Joe Ferraro

Shane Carwin defeated Frank Mir in March and now prepares for champion Brock Lesnar.

Another step was taken in getting MMA sanctioned in N.Y. this week, but don't hold your breath yet.

The sanctioning and regulation of mixed martial arts in the State of New York moved one step closer this past week as the A-2009c bill was, strangely enough, passed onto the committee that last year already voted to pass it. But don't hold your breath just yet.

If voted in favour, it still has at least two more steps to go through before MMA truly becomes a reality in the state. While the UFC and other interested parties are bullish on this, at times it has to be a frustrating endeavour.

Yes, you are correct, that seriously makes no sense, but if you've ever followed what sometimes happens in the political realms, be it in New York or Ontario, you are often left scratching your head.

On to other things…

During my coverage of UFC 114 last week in Vegas, there was simply too much going and too many people that we ran into, to possibly share with everyone what was going on. I am left with ironic flashbacks, flashes of memory that trigger me to quickly share a story.

We ran into Shane Carwin, who is set to take on heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the main event of UFC 116 on July 3 in Vegas, at the UFC Fan Expo. It was the first time I have ever seen him in a bitter, foul mood. I'm sure there were numerous reasons as to why, so we went about our business across the show floor.

With the biggest fight of his career just around the corner, and noticing that Lesnar was and is, nowhere to be found, it looks as if Carwin may have had some sort of epiphany; he's doing everything possible to promote their fight, while Lesnar is, perhaps, training.

Carwin dropped the gauntlet yesterday and has had enough, stating on his twitter: "FYI I am not doing any media this month. If you have questions go to www.shane-carwin.com and you can post them in the forum thanks."

An interesting precedent to say the least.

Another quick story that just came to mind was when MMA Connected producer Jacob Clark and I were walking through the UFC Fan Expo en route to interview Carlos Condit. I was stopped by Anthony (Rumble) Johnson, who was signing autographs, and I quickly caught up on some stuff. But it was when we walked away when Clark realized just how big Johnson truly was.

Clark's commentary revolved around "how can he actually make welterweight" and "he looks more like a light heavyweight, not a middleweight or even a welterweight." I concur... Johnson's frame and body structure are massive for the 170-pound weight class, and like he's said in a few interviews before, look for "Rumble" to move up to 185 pounds once he's fully recovered from his knee injury.

Legendary mixed martial arts pioneer, Bas (El Guapo) Rutten, a former UFC heavyweight champion, a stellar colour commentator and exceptional MMA analyst, has been nominated by the group who runs the annual Holland Herring Festival in New York, as a finalist for the "Salute to Dutch Sportsmen," a distinction that will have media and fans alike select the greatest athlete from Dutch heritage.

Jerry Milani informs me that "El Guapo" is amongst an A-list group, and "is joined on the ballot by soccer players Edgar Davids, Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Johan Neeskens, Robin Van Persie, Dennis Bergkamp and Frank Rijkaard, big league pitchers Bert Blyleven and Curt Schilling, NBA players Rik Smits, Kiki Vandeweghe and Keith Van Horn, U.S. Open tennis champ Tom Okker, and track and field stars Fanny Blankers-Koen, a quadruple-gold medalist at the 1948 Summer Olympics, and Cornelius Warmerdam, Men's Pole Vault World Record Holder."

And if you're wondering what's the latest coming from Chael Sonnen's twitter, well, look no further, as the middleweight contender has once again taken a shot at champion Anderson Silva by tweeting "A.S. A fraud is living in your house. You see him each day when you shave, he is in the mirror. Tell him hello..."

Misc. MMA news

-- Strikeforce's exclusive negotiation period with Jake Shields has expired, and now a term has commenced whereby the organization has the right to match any offer their middleweight champion receives. Speaking with MMAjunkie.com, Strikeforce's public position appears as if they will not get into a bidding war and that they will be okay if Shields does leave the organization. I wonder if behind closed doors they are working the numbers to see if they can once again shock the MMA world, like they did with Fedor, and announce that MMA's most coveted free agent, Jake Shields, will remain with the organization.

-- Canadian UFC middleweight Joe (El Dirte) Doerkson was victorious in his hometown of Winnipeg last night, defeating Shawn Marchand via TKO at 0:43 in Round 1. During negotiations for his short notice step in for the injured Tim Credeur vs. Tom Lawlor, the UFC agreed to let Doerkson compete outside of the Octagon, as the bout was booked long before the UFC came calling, and "El Dirte" was the main event.

-- Miguel Angel Torres has spent some quality time training with Firas Zahabi, same coach for the likes of GSP, Loiseau, Florian, Evans, and more. Torres talks about the training while also discussing a potential bout with Urijah Faber, should "The California Kid" decide to drop down from featherweight to bantamweight.

-- Here's an excellent analysis between Sherdog's Jordan Breen and Fight Opinion's Zach Arnold, discussing Japanese Olympic Judo Gold Medalist's Satoshi Ishi's MMA career path thus far. Great read to say the least.