Clearly they are trying to prove that MMA is a form of expression that should be protected under the first amendment. That is their biggest argument. Do you see that succeeding? I don’t.

And I don’t believe they’re within their rights to ban MMA. I don’t see how you come to the conclusion they are based on the law. You can’t ban something for being violent or promoting violence. There is precedent in the courts upholding the rights of game makers, musicians, even other sports, of doing their thing in front of audiences. The Zuffa lawsuit even cites a recent California case.

The only reason this law is even on the books is because nobody’s taken it in front of the courts before. Now that Zuffa’s about to, there shouldn’t be an issue getting it repealed. I don’t know what sort of argument would convince you, but ultimately that’s unimportant, because the law is unconstitutional.

I just don’t see a judge lifting the ban because some elements of it aren’t specific. Obviously the arguments have to play out in court, but the argument as written didn’t totally convince me. I’m still waiting for some actual legal experts to weigh in.

Barring any nonsense like a corrupt judge, this ban is dunzo.

And yes, if the judge says the ban is illegal, and Zuffa wins the lawsuit, MMA would then be legal. There wouldn’t be a need for another hearing, they could do a PPV outside the courthouse if they wanted. (UFC 150: Brawl at City Hall!)

Asking to be protected under due process and equal protection doesn’t mean that Zuffa’s asking to make a case for itself, it means that they’re saying the government has to make a better case to ban them. And if the judge agrees, then the current ban is lifted, and if the government wants to have another go, so be it, but they’ll have to start from scratch, and in the meantime we’ll have some pretty awesome cards in NY. Hopefully one right in Albany!

I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know how much of what Zuffa says in their lawsuit will hold water, but I can tell you that they probably don’t have to make much of a case anyway. Just getting the judge to consider the legality of the ban should be enough, since it’s not constitutionally legal to ban something just because it’s violent or sends a bad message. That’s why, despite dozens of attempts to ban certain titles, video games are still legal in the US.

The government also said MMA is unsafe, and on that count Zuffa has the facts on its side. So, really, if those are the only two reasons New York could come up with to ban MMA, the courts probably will repeal it.

I’m just glad they’re finally doing this. If they had done this five years ago, we’d already be going to shows.

I want to see Jones fill those holes and be the most bad-ass dude of all time. Or I want to see somebody beat his ass. I want to see Lyoto Machida from 2009 come in on a DeLorean with flaming wheels and challenge him and whoop his ass, or make him really think real hard about becoming a legit striker.

I do think Jones is the most talented fighter in that division, but talent only takes you so far. If he’s going to become the next dominant champion in the sport, he has to patch the holes.

Also, I don’t “respect” Jones for taking the path of most resistance. That was stupid and could have cost him, and *absolutely* exposed him to future opponents. Guys like Anderson Silva and GSP change their approach to exploit their opponents’ greatest weaknesses, and that’s why they’re dominant champions. Doing it any other way gets you beat in the long run.