Event – Rally to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York.

Location – 250 Broadway, outside of the offices of the State Assembly.

Date – December 11, 2015.

Featured in the Images – David N. Weinraub (Lobbyist for the UFC http://www.brownweinraub.com/), Bruce Kivo (http://www.MMAConfidential.com), “Sambo” Stephen Koepfer (http://nymmanow.blogspot.com/ http://www.nycombatsambo.com/), Jim Genia (http://www.themmajournalist.com/), Manny Martinez (MILE Apparel Maximum Impact Little Effort), Anil Melwani (http://www.MMA.us), Michael Brancata (http://mmaworldexpo.com/), Phoenix Carnivale (Fight Commentator), Thiago Chavez (MMA Fighter http://mma.us/category/mma-fighter/thiago-chavez/).

Promotion – Underground Combat League (UCL)

Rules – Full Unified Rules of MMA or UFC 1 “Vale Tudo” Rules, depending on agreement of fighters. Three 3-Minute Rounds.

Status – Amateur MMA Competition.

Sanctioned by Organization Approved by NY Statute – No.

Sanctioning Body –  Unsanctioned (legal).

Location of Show – World Class Boxing Gym – South Bronx, NYC.

Date of Show – May 2, 2015.

Featured Result: Jonathan Velez def. Peter Storm to retain the UCL Title.

Promotion – Underground Combat League (UCL)

Rules – Full Unified Rules of MMA or UFC 1 “Vale Tudo” Rules, depending on agreement of fighters. 3-Minute Rounds.

Status – Amateur MMA Competition.

Sanctioned by Organization Approved by NY Statute – No.

Sanctioning Body –  Unsanctioned (legal).

Location of Show – World Class Boxing Gym – South Bronx, NYC.

Date of Show – February 8, 2015.

Rules – No Elbows or Knees to the Head. No Twisting Leg Locks. Otherwise Unified Rules. 3-Minute Rounds.

Status – Amateur MMA Competition.

Sanctioned by Organization Approved by NY Statute – Yes.

Sanctioning Body –  ISKA.

Results :

• Chris Francis def. Eric D’Arce via Majority Decision
• William Calhoun def. Marwin Roque via Verbal Submission at 1:13, R1
• Raymond Ceballos def. Omowale Adewale via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:59, R1
• Thomas Farrel def. David Ortiz via TKO (Doc stoppage due to cuts) at 3:00, R1
• Justin Vargas def. Mike Hauben via Verbal Submission at 2:32, R1

Date of Show – June 21, 2014.

Location of Show – Elmcore Recreation Center – Queens, NYC.

Jim Genia Leads a Panel on NY Underground MMA

The Jacob Javits convention center in the far west side of midtown Manhattan hosted the World MMA Expo this past November 17-18, 2011.  The multi-faceted event was comprised of a jiu-jitsu tournament, mixed-fighting exhibition matches in a cage, autograph signings from famous MMA stars, panel discussions, and more.  NY MMA stars Kenny Rivera and Jonathan Rodriguez were both victorious in the cage.  Jonathan Rodriguez, currently on a winning streak of over ten wins, got through the wrestling and kickboxing rounds and secured his patented triangle choke midway into the final grappling round. Look out for these two.

March 6, 2012 - Community Rally for the Sanctioning of Professional MMA in NY

A loyal crowd of MMA faithfuls gathered in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s NYC Office at 633 Third Avenue to rally for the legalization of professional mixed martial arts in New York.  As one of the last holdouts, New York is currently preventing valuable sports revenue from boosting its economic goals.  This backwards bureaucratic policy is bound to go down in flames in the near future, it’s a matter of 1-3 years at most.  Then MMA will be legal hundreds and possibly thousands of years to come.  I guess we’re witnessing history here.

To read more about the Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York, CLICK HERE

Unsanctioned Underground Fight Show Erupts During MMA Book Launch Event

Unsanctioned MMA fights in a cage in downtown Manhattan were the focal point of a book launch event this past Saturday hosted by authors Jim Genia (Raw Combat) and Matthew Polly (Tapped Out).  It nearly came to blows in the ring as Genia and Polly faced off, each clutching copies of their book in a pseudo-masterbatory staredown that seemed seconds from erupting into a frenzy of extreme violence.  Maybe the two authors were amped up on adreneline following a couple of spine-busting MMA fights or maybe they were just super pumped up amidst a fucking awesome media event.  Whatever the case may have been, these two large and imposing men, who as mma journalists clearly had something to prove, seemed willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to intimidate one another in the center of the ring.

Matthew Polly (6’11″/302lbs) came into the ring boasting a star-studded training team consisting of Phil Nurse and “New Zealand” John Danaher.  Jim Genia (6’10″/297lbs) was coming in with a decade-old blue belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and a large pair of iron clad bauding balls.  Half the crowd wanted to see these two behemoths tear each other limb from limb and the other half seemed to be connected to the venue or publishing companies and were freaking out about liability issues should the two man-monsters end up brawling.  Unfortunately cooler heads prevailed and the fighting was left to the fighters.