New York Mixed Martial Arts is the feature length debut of documentarian Kahleem Poole-Tejada about the political struggle to sanction the young combat sport in the Empire State. The film, set to debut on the opening of the Bronx Week Film Festival on May 16, is characterized by many daring choices from the director that will strongly resonate with large portions of the audience but may risk alienating those that were expecting a more conventional documentary. New York Mixed Martial Arts is produced by Stephen Koepfer, founder of the Coalition to Legalize MMA in New York, and has a specific agenda of promoting the sanctioning of the sport as related bills approach a vote in the State Legi...

This Saturday, Ontario, Canada will host the UFC 129 event headlined by welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre defending his title against challenger Jake Shields. Below are the Mid-Atlantic staff picks for for the main card of the event: Georges St. Pierre versus Jake Shields- Las Vegas shows very little faith in the challenger, putting Shields down as a +325 underdog with an over-under on the bout lasting three and a half rounds. Shields is set to beat the spread and not much else. While an aggressive wrestler and fantastic submission artist, Shields' only asset in the striking game is his chin. St. Pierre has shown himself to be more than capable of using his quick movement and o...

This Friday, April 22, UCC Fights will hold their fourth event in Morristown, New Jersey with a card filled top to bottom with some interesting and unusual match-ups. Headlining the bout will be TUF season 12 veteran Andrew Main in a bout with Felipe Arantes. The card will also feature the return of Rolles Gracie Jr. to MMA after a disappointing loss and subsequent cut from the UFC. Below is a breakdown of some key bouts to watch out for on the card: Andrew Main versus Felipe Arantes- On paper, this bout should be a neat and clean welcome back to the Mid-Atlantic for Main. Most may remember the AMA fighter as an undersized lightweight who couldn't make it to the promised land on season...

As of late there has beenallot ofbuzz in the BJJ community about the usage of steroids. Caio Terra did an awesome interview last week about the use of steroids in BJJ and took a great stand concerning the issue. However as his statment is true, unless Caio’s words turns into action the usage of steroids will continue to occur within the grappling world. The reason is because BJJ is not a legitimate sport that has gathered worldwide notoriety yet. Reason People who compete in BJJ are not getting paid to compete. They do so at their own free will to gain experience in their martial art growth. For the most part, BJJ does not offer cash, big time commercial promotions, and other things associ...

This past weekend's Strikeforce card featured a number of fighters in career-defining performances. Shinya Aoki came back from a humiliating KO loss last New Year's Eve to submit Lyle Beerbohm, Nick Diaz and Paul Daley put on a wild performance sure to be mentioned among the best of the year, and Gilbert Melendez looked better than he has ever been. This week's edition will take a look at a fight early in Melendez' career that showcases some of his early promise (and also showcase a death valley driver), as well as make it obvious just how far 'El Nino'has come.