A Matter of Time.

Nate Carey vs. Chris Hickok. Thanks and love to Pro Karate Weekly.com


First of all, congratulations to Nate Carey. He'll be off to Cleveland next month to challenge Josh "Heavy" Hendricks for his NAAFS Heavyweight Championship. Good luck Nate. You'll need it.

After reading the Muskegon article about the Caged Combat event that happened this weekend, I would like to applaud the DLEG officials for their restraint and for giving the opportunity for this event to happen. Now they have a big choice ahead of them. Do they or do they not allow the sport of MMA in the state of Michigan. Whichever decision they choose, both will yield benefits and consequences.

On one hand, they can still ban the sport from the state. While DLEG is using the very flimsiest of evidence, the true reason behind it's threats is Art Dore and ADorable Prod. To make a sweeping generalization and ban a sport because you believe that all promoters are like Art Dore is silly and preposterous. It also shows the lack of foresight and reasoning behind any logic about the subject. While I do understand that by banning MMA, they are deterring Dore and his ilk from exploiting a loophole in the MSAC rulebook that states that they don't preside over martial arts events, I can't help it but state that by doing so, they will turn into hypocrites and stifle actual economic growth. A whole wealth of fighters that we have in this state will up and leave to train and compete elsewhere and this will further depress the state economy. Millions upon millions in taxable revenue will be gone and the promise of international business will disappear with it as well.

On the other hand, they can legalize the sport, but they need more then legalization to get it's full potential. They need to regulate it as well. By regulating, they can stop Art Dore from profiting off of the sport as well as letting people who actually know how to run an amateur, semi pro, or pro event know that they are securely backed by the state's athletic commission. NAAFS, King of The Cage, TKO, IFL, UFC as well as many other organizations will knock on our door. All willing to give money to display cards. Money that can replenish our economy even just for a little while. I also can guarantee that schools would love to establish themselves up here based on the potential we have in the martial arts. Following them will be stores and shops that specialize in Fight Culture. Not only will these schools and shops add to the ever increasing revenue that will balloon thanks to regulation, but these school will also instill a sense of "community pride" within communities that truly need it. In a couple years, we could see fighters sponsored by the city of Flint, Buena Vista township or even the village of Kalkaska. Moral boosters to areas who feel that they're on their last dime and are forgotten by the state. Remember! Happy people are productive people.

I truly hope the DLEG is thinking long and hard about this. I do hope they take as much time as possible to think this through and ask the necessary questions needed.

Now it's just a matter of time.