****The author is a Marine Corps veteran and actually served under Maj. John Caldwell who is cited in this article. The author's opinions are not that of the Marine Corps and have no official endorsement by either the Marine Corps or the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It is purely a matter of personal opinion shared by a Marine Corps veteran and journalist for U.S. Combat Sports****

All good things must come to an end. And in the case of one of the most recognizable partnerships inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Octagon, the U.S. Marine Corps and the UFC have officially cut ties.

The three-year partnership between the two came to an abrupt halt November 30 after a push from members of Congress, women's groups and labor unions. The Marine Corps Recruiting Command came under a lot of pressure after labor union, Unite Here, launched a massive campaign to ban and prohibit spending on marketing and advertising expenditures with the UFC.

In the early days of mixed martial arts fighters from around the country flocked to tiny Bettendorf, Iowa in order to learn from legendary champion and coach Pat Miletich.

Once described by ESPN The Magazine's Tim Keown as the "unofficial mecca of MMA", future stars like Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia, and Ben Rothwell were just a few of the competitors that claimed the Iowa gym home.

However, as time passed and the sport evolved, many of the combatants began to open gyms of their own and Militech ultimately chose to pursue other passions within the industry. It seemed as if cities like Las Vegas and Albuquerque would relegate Midwestern gyms to second fiddle. But that was before the explosion of Roufusport in Milwaukee.

UFC President Dana White is finally warming up to the idea that women have a place in his organization. White, who had previously been extremely critical over women inside the octagon, now entertains the idea ever since he laid eyes on one, "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey.

Rousey, currently the women's bantamweight champion for the Zuffa owned Strikeforce, has been destroying her opponents each within the first round of competition and is currently ranked the number one female fighter on the planet.

Of course, before Rousey there was Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, but Santos derailed her own train after testing positive for a banned substance. The one-time queen of the featherweight division was stripped of her title and banned from the sport for one year.

There is no sport more demanding than wrestling. Wrestling is a team sport that requires individual effort to accomplish the ultimate team goal of being successful.

This is a sport that has been around longer than any other high school athletic activity and dates back to the beginning of mankind, which requires strength, power, speed, and mental toughness.

If you're a high school student and find your self interested in staying in shape or bored during the winter, check out your local high school's wrestling team as all high schools are always looking for individuals to participate on the team.

For two glorious months of the year people in Wisconsin are actually able to take off their shirts and utilize locations like Bradford Beach, Redgranite Quarry, and other bodies of water that rich Illinois people try to take over.

But every year – or at least until this global warming thing comes to fruition – September comes along and the days grow shorter, the temperature drops, and water turns back into something you splash into your whiskey.

However, along with the return of the Packers and Bucks (just kidding), the fall season brings with it a heavy dosage of combative sports that was severely missed. Check out the top autumn storylines that fans of #WIMMA should pay attention to over the next few months.

Tomorrow night in Green Bay the Rogue Warrior Championships unleash an exciting mixed martial arts lineup. Featuring a fair share of out-of-state competitors and a handful of Wisconsin prospects the card looks to be well worth the price of admission.

Check out the five most intriguing storylines heading into tomorrow's event including whether or not MMA can thrive once again in Green Bay, if Gerald Meerschaert is finally ready to hit the big time and much more.

Last night the unfortunate and saddening news broke that rapidly rising featherweight Erik "New Breed" Koch was forced to pull out of his UFC 153 title bout against 145-pound killer Jose Aldo.

Koch, who was pegged to be the first Roufusport fighter to ever fight for a UFC title, was obviously extremely disappointed by the situation. But what did other fighters, promoters, and fans think about Koch being replaced by former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar?

Check out some reactions from people in all walks of life about the injury to "New Breed" and the new UFC 153 main event from the industry's best including Koch, Edgar, Dana White, Anthony Pettis, Ariel Helwani, Mike Straka and more.

As the mixed martial arts community is left reeling from the news that UFC 151 has been canceled, a lot of people are left picking their jaws up off the ground. General consensus comes down to Jon Jones being to blame for the cancellation of the event from both fighters and fans.

Is Jones the bad guy though? Is it really his fault that Dana White canceled the event? Speculation looms over UFC 151 that much is without doubt, and doesn't help the fighters left without a paycheck or a fight this Saturday, so who do we blame?

Jon Jones focused his entire camp on competing against Dan Henderson. I feel that comparing Henderson and Sonnen, which I am completely positive some are, would be absurd almost like comparing apples to oranges. Henderson is a different breed, to say the least.

It's not every day that a local mixed martial arts promotion can put together a lineup that presents competitive matchups from start to finish chalked full of intriguing storylines. But then again the Madtown Throwdown promotion has always done things their own way.

Stressing individuality, quality, and straight forwardness Madtown promoter and creator Pat O'Malley has grown the Madison-based organization into one of the more respected brands within the local fight circuit.

Established back in 2004 – headlined by an inaugural main event between nationally notable competitors Dave Strasser and Pat Healy – the organization has always prided itself as a promotion that puts on the fights fans want to see. And Saturday's 28th installment of Madtown Throwdown "Hells Bells" is no different.

Take a look back at the world of mixed martial arts five years ago. Middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva was just beginning to create his legend within the UFC, televised MMA was a privilege not a right, and youth MMA was only a portion of what it is today.

With the combative sports world continuously growing each day, read along as US Combat Sports Reporter Carl Lange recounts the firsthand observations he has witnessed within the fight scene on a handful of topics.