big Apple recently, and not all of it is positive. New York Magazine published its own piece on the legislative push and the UFC itself recently, and they aren’t afraid of a little implied character assassination in their articles:

Frank Fertitta III and his brother Lorenzo made the cover of Forbes last month for what the magazine dubbed their “Ultimate Cash Machine.” The Fertittas come from a long line of casino entrepreneurs. Their grandfather, Anthony, ran gambling halls in Galveston, Texas, where he was convicted for beating up a Life reporter who came to town to investigate the scene. Frank Jr., the brothers’ father, was running Las Vegas’s Fremont Hotel when the Feds busted up the place to break a money-skimming operation (he wasn’t charged); the ordeal is said to have become the basis for Martin Scorsese’s Casino. He later opened a local-friendly casino miles away from the Strip, and he passed that business to his sons.

Now that’s how you suggest that someone is an immoral crook without ever explicitly saying it. You just mention that they come from a long line of crooks, and then let the reader come to their own conclusions after that. I hope you’re taking notes, journalism students.

The article also adds some insight as to the obstacles the UFC faces in the New York legislature, and it doesn’t seem as if the Elite XC event on CBS helped them any.

FIGHT! Magazine’s June issue hits newsstands this week, containing articles on Jens Pulver and Lyoto Machida, as well as the following piece on the current state of competition in the MMA industry. Provided exclusively to CagePotato.com by FIGHT!, “Brave New World” features EliteXC’s Gary Shaw, Strikeforce’s Michael Afromowitz, and HDNet’s Mark Cuban weighing in on how they plan to survive and succeed in the vast shadow of the Octagon.

***

By Matthew Ross

First it was Royce vs. Ken on closed-circuit pay-per-view. Then came Forrest vs. Stephan on basic cable. Now? It’s the UFC vs. everybody else, coming to you live on enough channels to give your TiVo a nervous breakdown.

Welcome to a new era of MMA.

First, a recap. In 2005, Dana White and Spike TV revolutionized mixed martial arts with the advent of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, which introduced the channel’s historically frat boy-esque demographic to the world of organized ass-kicking. The results were rapid and dramatic. TUF skyrocketed up the Nielsen charts and Spike began airing live, high-quality UFC cards. What had once been a fringe sub-culture whose following in the U.S. consisted of fighters and a small but dedicated army of diehard fans had now become a mainstream attraction. New gyms began popping up in strip malls all over America. Guys like Chuck, Tito, and Randy became household names, and dudes could throw out terms like rear-naked choke and Thai clinch around their girlfriends without getting slapped in the face.

By the end of 2007, UFC championship bouts were regularly covered by the national news outlets, and the brightest stars had graced the covers of ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Men’s Fitness. As Dana White would tell any reporter who’d listen: “We’ve arrived.” Not since Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and the rest of the Dogtown Z-Boys showed the world how to catch air with a piece of plywood and some polyurethane wheels had any sport ever gotten so big, so fast.

Not surprisingly, fans and journalists weren’t the only ones who caught wind of what was going down. Spike and the UFC may have gotten the ball rolling, but a bevy of broadcasters have teamed up with one or more of the savvy new MMA promotions to get a piece of the pie. While the empire created by Dana White and the Fertitta family shows no sign of ceding its title to any of the young upstarts, it’s impossible to deny that the UFC is no longer the only game in town. They may have the best overall roster of fighters and biggest brand recognition in the game, but things are about to get interesting.

(Shaun Parker vs Tyler Bryan @ LFC 25. You can’t make this stuff up. Props to MMAScraps)

(From The Iron Ring: Some dude tries to secure an armbar and gets his head dribbled.)

(Savant Young and Takeshi Inoue: Guess who won the decision? Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

It looks like we’ll be putting together another update to our Power Rankings pretty soon — #5-ranked welterweight Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and #4-ranked featherweight Takeshi Inoue got punked yesterday at Shooto’s first 20th anniversary series show in Tokyo. Sakurai faced European Shooto vet David Baron in a slugfest that ended suddenly when Baron sunk in a guillotine choke during a takedown attempt by Sakurai. It was Sakurai’s first loss since being knocked out by Takanori Gomi at PRIDE Shockwave on New Year’s Eve 2005. In the night’s other upset, IFL vet Trenell “Savant” Young (who had an 8-7 record going into the fight) outlasted former Shooto featherweight champ “Lion” Takeshi Inoue en route to a unanimous decision victory. Near the end of the second and final round, Young caught Inoue in a guillotine choke and Inoue scrambled through the ropes to escape; Inoue seemed to be momentarily unconscious when the ref broke up the fighters and moved them to the center of the ring.

In other action, Shooto’s welterweight Pac-Rim champion Takashi Nakakura became the league’s World Welterweight champ with his unanimous decision win over Ganjo Tentsuku, and Akitoshi Tamura submitted Rumina Sato near the end of an action packed three-round brawl. Full results are below, and videos are after the jump.

Takashi Nakakura def. Ganjo Tentsuku via decision
David Baron def. Hayato Sakurai via submission (guillotine choke), 4:50 of round 1
Akitoshi Tamura def. Rumina Sato via submission (north-south choke), 2:37 of round 3
Savant Young def. Takeshi Inoue via decision
Ryuich Miki vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani ended in a draw
Yusuke Endo def. Vince Ortiz via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:34 of round 1
Bendy Casimir def. Shinji Sasaki via decision
Shinpei Tahara def. Katsuya Murofushi via TKO (doctor’s stoppage due to cut), 0:46 of round 2
Hayate Usui def. Sakae Kasuya via decision

MMA Mania reports that welterweight Nick “The Mad Monkey” Serra — Matt’s brother — will be competing on the undercard of EliteXC: Primetime (May 31st; Newark, NJ) against Matt Makowski, a 2-0 fighter who most recently submitted Joe Schilling at a ShoXC event in January. Serra has only competed professionally five times since his August 1999 debut at a “Vengeance at the Vanderbilt” event that also saw the pro debut of his brother, and has compiled a record of four wins (all by submission) and two losses (both by decision). Below are two of those wins: First, Serra’s 2003 fight with Rick McCoy where the Monkey took it to the ground early with a flying arm-triangle then did some Nate Diaz-style showboating en route to an eventual tapout; then, his most recent bout with Mike Varner last June at CFFC 5 – Two Worlds, One Cage.

Devoted fans of Anderson Silva know that his pro record is 21-4, with three of his losses coming by way of total horseshit — or at least justifiable means. Anybody could be excused for losing their pro debut, and the Spider lost his, by a decision against the very talented Luiz Azeredo at Meca World Vale Tudo 1 (5/27/00). More well-known are his losses to Ryo Chonan (due to a one-in-a-million flying scissor/heel hook) and Yushin Okami (due to a disqualification for an illegal upkick).

There’s really only one true black mark on Silva’s record — his submission loss to Daiju Takase at PRIDE 26 (6/8/03). At the time, Silva was a well-respected 9-1 up-and-comer who held wins over Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Roan Carneiro, and Carlos Newton. His opponent was an outmatched 4-7-1 can who was being served up to give the promising Chute Boxe fighter another impressive win. But things didn’t go according to the script, with Takase scoring an early takedown, working some GnP, nearly ending the fight with an armlock, then flipping into a triangle choke that forced Silva to tap on his feet.

Takase lost four of his next six fights and faded back into obscurity. Anderson Silva is currently the greatest fighter in the world.

We had neither the time nor interest to watch YAMMA live, so if you want a more detailed recap of the sad spectacle than we had in our results post, we recommend going here or here. But if you want the entire depressing, cut-rate experience boiled down into three minutes, look no further than the “Masters Superfight” between Eric “Butterbean” Esch and Patrick “Pillbottle” Smith. Cheers to Smith for dodging Butterbean’s infamous haymakers; jeers to Esch for not being able to get to his feet after slipping. Smith simply got down next to the 416-pound beached whale and dropped punches until Dan Miragliotta decided that the 200 audience members had gotten their money’s worth. If only ‘Bean could have fallen onto the revolutionary YAMMA incline instead — who knows what could have happened…

I don’t think I’ve sat through a fight-flick since Ong-Bak (Jaa ftw!), but this is straight-up historic — Jackie and Jet on the same set, battling for cinematic kung-fu dominance. The Forbidden Kingdom hits theaters on April 18th, but you can get a taste right now by watching the fight scene above and the official trailer here.

More must-see video goodness after the jump.

Just a taste of what Jake will have to deal with on Saturday. In his last fight at Cage Rage 24 (12/1/07), Drew Fickett faced the heavy hands of Mark “The Wizard” Weir, and was taking heaps of abuse while on his back before finding an opening and wrapping Weir up with a rear-naked choke. Unfortunately, Shields has never been submitted in his career — not an encouraging stat for Fickett, who relies heavily on his subs. Any predictions?

Coolest video we’ve come across today — the classic 1996 Pancrase battle between Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock, with narration by Bas himself. Video’s 25 minutes long, so grab a couple beers and settle in.

Bonus: Here’s a new interview where Frank calls out his brother Ken for his lifelong steroid abuse. Money quote: “Why do you think that his mind is so fried? Why do you think he crumbles before the big fights? He’s got no psyche. He let steroids give him a false sense of security and the moment that stuff is gone he’s no longer superman.”

Here’s the five-round stomp-n’-wheeze from Saturday night’s ICON Sport “To Hell and Back” event, where Kala Kolohe Hose overcame Phil Baroni’s soccer kicks (and breathtaking glam-guido ring entrance) to win the middleweight title. Major props to our new blood brothers at MMAVideosOnline for the hookup.

Part 1

Part 2

By far the best fight from Saturday’s DREAM show. Props to Boku for lasting 15 minutes with this animal…

From Saturday…

Mirko Cro Cop steamrolls Tatsuya Mizuno in 56 seconds.

The night’s freak-show feature: “Minowaman” taps out doughy Korean ex-baseball player Lee Kwan via kneebar.

I saw this one for the first time on UFC Unleashed last night and needed to share. In his fifth UFC fight (at “Champion vs. Champion,” 9/8/07), Marcus Davis was rocked early by a head kick and pounded on the ground to the point where 9 out of 10 refs would have jumped in to stop the fight. Big ups to ref Yves Lavigne, who was able to sense that Marcus wasn’t quite out of it and gave the Irish Hand Grenade a chance to continue. Davis worked his way onto his feet and then on top of Taylor, where he pummeled Taylor from the mount, then transitioned into a slick armbar that earned him the “Submission of the Night” bonus; Davis and Taylor also picked up the “Fight of the Night” bonuses for the effort.

Mike Goldberg line of the fight: “Marcus Davis has…literally fallen in love with elbows.”

Despite absorbing a slew of body kicks and a shoulder-lock attempt in the second round that nearly had him tapping, Ryan McGivern got the better of Matt Horwich during their IFL middleweight championship match on Friday and took the fight to a unanimous decision. So, Horwich loses his belt after just a two-month reign, and the title now goes to a guy who’s 4-4 in his last eight fights.

(Andrei Arlovski could be one paid motherfucker tomorrow.)

Our monthly roundup in which we express fight predictions via the UFC’s customary “Of the Night” payouts. Last time didn’t go so hot, but we have a good feeling about UFC 82. Again, here’s the lineup:

MAIN CARD
Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara
Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner
Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson

PRELIMINARY CARD
Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien
Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett
Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden
Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson

Fight of the Night: How could it not be Silva vs. Henderson? It’s rare that the Octagon hosts this much combined talent. We see this one going into the championship rounds, with both men pounding the hell out of each other along the way. As you know, we’re leaning toward Silva.

Knockout of the Night: Andrei Arlovski. Other MMA pundits have said that the undefeated O’Brien will grind his way to a lay-and-pray victory, but Arlovski is coming into this fight with the combined rage of 10,000 insulted Soviets, and he’ll be looking to prove that undercards are beneath him. There’s a chance this could be his last fight for the UFC, so putting an exclamation point at the end of his Octagon career would be a priority; we’ll say KO/TKO, round 2. Dark horse: Jon Fitch. His fight against Chris Wilson may look like a mismatch, but Wilson’s ground skills are underrated. Still, we see Fitch putting Wilson out on his feet early.

Submission of the Night: Josh Koscheck. Speaking of mismatches…Koscheck’s recent performances haven’t been awe-inspiring, and he knows he needs a dramatic win against the gift-wrapped Dustin Hazelett, who’s never faced an opponent as skilled as Kos; it’s looking like a first-round armbar. Dark horse: Sanchez over Bielkheden. Same deal as with Koscheck — Bielkheden is being brought in for his UFC debut to build Sanchez’s confidence, and on paper, Sanchez’s ground game scores much higher. But if Ali Sonoma is still fucking with his concentration, we’ll stop short of saying this is a guaranteed win for Nightmare…

See it differently? Let us know in the comments…

When Din Thomas was arrested for holding unlicensed amateur MMA matches in his gym, the world of the “smoker” was dragged out from the shadows. Though these unsanctioned fights are rarely policed, they’re generally illegal, which highlights a little-discussed challenge of being a mixed martial artist — how can you gain enough experience to turn pro if it’s impossible to compete as an amateur?

FIGHT! Magazine’s March issue hits newsstands today (pick it up at Borders, Barnes and Noble, or Walden Books), and it features an in-depth article on the history and legal status of smokers, and what’s being done to regulate amateur bouts. Check it out below, and let us know how you feel. Are you an amateur fighter struggling to find matches in your home state to build up experience? What special rules (if any) should be in place to protect fighters in amateur bouts? Should amateur fighters just man up, jump into the fire, and stop bitching about gaining experience before putting their records on the line? (Equally valid point-of-view, by the way.)

SMOKER
By Neal Taflinger

Someone broke the first rule of fight club, and Din Thomas wound up in jail. On October 31, 2007, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, police arrested Thomas, a 31-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, for holding illegal cage fights in his St. Lucie West training center.

Two weeks earlier, police received an anonymous tip about a so-called fight club being held on October 19 at Thomas’ American Top Team gym. Police attended the event, a smoker featuring eight of Thomas’ students, fighting in front of friends and family. The officers filed a report stating that Thomas charged approximately 150 spectators $10 each for entry to the unsanctioned amateur event, and had no medical staff on hand.

Thomas’ arrest brought widespread attention to smokers – combat sports’ not-so-dirty, not-so-little, not-so-secret dirty little secret. Unfamiliar to many casual fans, smokers are a long-standing tradition in boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and mixed martial arts. These unsanctioned, often illegal fights are organized in gyms or private clubs to give young fighters experience in front of a crowd. Most smokers are held without incident, and often feature police officers as spectators or participants.

Professional prize fighting was illegal in many municipalities in the early to mid 20th century. Loopholes allowed for sparring between members of private clubs for exercise and entertainment, so promoters skirted the law by holding bouts in Eagle and Elk lodges, Knights of Columbus halls, and American Legion posts. Fighters and spectators simply joined the club and bought a ticket; authorities mostly looked the other way. These fights became known for the noxious cloud of tobacco smoke hanging over the crowd.

When Asian martial arts became popular in America after World War II, full-contact karate competitors continued the smoker tradition of their knuckle-bustin’ forebears. Over time, state lawmakers became comfortable with kickboxing, but the brutal elbows and knees of Muay Thai were considered beyond the pale. Until the sport was sanctioned, “guys did gym shows under the radar,” says famed kickboxer and trainer Jeff “Duke” Roufus.

States were hesitant to sanction no-holds-barred bouts in the early to mid-1990s, so cage fighters retreated to gyms, warehouses, pole barns, and discreet nightclubs to compete. Even now that the sport has established rigorous safety guidelines and unified rules, states are slow to legitimize it.

According to UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner, 32 states regulate professional MMA and more are coming on board. But the sport is still illegal in some states and unregulated in others. Amateur matches are illegal in many more states, including some that allow pro bouts like California and Florida. These states host as many or more pro fights each year than Nevada does, but offer no structured opportunities to homegrown fighters looking for experience before taking on pro competition.

While Thomas says smokers are common in Florida, he never competed in them before turning pro, opting instead to compete in Japanese-style shoot fights. He believes that experience is essential and wants his own fighters to be tested in serious competition before jumping on pro cards. Thomas feels that the booming popularity of the sport has resulted in Florida’s professional undercards being filled with amateur quality fighters. “Guys who have no business fighting are ruining themselves early,” says Thomas, “They think they are ready to fight and they ain’t.”

As we mentioned earlier, ICON Sport middleweight contender Kala Kolohe Hose’s brief career has been marked by some memorably fierce knockouts. If you’ve never seen him in action before, now’s your chance. Below are the end of his most recent fight against Frederic Belleton at the last ShoXC Challenger Series (1/25/08), and his complete 67-second match against Kekoa Baker at Icon Sport: All In (2/9/07). Check out the way Hose waits with his hands on his hips until Belleton comes in to eat a good-night knockout punch. That’s a confident young man…

Carlos Condit — who we have ranked as the #8 welterweight in the world — will defend his WEC welterweight title for the second time next Wednesday at WEC 32. Here’s his last fight, against Brock Larson at WEC 29 (8/5/07). A submission specialist with 12 tapout victories under his belt, Condit kept his cool while on his back, waiting for the perfect moment to snap onto Larson’s arm and wrench him into submission.

In honor of today’s juicy rumor, here’s the 5/5/06 PRIDE fight between Barnett and A. Emelianenko. The ten-minute first round was an action-packed standup war, with both fighters exchanging bombs. But Barnett out-hustled Aleks in the second, taking him to the ground and working for a submission. As we’ve seen before, Aleks isn’t too awesome on his back. But we’d definitely open our wallets to witness these two go at it again…

Discussing Ken Shamrock’s recent loss history inspired us to dig up the video of his first-round loss to Kazushi Sakuraba, which went down at PRIDE 30 in October 2005. And watching the video reminded us of something we love/hate about Ken — his constant protest of early stoppages. Dude, maybe the refs wouldn’t step in so often if you could get hit without looking like you’ve lost consciousness. It’s a tough skill to learn, but an important one nonetheless.

Another classic Rampage jam from PRIDE, this one against Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa at Shockwave 2003 (12/31/03). I’d argue that Quinton Jackson officially became a star when he brushed away the hand of the referee who was checking his junk at the beginning. (The man certainly does not play that shit!) It’s an exciting fight from start to finish, featuring no less than three body-slams from Jackson, repeated knees to the head, and a sort-of-early stoppage that compels Minowa to get up in Jackson’s face then immediately think better of it.

Well, I guess it wasn’t much of a fight…

Fedor Emelianenko’s last fight — which went down April 14th at BodogFight’s “Clash of the Nations” — got off to a rocky start, with Matt Lindland punching open a cut over Emelianenko’s eye in the opening seconds. Fedor’s only career loss came from a first-round stoppage due to a cut, and there was no way he was going to let that happen again. Bleeding onto the mat, Emelianenko worked double-time to find a submission and end the fight. Find it, he did: