ESPN Mixed Martial Arts

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez cuts the figure of an angry man ahead of UFC 146, and Antonio Silva may just suffer from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. More

Writing about mixed martial arts, it's sometimes easy to come off like a hagiographer.

This little engine that could, surviving, thriving, making it to the top of mountain and all that.

There are days -- unfortunately more and more frequent -- when feel-good memories seem so distant. The impact of a rolling and rife drug culture. Power plays at the top. Lawsuits. Money matters. Twitter gaffes. Politics, union battles, media squabbles and, recently, high-pitched nonsense over television ratings. All part of the makeup of today’s not-so-innocent mixed martial arts. Life in the big city, I guess.

But you know what's never changed, what drew me in like, I imagine, many of you?

Action.

The ballast that steadied MMA through the rough patches. The fuel that helped cast aside a perception that almost killed it. The reason so many people are willing to spend so much money each month to watch mixed martial artists from across the globe do their thing.

Such are the wars of attrition, stunning moments, incredible acts of courage and fortitude.

They’re too many to count. Well, whatever the number is, go ahead and another add another because on Tuesday, Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier offered a wonderful account of all the sport can offer.

From the opening bell, intrigue. Jung started strong, working over Poirier, the 23-year-old once-beaten favorite, from top position. "The Diamond" glimmered with a technical, beautiful reversal. They stood and traded shots at the end of the first.

You sensed it then, right? That this one was going somewhere special.

Round 2 confirmed what we thought we knew, as Poirier somehow surveyed an onslaught of submissions.

The third forced a deep breath -- perhaps Poirier had a late-round comeback in him?

No.

Jung slammed the door on Poirier in Round 4, finishing an excellent fight with an awesome flowing sequence that showcased MMA’s dynamism: uppercut, left hook, flying knee, D’Arce choke.

There was just enough brilliance in there for the 25-year-old Korean to receive $80,000 in submission- and fight-of-the-night bonuses. And apparently he’ll skip to the front of the line, earning a UFC featherweight title shot against either Jose Aldo or Erik Koch.

There is -- or was -- an inherent parity to MMA. Dominance, such as the kind displayed by Anderson Silva or Georges St. Pierre, has been fleeting and rare. Eras have lasted mere months. Though the sport may be entering a time when great champions stand tall above the rest, you can’t count out a guy like Jung. He’s aggressive. Undeterred. Unafraid. And, it turns out, damn skilled. There will always be room for a fighter of his disposition in the UFC, as there should be.

I don’t mean for this to come off like Jung-Poirier was the best fight I’ve ever seen. But it might be the best fight I’ve seen on a Tuesday night, and as prolific as MMA is in 2012, with all the troubles it seems to bring upon itself lately, that’s something to seriously sit back and consider.

For all the out-of-competition drama that follows MMA (sports in general, really) and therefore occupies headlines, isn’t it fun when all that’s forgotten? Even if it’s for a few minutes?

The headliner on a card many might have been tempted to ignore, it turned out, produced a smell-the-roses moment. Just remember that the next time someone or something associated with MMA makes you want to slam your head against a wall.

Oh, and if this read like a portrait of saints, so be it. After what Jung and Poirier managed to pull off, it probably should.

The mixed martial arts purist in all of us is probably supposed to be a little horrified that Muhammed Lawal reportedly plans to straddle the fence between our sport and professional wrestling.

Given the special kind of ridicule many fight fans reserve for pro wrestling, reaction to Lawal’s new hybrid, multifight deal with Bellator Fighting Championships and TNA Impact Wrestling will no doubt be, eh, mixed. No pun intended.

The obligatory insults about “fake fighting” and the handwringing about how this will look to the mainstream have surely already begun on message boards and in comment sections. The fact that Lawal will enter the world of professional wrestling while his legitimate fighting career still lingers under the cloud of a positive steroid test likely won’t (and shouldn’t) be forgotten, either.

But the truth is, this move may well be a homerun for Lawal, who described it as “a dream come true.”

Considering his impressive amateur credentials, his flair for the flamboyant and his renowned mind for the fight game, you can’t really blame King Mo for looking in the mirror and seeing the complete package. He’s always presented himself as a singular talent; now, he has his chance to prove it in the kind of sink-or-swim environment that will obviously stoke his competitive fires.

If he, Bellator and Impact can pull this off, Lawal’s unconventional new deal will give the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion unparalleled exposure and, at least in theory, the kind of unique bargaining power he’s always believed he would one day enjoy.

It’s a gamble, yes, but it seems like a calculated one.

For a guy who takes pride in bringing a healthy dose of entertainment value to MMA, it’s sort of a perfect fit. For a fighter who describes himself as a “moneyweight” and an unabashed member of “Team Get Dat Paper,” the financial possibilities are obvious.

If there’s a drawback here, it’s probably not with Lawal, but with his partners.

From an MMA standpoint, it’s not clear what professional challenges Bellator will be able to offer him. The company’s current 205-pound champion is Christian M'Pumbu (yes, I had to look that up), a relatively unknown 34-year-old who isn’t within spitting distance of the light heavyweight top 10 and whose last fight was a nontitle loss to Travis Wiuff. Coincidentally, Wiuff is the guy Lawal defeated in his MMA debut in September 2008, back when the journeyman fighter had just 66 professional contests on his resume.

A quick glance at the 14 other 205-pounders listed on Bellator's website makes it clear this will be a high risk-low reward situation for Lawal. Unless the fight company can go out and sign a number of other top-tier light heavyweight free agents -- from a crop that may not even exist -- every fight in Bellator will be one Lawal should win impressively, and that will make his every appearance there a referendum on his own standing in the sport.

Since he began his MMA career with three consecutive TKO victories in 2008-09, we’ve been waiting for King Mo to become the break out star we believed he could be. So far, though, his fighting life has been punctuated by both highs (i.e. winning the Strikeforce title from Gegard Mousasi in August 2010) and lows (losing it to Rafael Cavalcante in his next fight). From the outside looking in, it doesn’t appear that Bellator will be able to offer up the kind of consistently top-shelf competition necessary for Lawal to boost himself to that next level.

Were I a 31-year-old athlete still very much in the process of proving I was as good as I said I was, that would concern me. Unless, of course, I was just there for the paper.

From a professional wrestling standpoint, the company formerly known as Total Nonstop Action has been trying hard (almost embarrassingly so) to revamp its product in recent months. It has rebranded itself as Impact Wrestling -- or TNA Impact Wrestling, or something, no one is exactly sure -- changed its overall look, made some key additions to the creative team, launched a sister promotion in India and has vacillated awkwardly between trying to establish new talent and trotting out dusty old standbys like Hulk Hogan and Sting.

Somewhere in there, former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs and one of the dudes from “Jersey Shore” both made guest appearances.

Impact is by no means the complete disaster some wrestling fans make it out to be, but it’s also not the kind of organization I would feel tremendously confident in were I a talented, moderately well-known and self-admittedly green rookie like Lawal.

Unless, of course … right, right, the paper.

Certain fans will gripe, but the truth is we’ve never seen a deal quite like this one, so we have no idea how it will work out. For a guy who seems to enjoy pushing the envelope as much as Lawal does, that’s an exciting (and potentially lucrative) proposition. Hopefully, it all works out for the best.

As both Bellator and TNA are currently constituted though, it would be a disappointment (at least to fans) to see Lawal spend the remainder of his athletic career there.

Perhaps in a perfect world, he’ll help elevate both Bellator and Impact Wrestling to new heights of legitimacy and profitability, while in the process making himself a bigger and bigger star.

Either that or he will use this deal as a launching pad into the UFC or WWE, depending on which path -- and which paper -- he wants to pursue.

Is there a place in mixed martial arts for an all-female promotion? A "league of their own," as it were?

Shannon Knapp and Janet Martin believe the answer is "yes," and their quest begins Saturday in Kansas City, Kan., with the debut of Invicta Fighting Championships.

"For us, it's just about creating opportunities, because that's the one thing that is lacking [for women fighters]," Knapp said. "There is more than Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate among the girls signed in Strikeforce. There are a ton of girls out there. [Strikeforce] is only hitting a couple of weight classes. There are lot of girls out there; they just don't have the platform to be seen. I think for us it's all about creating opportunities."

In certain cases it's proven that women can move the needle. As a longtime operator in MMA, Knapp, whose last position as a matchmaker and talent relations manager for Strikeforce ended when Zuffa purchased the company last year, knows firsthand how popular women can be when given the proper push and circumstance.

"I don't know that it's something I've wanted to do,” Knapp said. “I never really sat back and said 'someday, I'll have my own promotion.' I was always content doing and helping and building. But I think you get to the point where you keep building it and it keeps either getting bought out or people make decisions and choices that end your job, and you keep finding yourself at the same crossroads. For me, when Zuffa purchased Strikeforce I was standing at the crossroads again."

Will the individual success of a Gina Carano or the niche's latest star, Rousey, translate to fans taking the time to watch an event comprised entirely of women? If lessons learned over the years working for multiple promotions mean anything, Knapp says "yes," even if that means struggling against a strong headwind.

"I like fighting the fight," she said. "I can understand this fight. I've worked on the business side of this for so many years. You know how many times, because I'm a girl, I got passed up for something? Or the boy took the credit for the work that I did? So I can certainly identify with the struggles that [female fighters] have sometimes."

Saturday's event (invictafc.com, 8 ET), is headlined by former Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen. The 31-year-old Dutch fighter said she believes so strongly in Knapp that she decided to put her name on a three-fight contract with the promotion.

"Shannon has the know-how and the power now to make this happen," Coenen said. "That's why I'm so happy to do this. I really believe Invicta is the next step, next evolution of the sport."

Having started in MMA at the age of 15, Coenen bristled at the concept of "women's MMA." The sport offers the same challenges, dangers, rules and structure regardless of gender, she said. However she conceded that an all-female organization offers unique marketing opportunities, including the possibility of introducing MMA to a wider world of women sports fans.

The prospect of success for Invicta and women fighting in MMA will be directly tied to this kind of crossover potential.

"I don't think there's a huge difference between marketing the males and females,” Knapp said. "If anything, I've learned in this business to tell the story. That's it; tell the story. Put on good fights, but dive deeper.”

Selling a story gives the viewer additional incentive to watch, there’s no question about that. But Invicta can’t rely on highly polished production pieces. As with any fight promotion, the key lies with the talent it holds. Coenen (19-5) is a terrific fighter; however, in her last bout she lost by submission to Tate, who subsequently tapped to Rousey. At best Coenen, who fights France’s Romy Ruyssen (5-1), represents the present state of women in MMA. Invicta must cultivate the stars of tomorrow if it hopes to find staying power.

Twenty-eight-year-old Randi Miller, for example, makes her fighting debut on the card. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist wrestler at 63-kilograms said Invicta has opened the door for athletes like herself to “transition well into MMA" and she is excited to play a part.

"It was something I was interested in but when my career ended as a wrestler I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do,” said Miller, who fights 1-0 Mollie Estes. “If I wanted to coach, compete in MMA, get a job. I really didn't know what I wanted to do for a while. Eventually I decided I wanted to compete because I felt like I was still young enough. As you know in sports your time is very limited so as long as you feel you can, you should because you won't always be able to."

Miller has a point. Timing is everything.

Ten years after HooknShoot “Revolution,” a lauded all-women card in Evansville, Ind., is this the right moment for a venture like Invicta?

"I hope it grows as much as the men's side,” Miller said. “I hope people like what Invicta is doing and like watching me fight."

For as dominant as Jon Jones appeared to be Saturday night while earning a lopsided unanimous decision against Rashad Evans, the challenger had a glimmer of hope to win the fight. And if Evans goes home to cry like he joked he would during the UFC 145 postfight news conference, that'll be why.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion wouldn't reclaim his title for several reasons. First on that list of course: He fought Jones. The current king is on a tremendous run, and by all rights stands unbeaten after 17 fights regardless of what the rules say about what went down against Matt Hamill.

Had Evans done everything right he still probably wouldn't have won, such is the state of Jones' natural ability, tenacity and preparation. But that doesn't change this fact: Even if it was but a brief moment, Evans must have felt like victory was possible.

Following a brutally rough second period in which he was knocked around the cage by the champion's elbows to a degree I'd never seen before, Evans was in worst-case-scenario mode. He couldn't decipher range or timing and Jones had settled in. The challenger said later this was because he fell flat, which, if you wish, could be added to the list of reasons he didn't win, but that's not reflective of reality. Evans didn't fall flat in the biggest fight of his life so much as Jones rendered him ineffective.

That is, until early in the third round, when, after taking all those "sneaky" elbows to the face, Evans slammed home an overhand right that knocked the champion back. The punch didn't "hurt," Jones said, but it certainly fell within the limits of what's required to wobble him.

If Evans goes home and cries, it will be because this was the lone sequence in the fight when the notion of winning didn't seem completely off-base. And, quite possibly, it's the closet he’ll ever come to beating his former teammate and rival.

While two of the three judges scored the first round for Evans, I thought the third was his best stretch and gave it to him. Perhaps that was aided by the fact that the challenger managed to halt Jones' growing momentum and seize some for himself.

Hey, maybe the idea that Evans really had a crack at the fight is illusory. I don’t want to overstate this. It’s not as if Evans rocked Jones, then let him off the hook. He didn't, in part because the champion can take a punch.

The point is, Jones felt Evans’ power. The dynamic of the fight was there to shift in the challenger’s favor, and yet it didn’t. Instead, during the championship rounds, Evans accomplished little to establish any momentum. Or, as it were, simply go for broke. He fought as if beating Jones and reclaiming the title weren’t as motivational as he made them out to be in the lead up to the bout.

Evans essentially had one situation to feel good about over the 25-minute bout, yet in the end that punch could very well be the thing that makes him shed tears -- it represents a wasted chance. He needed to win this fight Saturday. A rematch won't bode well for Evans. Jones will only improve technically and mature physically in the time between fights. His confidence continues to mushroom, too. Perhaps Evans could pick up some tricks in the gym, but his speed won’t increase. He won’t get any taller. His arms won’t lengthen by 10 inches.

Jones is on the upswing; Evans, on the downswing.

And in a game that requires making the most of one’s chances, the challenger didn’t help himself very much when he could have.

Eddie Alvarez, perhaps for the first time in his career, appears to be in a tenuous position.

The 28-year-old Philadelphian, a nine-year mixed martial arts veteran, is ranked outside the top 10 of the lightweight division for the first time in three years. He's coming off a title-ceding, physically taxing loss, just his third in 25 fights. And tonight's bout against Shinya Aoki, the man responsible for Alvarez's second defeat in 2008, is one of two remaining on his contract with Bellator.

"Obviously this fight has got enormous impact for his career," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said of Alvarez, who was among the promoter's first signings and represented an early lynchpin of the company. "He can jettison himself right back into the top echelon of lightweights in the world, in terms of the overall industry's perception, or not. It's a big fight. There's no denying this is a big fight for Eddie Alvarez."

There's big. And then there's career-defining big. Alvarez is dealing in the latter. Yet he hasn't shown any signs that the stress has gotten to him.

"I'm sort of emotionless. I left all of my emotions in the gym. I've been away from my family training in South Florida and all my preparation is done," he said. "I feel better than I ever have going into a fight and that's not just a cliche statement. I really do. I feel like it's just another day. I don't feel any emotions toward anything.

"There's no questioning. There's no doubt. There's no fear of the future. What might happen? What may happen? I go into fights with a lot of that baggage and I don't know why, but I was able to let that go coming into this fight and it feels really good."

Working with a new camp, the Rashad Evans-led Blackzilians, and its associated management group, Authentic Sports Management, Alvarez underwent a "natural progression in my career," he said.

Regression, however, is a distinct possibility if he doesn't do to Aoki (30-5, 1 NC) what he could not when the Japanese lightweight finished a heel hook submission in 92 seconds.

"I really didn't respect leg locks in 2008," Alvarez said. "I didn't see them used much in MMA. I didn't see many people finished with them in MMA. So I didn't respect them enough to train properly for them. I went about my normal training and neglected that strength of his and I paid for it. It's different this time around. I respect his strengths and I made sure I had the ability to avoid them and defend them, and use what I'm good at."

Aoki comes into Friday's bout at the I-X Center in Cleveland, Ohio, ranked sixth by ESPN.com at 155 pounds. He called the 2008 result "lucky."

"This fight will test both of our skills," said the 28-year-old submission specialist. "That's how the fight will be."

Alvarez was tested to his limits last November against Michael Chandler. The fourth-round stoppage, widely acclaimed as one of the best bouts of 2011, cost Alvarez his standing as Bellator's only lightweight champion and forced him to the sidelines for six weeks with torn rib cartilage. Alvarez said he spent time away from mixed martial arts with his wife and children, all of whom have been fixtures at his fights over the years.

Where MMA takes Alvarez and his family is unclear. Redemption over Aoki, whom Bellator holds options on for multiple U.S.-based fights, would likely return Alvarez to the top 10 ahead of the final fight on his contract with Rebney.

"He was with me driving around in a crappy rental car, flying Southwest Airlines when we were trying to get this thing on ESPN Deportes," Rebney said. "He was a big piece of it. So I want Eddie to do as well as he can possibly do."

Alvarez believes Aoki is improved from the version that beat him three years ago. The Japanese fighter now has better striking, especially kicking, Alvarez said; yet he offers essentially the same threats as he did in 2008.

"He's a little bit different in the cage, but at the end of the day a fight's a fight no matter where it's at," Alvarez said. "The person with the biggest spirit, who comes focused that night, is going to win.

"It will be a display of just how much I've grown in the last three years. I was young, wasn't too confident in my abilities, and made mistakes, just like people who are young and immature do. ... My goal is the same as it was when I first started this sport, and that's to beat the guy on the other side of the cage. It will never change."

Crowds at WWE live events have been growing more and more unpredictable in recent years.

As part of an evolution rooted in the company’s popular “attitude era” of the 1990s, professional wrestling fans have taken to intermittently ignoring the best intentions of behind-the-scenes puppetmasters and -- gasp! -- occasionally exhibiting minds of their own.

Today, nearly two decades after crowds first started chanting “die Rocky die!” because they resented the way a 24-year-old golden boy named Dwayne Johnson was being foisted down their throats by promoters, it’s fairly commonplace (bordering on clichéd) for wrestling fans to cheer certain “bad” guys while booing certain “good” characters.

According to the WWE company line, this is part of what makes said audience so great, though it’s easy to imagine wrestling’s army of showrunners and writers secretly find it irritating.

In any case, that unpredictable nature might have raised serious questions about how the so-called “WWE universe” would react to Brock Lesnar on Monday night, as he returned to the fold and stepped through the literal/metaphorical curtain for the first time since 2004.

After all, wrestling fans viciously taunted Lesnar on his way out the door eight years ago, chanting “you sold out!” and “this match sucks!” during his tiff with Bill Goldberg at Wrestlemania 20 because they already knew both guys were departing WWE immediately after: Goldberg to become an occasional color commentator at small-time MMA shows; Lesnar to make a failed try at playing in the NFL.

In the intervening years, Brock didn’t have many tremendously nice things to say about pro-wrestling, speaking out against what he called the "WWE lifestyle" and telling Maxim Magazine in 2009, "You get so brainwashed ... the guys who get out are the smart ones, really and truly.”

If his four-year UFC career did anything for him, it established his credibility as a legitimate tough guy only while simultaneously undermining it. Lesnar garnered quick and arguably unparalleled success in the Octagon, but eventually proved unable to hang with MMA’s elite heavyweights, suffering embarrassing losses to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem and twice seeing his path interrupted by reportedly life-threatening bouts with diverticulitis.

Lesnar additionally used his time in the UFC to reveal himself as a personality who is not easy to cheer. For the duration of his MMA career he was surly and boorish; mocking his opponents, needling fans and acting by turns aloof and hostile toward the media. Though his crossover fame instantly made him the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view draw, many MMA fans never quite warmed up to him.

Contrary to the mainstream stereotype, pro wrestling fans are smart enough to know all this. They understand both that Lesnar acted like a jerk throughout his UFC tenure and that he ultimately couldn't cut it at the sport's highest level. Frankly, there was no telling how the wrestling faithful would react to that knowledge as a noticeably smaller, slightly doughier and far, far less tanned version of Lesnar showed his face during the final segment of “Monday Night Raw” this week.

Answer: They love the guy, maybe now more than ever.

Lesnar was given a hero’s welcome back to the world of professional wrestling. WWE fans -- given time to lick their wounds after Lesnar spurned them years ago -- appear to be more forgiving than their MMA counterparts.

In truth, the company stacked the deck in Lesnar’s favor during his return by having him hit the ring and deliver his old school finishing move to John Cena, who is currently the good guy fans love to hate for his squeaky-clean image and status as a true company man.

Even amid a shifting landscape where WWE appears at times to be scrambling to keep up with the increasingly discriminating palate of its fan base and at times unapologetically obdurate in the face of it, one equation still worked like a charm: Pretty much anybody can get cheers by doing something bad to Cena.

Still, watching Lesnar slam Cena with his signature “F-5” facebuster, then prop himself up on the second rope to soak in the cheers, it was instantly clear that the big fella is back where he belongs now.

His flights of fancy with football and mixed martial arts are mercifully finished. They were always somewhat awkward fits, anyway. With his unique blend of size and natural athleticism, Lesnar could have been great at nearly any physical endeavor, but what he chose first upon graduation from the University of Minnesota in 2000 was professional wrestling.

It’s the one thing he’s been consistently great at for more than a few fleeting years. Now he’s back to it and, while it’s impossible to predict how wrestling fans will react to him over the long term, it’s good to see "The Next Big Thing" once again in his natural habitat.

The fate of Chinese mixed martial arts apparently rests on a handful of guys who've never been in the fight business before.

So stamped the Chinese governmental division that controls martial arts within mainland China, the Wushu Administrative Center, which recently issued one permit to stage mixed martial arts events as a legal sport throughout the country.

While there were several suitors, including Zuffa LLC, Joel Resnick believes his startup group, the Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation, was awarded the government sanction because it offered the right "mix between Chinese culture and Western mentality. I think that's really what did it."

"We decided right at the very beginning that if we're doing to do this, we're going to do it right. So it's going to be done as a sports event. It's going to have the backing of the government. Most importantly we have to be able to award a country's national MMA championship, which at the end of the day is what we're doing," said the 51-year-old Canadian, a longtime resident of Shanghai and principal in the Ranik Group -- a buying agent that calls Nike a major client.

RUFF is three cards into what its backers hope is the start of something massive. With the foundation of a burgeoning Chinese middle class learning what to do with its disposal income, the government handed RUFF the opportunity to develop Chinese MMA as a sport while selling it as a new entertainment option across the country.

On March 24 in Chongqing, a major city in Southwest China, 4,000 Chinese watched a nine-fight card in a sold-out arena. The event was RUFF's first since the company announced its ambitious intentions through the next Chinese new year. Capped by awe-inspiring prize money per Chinese standards, seven National MMA Champions will be crowned. Fighters aren't required to be Chinese nationals, but they must live and have a work permit in China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. Each winner will receive RMB 1,000,000, the equivalent of about $160,000. The average Chinese household brings in a bit more than $10,000 a year, so the idea is for the siren song of big money to prompt a generation of quality Chinese fighters to quickly emerge.

"We needed to make a statement out to the general public that said, 'Hey look, this is a new sport, but you guys can do this.' We needed to make it attractive," Resnick said. "We needed to draw attention. Something small wasn't going to do that."

The figure got the Chinese media talking, which is what Resnick and his partners -- Saul Rajsky along with American brothers Neil and Michael Mandt -- hoped for.

"We feel that the events we'll have in the next year will gain attention," said Michael Mandt, 40, who, with his brother, operates the Los Angeles-based production company that will deliver RUFF to tens of millions of Chinese televisions. "It will be natural for Chinese athletes to want to be involved. I think there will be a grass roots development because of the chance to win 1,000,000 RMB. It's not easy to be Yao Ming. To be a RUFF MMA champion, you don't have to be seven feet tall."

“

It will be natural for Chinese athletes to want to be involved. I think there will be a grass roots development because of the chance to win 1,000,000 RMB. It's not easy to be Yao Ming. To be a RUFF MMA champion, you don't have to be seven feet tall.

” -- RUFF producer Michael Mandt, on the low entry qualifications to be an MMA fighter in China

Considering the martial arts heritage of the region, China appears to be a natural fit for MMA, which is among the reasons UFC has maintained an office in Beijing since August 2010. Former NBA executive Mark Fischer operates out of the office and heads the promotion's Asians Operations division.

Just this week UFC president Dana White promised that the UFC will hold an event "in China" this year. Yet claiming that Macau, where the card is expected to take place, is in China "is similar to having a fight in Puerto Rico and claiming to be in the United States," said Resnick, who worked four years inside the bureaucracy of the People’s Republic of China before receiving the license to work with the government. "Chinese citizens require a visa to go from China to Macau. Macau is a separate territory with its own government, currency and passports."

Resnick welcomed the UFC to hold an event in Macau "as it will only bring more attention to the great sport of MMA in Asia."

For the UFC to host something on the mainland, it would need to be considered a one-off cultural event, which means no ticket sales, no revenue streams.

The idea for RUFF came about five years ago when Resnick's son, Brandon, a teenager at the time, talked about his love of MMA. Brandon Resnick, now almost 20 and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, serves as RUFF's matchmaker and talent scout. RUFF fighters compete under the Unified Rules, and referees are certified under John McCarthy's C.O.M.M.A.N.D system. The Chinese government too will be a sort of talent scout via its support for MMA, especially in schools. Resnick expects the government to help with the cost of finding and grooming fighters, as well as regulating them through soon-to-be formed associations.

The government is “really excited about this because this is a growth sport here," Resnick said. "This is something the Chinese public can wrap their hands around, they can get it.

"We're finding that this can be a mainstream sport out here and people are willing to spend the money to come out and see it. As long as they get their value back."

The cheapest ticket to an event costs $15, though live attendance is insignificant compared to the potential access into China's 700,000,000 homes. Through the government, TV relationships are already opening up for the Mandt brothers in Chongqing and other major municipalities. RUFF is the first MMA organization in China permitted to advertise its events in mass media. Neil Mandt, 42, is moving to China, where he'll handle broadcast production of events every other month.

Sponsors have taken notice. Chinese arms of multinational companies -- Nike, Ford, Ducati Motorcylces and Sofitel Hotels -- have already aligned with RUFF.

"The exposure RUFF has on TV and magazines is something we're interested in," Mike Bordiga, CEO of Ducati Asia Pacific, is quoted as saying in the organization's promotional packet. "The audience has a low average age; It's exactly what we're aiming for."

There's talk of a North American-esque reality show aimed at the core 18-28 demographic. But this is first and foremost a sporting venture in a country that does not have much in the way of pro sports.

"We're starting a sports company in China," Resnick said. "That's amazing. The most amazing thing is we're bringing martial arts back to China. This is where it all started. That's the coolest thing."

Several weeks ago, the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission sent out a letter notifying licensees that the state was in peril of shutting the regulator's doors after March 31.

That budding crisis appears to be averted and the regulatory body will be open for business starting today, according to the commission’s administrator, Joe Miller.

The issue stems from a threatened lawsuit by the UFC over a 4 percent tax Oklahoma collects on all pay-per-views purchased by residences of the state. Events can emanate from Tokyo, but if someone in Tulsa is buying, then the promoter must pay a tax to the state. This applies to all promoters, boxing and MMA, and Miller said fees collected from this tax currently account for two-thirds of the athletic commission’s budget. Without it, he said, keeping operations going would be very difficult.

Zuffa, the largest provider of pay-per-view content in the world, is essentially the only MMA promoter that pays into the Oklahoma tax.

Marc Ratner, UFC’s head of regulatory affairs, said it boiled down to a legal matter. Ratner compared the matter in Oklahoma to a similar one Florida faced. A 5 percent pay-per-view tax was eventually wiped from the Sunshine State's books.

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office is currently determining the constitutionality of the pay-per-view law, Miller said.

“Once he has completed his research, we will finalize our request for a change in the current language of our statute,” Miller said.

In essence, Oklahoma must secure a revenue stream that doesn’t rely on “double taxation,” Ratner said, which the pending legislation apparently provides for.

“We will be open for business on April [2],” Miller said. “A legislative solution to the problem is under way, and should be solidified by the end of April.”

Miller is accepting permit applications again.

Quinton Jackson and I weren't supposed to share a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo, but circumstances demanded it.

He was headed to Japan for the first time; this trip was my fourth. Jackson was nothing if not curious, which is among the many things I learned about him during that journey in the summer of 2001. As we flew over the Pacific, Jackson wondered a million different things about Pride FC, Japan, its people and food, and though he couldn’t have imagined it at the time, the country would become his professional home for the next five years.

I saw "Rampage" fight for the first time 13 months earlier at King of the Cage 4. A slugfest against a debuting Marvin Eastman was tucked near the bottom of a lineup that included Duane Ludwig, Falaniko Vitale, Fabiano Iha and Daijiro Matsui. Wearing a heavy chain around his neck and a wrestling singlet on his body, Jackson didn’t appear to know how to do anything but be tough. He certainly didn’t know how to fight, not in a professional sense, and lost on points. Jackson, however, wasn’t easy to forget. Recognizing his potential, promoters Terry Trebilcock and Tedd Williams matched him with eight guys you've never heard of to build up his record.

The 11-month winning streak was convincing enough that Jackson, who by then had earned a reputation on the Southern California fight circuit as an exciting prospect, got a call to fight Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba at Pride 15. He didn’t know what Pride was. Didn’t know who Sakuraba was. But he said "yes", and was booked to fly out on Wednesday of fight week. He didn’t make the flight, of course.

An anonymous tip alleging Jackson was an armed felon attempting to flee the country prompted airport police to arrest him at gunpoint on charges of probation violation. Eight hours in jail, bail having been paid, Jackson hopped on a flight the next day.

He could tell a story, had a good one to share, and an eager listener.

At the time Jackson blamed the arrest on his chief second, Chris Brennan, who wanted to fight Sakuraba himself, “Rampage” claimed. A couple of days later, with Brennan in his corner, Jackson nearly slammed his way to a shocking win.

This sort of melodrama has accompanied Jackson at every stage of his career. Over the last two weeks, for instance, “Rampage,” now a grizzled veteran and former champion, has talked a lot, sparked headlines, and created a story. He was done with the UFC, he said. He wanted out because he felt disrespected and underpaid. He also made waves when he told Fighters Only Magazine he utilized testosterone replacement therapy against Ryan Bader.

All that led to Tuesday’s news that, no, he wasn’t going to get his release from the UFC. Instead, he’d have to make good on the terms of his deal with Zuffa and fight Mauricio Rua again. Jackson frolicked around on Twitter, promising 10 more years of fighting thanks to his TRT prescription.

See, whether it’s played-up nonsense Pride tried to pitch Japanese media about Jackson being homeless and living in a bus, or true-to-life realities that make him among mixed martial arts' most unique and reported upon figures, Jackson is always happy to sell.

Acting as a second job came later in life, but it’s fair to say Jackson has long been a performer. Even when he’s at his most serious, there’s plenty of showmanship to be found when he fights. All he ever wanted to do is entertain. That’s how he passed time growing up in a rough patch of Memphis. And at the age of 33, that’s basically what he’s doing now, only with a bonus of large checks attached to his performances.

For certain periods, “Rampage” became one of the few mixed martial artists to hit it big. His famous knockout of Chuck Liddell in 2007 capped ESPN’s first real venture into covering the UFC and mixed martial arts. Liddell was the man everyone knew coming in. Jackson was the man everyone knew coming out. One fight later “Rampage” tussled with Dan Henderson for the right to unify the light heavyweight division, and claimed the No. 1 ranking.

This period was Jackson’s brightest moment as a professional. He enjoyed great wins in Japan, including picture-perfect efforts like the night he dismantled Kevin Randleman, yet Jackson’s 2007 represented the culmination of what so many people felt he was capable of.

“It” realized.

The issue with his flavor of entertainment: sports is a results-based business unfolding in a finite window. Selling, promoting and entertaining are extremely useful when they fall in line with winning. But “Rampage” hasn’t done so consistently since UFC gold adorned his waist. For Jackson to have a chance at spinning his greatest yarn, that must change starting with his attempt at retribution against Rua later this year.

Ian McCall stood inside a Whole Foods last week and listened to some guy tell him he didn't matter. That's a lot to stomach -- no matter who you are.

"I just don't really like the lighter weight classes," McCall was informed. "You guys are just boring to me."

After thinking about the conversation, McCall, widely regarded as mixed martial arts' No. 1-ranked flyweight, took comfort in the idea that his division, which debuts in the UFC on Friday, is one fans "really have to really like" to watch.

There's truth to that. Until McCall meets Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez deals with Yasuhiro Urushitani on FX this Friday, live from Sydney, Australia, jockey-sized mixed martial artists didn't have a bright enough spotlight on what they were doing. Interested fans had to actually seek them out. Not anymore.

When UFC adopted the lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight classes, the selling point was simple: these guys don't get tired, they're technical and they come to fight. Flyweight, "the final frontier in terms of how small you can go," according to McCall, all 5-5, 125 pounds of him, isn't so different. But there are people, like the guy at the market, who just won't care; if they wanted to watch guys McCall's build scrap, they would check out a Breeders' Cup.

"I don't want to say someone who just wants to watch heavyweights is ignorant, but just not as educated," said the 27-year-old married father of one. "Now that people are becoming more educated, they're appreciating the tactical side of it, which means opportunities for smaller guys. Smaller isn't always better, but I think the fighters that are coming down from 135 are going to make it better. I think there's going to be a lot of depth to the weight class, a lot of personality, which is a huge part of a sport that's growing so much."

McCall alone offers enough personality for a division that, in its first year of existence under the UFC banner, will remain small, filled through roster spots co-opted from 135 and 145.

“

Now that people are becoming more educated, they're appreciating the tactical side of it, which means opportunities for smaller guys. Smaller isn't always better, but I think the fighters that are coming down from 135 are going to make it better.

” -- Ian McCall

After McCall's last win, a submission of Darrel Montague in Lemoore, Calif., where he reigned as Tachi Palace Fights champion, the well quaffed "Uncle Creepy" proclaimed himself the man to spearhead flyweights into prominence. He playfully harassed Dana White and Sean Shelby, matchmaker for Strikeforce and lighter classes in the UFC, that it was time to allow guys his size in the Octagon.

Speculation was high that it would happen the first of the year, and it did. Later in 2012, one of the four fighters battling Saturday in Australia (Friday, 9 p.m. ET), will, barring unforeseen circumstances, be crowned the first UFC flyweight champion.

McCall enters the field at the top, but not without questions. Like Johnson and Benavidez, McCall fought for Zuffa at bantamweight prior the switch to 125. He left the promotion in 2009 after losing on points to Dominick Cruz. Then the craziness of his life took over. McCall fell victim to an old friend: drugs. He hit rock bottom. He found a good woman, married, and had a baby girl.

During that period, MMA was the light at the end of the tunnel.

Confidence from being in the gym, sparring and improving "was really what I owe it all to," he said. "And the way my life has changed with a family, wife, baby, it just adds on top of it. Fighting is what's taken me to where I'm at now, and has enabled me to live a life I wanted to live. Not financially, I don't make that much money right now. But spiritually, I've taken some different things from it."

McCall dropped weight because he said it felt natural to him. The harder he trained under the reins of Colin Oyama and Romie Aram, the smaller he got. Next came an opportunity, which is all he wanted, and "two years later I'm world champ. I'm kind of the torchbearer for this thing in the UFC," said McCall, who unabashedly predicts a "transition to superstar by winning the tournament."

Becoming the first UFC flyweight champion has a great ring to it and carries some historical significance, but for McCall to think he'll soon be the next George St. Pierre is a miscalculation. It takes time to develop a division, and Zuffa is playing it real tight at the start. Consider the tournament a "soft opening." Even bantamweight isn't a money-making venture for Zuffa quite yet -- perhaps that changes with Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber coaching the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" on FX starting March 9 -- so at this stage, Zuffa regards flyweights as more of an investment than anything else.

You could hear the hope in McCall's voice as he said this: "If we can create a really strong structure, like they can at 125, it can definitely build and create something people love, that they want to see and will pay to see."

The weight class carries depth, so that's not an issue. Curious to some were Zuffa's roster choices -- McCall, Johnson, Benavidez, Urushitani, Darren Uyenoyama, John Dodson, John Lineker, Louis Goudinot and Josh Ferguson -- left free some of the sport's best -- Jussier da Silva, currently ranked No. 2 after losing to McCall one year ago, fights March 18 at a 132.3-pound catchweight in Brazil -- providing Richard Goodman, matchmaker for Tachi Palace Fights, solid bouts to make at the regional level.

"Now that the UFC has adopted this weight class, we're going to see a lot more guys develop at that weight," said Goodman, who claimed no trouble finding top talent before this wider exposure. "A lot of good fighters like Benavidez, Johnson, McCall -- they all had to fight at 135 because they didn't have any weight classes in any shows that could afford the budget to pay them what they deserve and make a good living."

At flyweight, McCall said the new crew of fighters "aren't going to be the fastest guys on the court anymore. They're going to have to deal with guys that are just as fast and just as technical in every way. I think they're going to be shocked."

He likes to talk, there's no question about that. For McCall (11-2), to make good on his words -- he'll meet Benavidez in the finals and win, "people haven't experienced a fighter quite like me yet" -- this second shot with Zuffa needs to be much better. Losing to Cruz was one thing, Benavidez and Johnson did that too, but he can't afford performances like the one against Charlie Valencia that saw him subbed within a round.

"I have a lot to prove," McCall said. "I need to show that I screwed up last time. I wasn't for real. Now I'm serious. I'm really just a completely different person fighting wise. People will see.

"My dreams were finally answered and I can focus completely about this. Nothing else as far as work. I don't have to look for other work. It's a big part of it. This is my job. This is my calling. This can change my life, make my life pretty damn cool. I was getting by before, but now my wife doesn't have to work -- she can just be mommy."

And, just maybe, he and his fellow flyweights won't have to deal with critiques from the checkout line anymore.

LAS VEGAS -- Chinese featherweight Tie Quan Zhang’s grin stretches from ear to ear as he wraps his hands for this early training session.

It’s a weekday morning in Las Vegas, 6,000 miles away from Zhang’s home in Beijing. He steps into the ring with American boxing coach Jimmy Gifford, who doesn’t speak a word of Chinese. Zhang is equally inept at English.

A translator stands outside the cage on call, but it’s amazing how little he’s used. This is what UFC president Dana White has been ranting about for years: Fighting is universal. It is, you might say, its own language.

“I kind of make some sounds and give him the motions of what’s going on,” Gifford told ESPN.com. “Sometimes, there was miscommunication, but after so many sessions there’s an understanding between us.

“He’s been getting workouts to learn English words. He calls me ‘boxing guru.’ And he knows the phrase ‘Make him pay.’”

Zhang, who faces Issei Tamura at UFC 144 in Tokyo on Saturday, has traveled to the U.S. before for a training camp -- but never at the request of the UFC.

With the promotion continuing its push into foreign markets in 2012, the UFC organized a sort of one-sided fighter-exchange program for Chinese athletes this year, bringing over Zhang and two other prospects -- neither of whom are in the UFC -- to Las Vegas to train with American coaches.

The UFC is not trying to artificially create a Chinese star -- if it were, matchmakers wouldn’t have originally scheduled Zhang against the tough Leonard Garcia on this weekend’s card -- but it’s common sense that if one emerges, well, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

In 2010, the UFC established an office in Beijing and appointed Mark Fischer as managing director. In that short amount of time, Fischer says the brand has found its way into 270 million households via television and reaches another 500 million on the Internet.

Phase 1, if you want to call it that, is generally seen as complete. Phase 2 is in progress and would certainly benefit from the presence of a Chinese star.

“It’s very important to build local heroes in each market,” Fischer said. “China is a market where we have such tremendous potential. Once we have local heroes who are successful in the UFC, it will make a world of difference. Hence these programs.”

Whereas an area like Brazil was rife with fighters for the UFC to tap into, the Chinese market is going to require time to produce top-shelf talent.

The biggest hurdle standing in the way currently is what the UFC program looks to address. As of right now, there is not the level of instructors or facilities in China teaching MMA as there is in other markets.

For instance, Zhang says, as a brown belt, he is the highest-ranked Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner in the country’s 1.3 billion population.

He trains out of a gym he helped found, China Top Team. The facility has no ring to spar in and only a handful of qualified coaches. The athletes take turns running on one treadmill. When it’s time to lift weights, they use memberships to the athletic club next door.

“I feel like [the Chinese national] level of wrestling is good, but BJJ is almost nonexistent,” said Zhang, through a translator. “There are maybe 10 jiu-jitsu coaches in all of China. I don’t think there are any Muay Thai instructors, but we have some Mongolian boxing.”

Enter the UFC’s program. During the month Zhang spent in Las Vegas, Gifford said that although it was treated as a normal training camp to prepare for this week’s fight, there was also a bit of “teaching to teach” incorporated.

In a rare move, he allowed what he was teaching to be videotaped so the fighters at China Top Team who didn’t make the trip could watch. He’s also open to a two-week seminar in China -- something Fischer says is a real possibility as a mainstay in the future.

“They need work. They need coaching,” Gifford said. “I’m not opposed to doing a two-week stint in China. We can help coach coaches. That’s what they need.”

Once the sport grows in China -- currently, the UFC brand is recognized by an estimated 15 percent of the population -- there is reason to believe it could turn out some of the future’s biggest stars.

Obviously, martial arts has existed in the area for years. Sanda is the closest thing to MMA, which allows takedowns but no grappling and is fought with bigger gloves than the four-ounce version the UFC uses.

The nation’s best athletes are typically gobbled up by other sports at a relatively young age; however, Zhang says interest in his gym has increased dramatically since the UFC started building a presence there.

Even though the Chinese government is effective at signing talented youth to contracts, Zhang believes that from what we has seen, the time when some of the top athletes choose to compete solely in MMA is not far off.

“The biggest difficulty has already been overcome,” Zhang said. “Right now, everybody in China and the government is already starting to accept the sport. There will be enough Chinese fighters to host a UFC event in three to five years.”

After 15 fights and five and a half years in the UFC, it’s strange to think that Michael Bisping might finally answer his critics with a single win this weekend.

Yet, if Bisping overcomes the odds, upsets Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2 on Saturday and becomes the organization’s No. 1 middleweight contender, there will be very little left to say about him aside from: Sorry Mike, we’ve been wrong about you.

In an industry so preoccupied with the concept of respect, it’s hard to think of a UFC veteran who is more routinely disrespected, his accomplishments more often dismissed out of hand than Bisping.

Ever since he brought a 10-0 record across the pond to compete on season three of “The Ultimate Fighter” back in 2006, the Brit has been branded as overrated. Oddly, the 12-3 record he’s put up since winning the UFC’s popular reality show has done little to dispel the notion of him as nothing more than a product of the fight company’s powerful hype machine. Rightly or wrongly, a healthy portion of the viewing public still thinks of Bisping as a mediocre fighter, a guy unfairly held up as a main event talent for the express purpose of spearheading the UFC’s push into the European market.

Much of that, of course, is due to the level of competition he’s faced to this point, which hasn't been stellar. The truth is, a glance at Bisping’s career body of work (he’s 22-3 overall) actually tells us precious little about what kind of talent he might ultimately prove to be.

His dozen UFC wins have come against opposition with a combined Octagon record of 42-48. For all of his experience with the company, he has only defeated three opponents with winning UFC records -- Matt Hamill, Chris Leben and Jorge Rivera -- and their victories account for 29 of the 42 mentioned above.

To be fair, two of his three career losses – decisions to Rashad Evans and Wanderlei Silva – are also less than definitive. His KO at the hands of Dan Henderson at UFC 100 sticks out as his only real obvious failing, and it's one critics have not let him forget.

Bisping, naturally, vehemently disagrees with any assessment of himself as anything other than a top contender. It’s easy to see his point. As a fighter, all he can do is beat the men UFC matchmakers put in front of him, and so far he’s done an admirable job at it.

Nonetheless, in Sonnen – at least the most recent incarnation of him -- Bisping faces his first real litmus test since that 2009 loss to Hendo. Their fight will be contested on the sport’s newest and biggest stage and the prize is one both have been very vocal about deserving.

It stands to be a pivotal moment in Bisping’s career. If he wants to prove the critics wrong and stake his claim among the upper echelon of 185-pound fighters, well, here's his chance.

If he can't do it, it'll simply confirm what many have thought about him for a long time.

If he can, if he beats Sonnen, a lot of people -- me included -- probably owe the guy an apology.

I can see it coming, and I’m certainly not the only one.

MMA in Brazil has reached the pinnacle of popularity in recent years. Fighters are becoming celebrities and, most importantly when it comes to building stars in the sport, the best fighters keep winning. The 2012 campaign kicked off with three UFC Brazilian champions and the potential for more.

But there is a shadow creeping over the sport. It isn’t a matter of winning or losing inside the Octagon, but a matter of security for fighters, fans and citizens.



It all started with the marketing ploy to mix soccer, the most popular pastime in Brazil, with MMA, the country’s new passion.
Anderson Silva was the first to engage in this sort of relationship. “The Spider” started to show his support for Corinthians -- a club he once tried out for, but failed to make the cut -- before and after UFC fights by waving flags and donning jerseys and hats with the club’s insignia. It wasn’t long before he was hired by the team for promotional purposes. Since August’s UFC 134 event, the middleweight champion is officially considered an athlete of one of the most popular clubs in Brazil -- with all the collateral effects that it brings.

During the buildup to UFC Rio, Silva was heavily booed during an open workout session on Copacabana beach. The workout was meant as a way to promote the upcoming event and have Silva’s star shine. Instead, supporters of other soccer clubs flocked to the beach for the sole purpose of cursing the UFC champion.


The booing is “not a problem,” Silva said at a news conference the day after. And, at the time, it probably wasn’t.

Then, as Chael Sonnen kicked his antics into high gear, the club rivalry issue emerged again. Soccer club Palmeiras, considered Corinthians’ most traditional rival, became the topic as Sonnen declared himself a team supporter of the rival outfit.

The results of that second example remain to be seen. But talk of a bout between Silva and Sonnen at Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo have brought a taste of what can happen. The quotes below are from a Palmeiras supporter, posted on a MMA discussion forum:

“I foresee a tragedy at the TUF Finale in São Paulo if Anderson Silva fights Chael Sonnen at a soccer stadium. I’m from São Paulo and a member of Mancha Verde [a Palmeiras soccer gang]. The former vice-president of Mancha Verde, Janio Carvalho, is a Jungle Fight competitor [the biggest MMA event in Brazil]. All members are MMA fans.

And there is a guy from Gaviões [a Corinthians soccer gang] that is also competing in Jungle Fight, called Bruno Capeloza. If Silva x Sonnen really happens at a soccer stadium, the tickets for bleachers will be at an affordable price [around 50 USD]. There will be lots of Palmeiras fans supporting Sonnen, and Corinthians fans will do the same for Anderson, with plenty of mad MMA fighters among them. A melee would [ensue in] a matter of minutes.”

The potential scenario described by this fan might be overly dramatic. But it wouldn’t be the first time something similar broke out in Brazil. You have to go back only as far as November 2010 when a brawl between Cruzeiro and Atletico fans -- the two most popular teams in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais – resulted in a fatality. The altercation came not after a soccer event, but on the heels of an MMA event in which one of the fighters wore a Cruzeiro jersey.


The next chapter, unfortunately, might come sooner than expected. At UFC 142 on Saturday, José Aldo will wear the red-and-black colors of Flamengo. The UFC featherweight champion is a longtime supporter of the team and usually bears a flag of one of the club’s soccer gangs while in the Octagon.

If the relationship between soccer and MMA is of concern to Aldo, he certainly isn’t showing it.

“I like this relation between soccer and MMA,” Aldo said during a conference call last week. “Soccer came to help us. Of course, the fans of a club can be frustrated because a fighter signed a contract with a rival. But I don’t see it that way. I see Flamengo standing for [all of Brazil] in the Octagon.”

Unfortunately for Aldo, soon after his deal with Flamengo was announced, a group of Vasco fans threw their support behind American Chad Mendes. Still other Brazilian fighters, including Vitor Belfort, share Aldo’s optimism. In fact, Belfort sees this as an opportunity for fans to pledge allegiance to entirely different “teams” based on who they back in the Octagon.

“Those deals are not with soccer,” Belfort said. The [fighters] are signing with clubs, and they will be representing those clubs in the UFC. It is an opportunity for a Vasco fan to turn into a Flamengo fan in the UFC.”

To most sports fans, Brazil is synonymous with soccer. But bringing the rivalries that come with soccer from the stadiums to the MMA arena isn’t a great idea, no matter how much money and interest it generates. Solutions like designating separate areas for fans in large stadiums (to avoid brawls) aren’t feasible at an MMA event.

It took years before MMA was recognized by the Brazilian mainstream audience. To associate the sport with gang violence would put it several steps back. MMA doesn’t need to associate itself with soccer to be validated as a popular sport -- it already is.

This needs to be clear off the top: Zuffa is not responsible for mixed martial artists who dope up.

Athletes make, and will continue to make, decisions to use banned substances regardless of the deterrents and penalties. There will always be someone seeking an edge. Someone who realizes they can't rise to the top without the aid of modern science. Someone willing to play a risky game in order to train harder than his or her body would normally allow.

That's the reality in the money-rich, winning-is-everything sports world mixed martial arts has joined over the past decade.

This also needs to be clear: Zuffa can, with one move, catalyze a sea change in MMA's widespread performance-enhancing drug culture. The purveyors of Strikeforce and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the uncontested pinnacle of the sport, could decide that banned substance users aren't welcome at their events. That they won't do business with fighters who dope. They won't make money with 'em. That the risk for using must, for the first time, outweigh the reward -- because it most certainly does not now.

Many will ask: Should it be on Zuffa to do this when the sport it promotes is regulated by state governments, and when it is but one of many promoters?

I'd argue the answer is yes, and for the same reason UFC recently and rightly awarded Duane Ludwig the distinction of owning the 19-year-old organization's fastest knockout, even though the Nevada Athletic Commission refused to correct an error that "officially" said it wasn't. Zuffa is more important than any regulator, and has a vested interest in making sure the sport continues forward, which also means that among young fighters it's considered the place to be. Why do they see it that way now? The spoils. Money, prestige and fame of it all.

There isn't an organization in MMA that offers end-of-the-rainbow possibilities like Zuffa. Of course, there are a few groups with which fighters can sign and make a decent buck. UFC president Dana White is correct when he says his organization isn't a monopoly. There isn't a barrier to entry in the market for competitors. Viacom just purchased Bellator. Fighters can make money in Japan, though they might not get paid so fast. Asia in general is a burgeoning market for the sport, and other areas of the world are soon to follow. So, eviction from the UFC doesn't necessarily equal a death sentence for a fighter's career. But the fact remains, the allure of fighting in MMA's top organization can be a significant incentive to use PEDs. That's why fighters, including several so-called champions, have taken whatever steps they could, including doping, to get to the top. They have done this knowing the potential price.

Fighters must instead face a real choice. Is this thing I'm putting into my body worth the possibility of never fighting in the UFC? That should be a consideration for fighters these days, and it's really not. But more importantly, especially as it pertains to changing the culture that exists in MMA, kids walking into gyms for the first time shouldn't have to consider the possibility of drugs to get ahead.

Until the consensus among competitors shifts to the point it's no longer worth doing, it will be worth doing.

Still, some suggest the cost to the UFC for such a move would be too dramatic.

1. Potential competitors, like Viacom-funded Bellator, could swoop in and take promotable talent.

I guess. But that presupposes many of the fighters driving pay-per-view sales are using, and that they'll be caught. If that's the case, something drastic has to happen regardless. As it is, I think the idea that UFC would lose all its draws is way overblown. Ousted fighters, well, they'd head to a promoter who can live with an immediate reputation for signing steroid users. Don't you think the benefit of fighting in UFC and Strikeforce will actually grow? Most fans already presume a high percentage of fighters are mixed up with this stuff. Whether or not they truly care -- if responses to my Twitter account are an indication, most do, some don't -- that perception will change were Zuffa to draw a line in the sand.

We know fighters will get second chances somewhere else, and maybe some fans will be interested in how they do. But we've seen enough proof that when a fighter leaves the UFC, his stock takes a serious hit. Plus, if promoters go into the business of signing Zuffa's roid-tainted castoffs, that's great PR for the Las Vegas crew, which will only come out looking like a progressive, forward-thinking company.

I don't think it would take more than a year or two for fighters to get a clear sense that this thing was bad news for them. UFC could replenish lost names with new kids coming up, and they could do it fast.

2. Why should this happen in the UFC when the NFL, MLB and NBA don't cast aside talent when they test positive?

Sorry for answering a question with a question, but why should the UFC be like any other league?

It doesn't have a labor union to contend with. Other than being bound to work under various state athletic commission standards, and sometimes acting as its own regulator, Zuffa can operate with as much flexibility as it pleases. Simply relying on each state to get a hold of the problem isn't cutting it.

3. Stop pretending they're not all using something and let them.

The technology of kinesiology has never been more advanced. Some would say this truth represents another way in which athletes maximize their physical ability to compete at a higher level. And in the grand scheme of things, what's the difference between an innovative training technique, creatine, oxygenated water, or a consortium of nutritional supplement manufacturers pumping out new stuff every day, and anabolic steroids? It's just another piece of the puzzle for some.

There's no question competitive fields spur innovation and require determination -- nowhere is that more true than sport. But is an exercise revolution that produces faster, more powerful movements relative to fitness routines of yesteryear equivalent, in results and fair play, to its pharmaceutical equivalent?

How can anyone say "yes" to that? Not all fighters will want to use. The idea that they should be forced into a competitive disadvantage because of this is insane.

But there's a larger point here. Allowing fighters to use if they wanted would mark an even place from which to start. That's at least something.

Regulators and some MMA promoters, especially Zuffa, have made strides in working to end the use of banned substances. Problem is, the battle between drug users and drug enforcement bodies is as competitive as it gets. Lots of innovation and determination happening. No matter how much Nevada or California improve their tests, fighters will find a way around them. And it's clear in a situation as haphazard as MMA's -- standards vary greatly from state to state -- the one thing that can deliver an impact is a universal stance at the top.

A decree by Zuffa is as universal as it gets.

4. Zuffa will lose out on big paydays.

Maybe some. I mean, what happens in Chael Sonnen's case? That's a tough one. He's lined up to participate in one of the biggest fights of 2012 if he gets past Mark Munoz on Jan. 28. It's a lot to risk for the UFC; true moneymakers aren't so easy to come by.

But it's obvious Zuffa has already lost fights. While Cris Santos, the final inspiration for this column, sits out a year, she can't headline Strikeforce cards for Showtime. Champions lost their belts. Divisions were altered. It's dishonest to act like steroids haven't caused major disruptions already.

If the UFC went down this path, there could be some initial pain. But those bad actors, quickly forgotten, will give way to a new crop. Two years from now, how exactly will the UFC suffer because it can claim the strongest substance abuse policy in sports? One that will absolutely trickle down through the lower levels of MMA. One that will force rival, potentially competitive promoters to comply or be stigmatized. One that will grow more meaningful and expansive as cutting-edge testing procedures are put in place -- because that has to happen too for this thing to work over the long term.

On Monday, Zuffa could announce it will refrain from promoting anabolic steroid users, HGH users, EPO users, whatever-the-next-thing-is-called users, and the sport would be better off.

Go ahead, tell me otherwise.