By Mark Gessner

Dominant Position

- On Monday, the New York state senate voted on bill 1707-A and the bill was passed by a vote of 42-18. Bill 1707-A was a bill to move along the process of sanctioning mixed martial arts in the state of New York. From here, the bill has to go through state assembly, where if passed, will be presented to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign. If he signs the bill, MMA will be legalized in the state of New York and per Dana White's statements in the past, will lead to two UFC events within the first year of legalization, one of which will be a Madison Square Garden.

This is however the second time in the last two years that that a bill to legalize MMA in New York has passed through the state senate and gone to the state assembly. Last year, due to budget issues and talks, the bill was not even presented, let alone voted on. It is heavily speculated that the bill will face much more scrutiny and adversity. At this point, while it should be academic to the financial well-being of the state to legalize the sport. Within the first year of MMA in New York, it is speculated that the two events that the UFC will run will generate twenty-three million dollars for the state due to fans coming into the state or coming in from different parts of the state to see the events. For New York residents, please click this link that Dana White provided on his Twitter and contact your local representative about you wanting the sport legalized in your home state.

- Chael Sonnen fought Anderson Silva on August 7, 2010. Sonnen dominated Silva for four and a half rounds before Silva pulled out a triangle armbar submission with two minutes left in the fight to score the submission victory. Following the fight, he failed a drug test due to elevated levels of testosterone and was given a one year suspension, beginning on September 2, 2010, when Sonnen was notified of the failed drug test. Sonnen appealed the suspension on December 2, 2010, due to needing to be injected with testosterone twice a week due to having hypogonadism and his body not being able to naturally produce the normal testosterone levels that is typical with a male. His suspension was decreased to six months due to him stating that the commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Keith Kizer, was aware that he was taking testosterone therapy due to his disease.

Prior to and during parts of his MMA career, Chael Sonnen was a real estate agent. He was involved in a money laundering scam and faced felony charges that carried up to twenty years in prison. The UFC put him on indefinite suspension due to these charges until his legal issues will worked out. Sonnen pleaded guilty and received a plea bargain that stopped him from having to serve time. During his suspension, do to his felony charges, California Executive Director Greg Dodd indefinitely suspended Sonnen due to finding out that Sonnen and/or his managers had never had a discussion with Kizer about Sonnen's need for testosterone therapy, let alone approved it. Sonnen went before the California State Athletic Commission to appeal the suspension but it was upheld due to Sonnen having inconsistent and mislead statements. Sonnen's license was suspended until June 29, 2011 when it expired and he was not able to reapply for a license for one year.

Fast forward forty-eight hours after the trial and ruling, Dodd then acknowledged that the commission had misinterpreted Rule 399 and that Sonnen would be able to apply for a license following his license expiring on June 29. However, if they do not accept his application to be licensed in California, he will have to wait a year to reapply. While California is just one of the forty-five states that regulate mixed martial arts, other states generally will not license a fighter who is under suspension or punishment from another state. In the best interest of Sonnen, he needs to be completely honest and clear with every single word that comes out of his mouth and not leave any room whatsoever for interpretation of his statements. If not, the early retirement that he was hinting at following the year long suspension following his license expiring may be his only option.

- The original plan for the coached for The Ultimate Fighter 14 was to have Chael Sonnen coach against Michael Bisping. Following the season, the two fighters would meet in a number one contender fight for a chance to fight Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship. In order for the season to happen, Sonnen would have had to have had his suspension lifted by June 5 so that he could apply for a license with the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a cornering license. Since Sonnen cannot apply for that license because he cannot be licensed in California until June 29, the idea has been scrapped. I personally would have loved the verbal battles back and forth between Sonnen and Bisping throughout the season, however it is not going to happen sadly.

- As I reported two weeks ago, former IBF Super Middleweight Champion Jeff Lacy was set to box current Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, Nick Diaz. Diaz has since pulled out of that match. Diaz's boxing promoter Don Chargin announced that Diaz has pulled out of the boxing match because, "it has been deemed that it be in Nick's best interest to focus on his primary combat sport and profession." Chargin went on to say, "right now he has an opportunity of a lifetime as it pertains to his MMA career."

Let's put two and two together. Nick Diaz said that his next fight will be in a boxing ring unless he is offered a fight with Georges St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship or Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Silva is booked for a fight against Yushin Okami at UFC 134: Rio. GSP has cleaned out the entire welterweight division within the UFC and does not have any real challengers within the company in front of him. Last week, UFC President Dana White met with Nick Diaz and neither have discussed or disclosed any details of their meeting. UFC announced on Monday that they will again be returning to Montreal this December for UFC 140. Who has been a proven draw within Canada, just recently selling out a 55,000 seat arena and who could prove to be a legitimate challenge for that Canadian draw? The fall season of The Ultimate Fighter generally culminates in a fight in December between the coaches like last year when TUF 12 featured Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck.

And, then Dana White had this interview with Heavy.com/MMA that was released late last night. Seventy-two hours of speculation gone down the drain.

- While White clearly denied the potential of GSP vs. Diaz for TUF 14 coaches, he did not rule out or deny the possibility of a fight between the two. He just said that things needed to be worked out. I do think that GSP's next opponent will be Diaz as I do not know what other "opportunity of a lifetime" could have been presented to him. Maybe a number one contender fight for a shot to face GSP, but I don't know who it could be against, or who other than GSP is on Diaz's level right now.

- With Sonnen vs. Bisping and GSP vs. Diaz off the table, who could the possibilities be for coaches for the fourteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter? Urijah Faber vs. Dominic Cruz was rumored for this past season of TUF, but they are fighting in July at UFC 132 so that is off the board. Jon Jones pulled out of his UFC 133 fight with Rashad Evans due to a hand injury and needing surgery. Evans was then set-up to headline UFC 133 fighting Phil Davis. Jones received a second opinion and determined that he does not need surgery, just a hard cast, but he will not be ready to fight until the early fall. UFC could bank on Evans defeating Davis and have Evans vs. Jones as TUF 14 coaches but that is assuming that not only does Evans defeat the undefeated Phil Davis, but he does so without a medical suspension. That's a very risky bet for a show that begins airing a month later.

Or, and my most likely scenario, you have the UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar, who should be fully recovered from his back injury by the Fall taking on the only man to beat him in his career, who is currently recovering from a knee injury in Gray Maynard. While both could/should possibly be recovered from their injuries which forced them out of the main event at this Saturday's UFC 130, they will both be completely recovered and have had time to train and fully recover from their injuries by December. Plus, rumors are that TUF 14 will be either Bantam or Featherweights, having coaches that are only a weight class or two above them could be a very good move. I am calling it right now. The Ultimate Fighter 14: Team Edgar vs. Team Maynard.

Striking Flurry

- Former UFC Light Heavyweight, and the main event fighter for UFC 130 this Saturday, Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson appeared on the Craig Furguson Show this past Monday. While Furguson did not seem to have any knowledge of the UFC, Rampage was hilarious and showed great charisma throughout the interview. Thank you to @SicDude for making me aware of the interview.

- Chad Mendes will fight Rani Yahya at UFC 133 in Philadelphia. Originally slated to fight Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship, Mendes will be fighting Yahya due to Aldo needing more time to heal from the injuries he sustained at UFC 129 versus Mark Hominick. While not as exciting as a UFC Featherweight Championship fight, Mendes fighting on the card in Philly still increases my chances of buying tickets for the card in my home town. I'm on the verge, and one more good fight will push me over the edge and into Ticketmaster's pocket.

- The wrestling world was not the only ones hit by the news of "Macho Man" Randy Savage's passing. Here are a few of MMA's finest who were affected by the passing of Savage.

B.J. Penn- Remembering all the great memories.... I was just a little boy when The Macho Man was doing his thing.... I miss you man... THE MEGA POWERS BABY!!! FOREVER!!!!... You will be missed very much... OOOOOOOOH!! YEAHHHH!!! REST IN PEACE BROTHER!!!!!... Rest in Peace to Macho Man Randy Savage. One of my biggest inspirations. God Bless

Tito Ortiz- RIP. I've been a big fan! Oooooh yaaaaa!

Jason "Mayhem" Miller- Damn. I knew this day would come. I have some giant shoes to fill, but I will do my best. RIP Macho Man. You will be misse

Shane Carwin- RIP Randy Macho Man Savage! We are going to SOOOOOOOOOO MISSSSS YOUUUUUUUU...... He was a great Entertainer!... We should all go get a slim jim in his honor. He never got the same credit as Hulk but he helped make that era what it was. RIP

Josh Barnett- RIP peace "Macho Man" Randy Savage. You are a legend and I loved watching you wrestle. Oh yeah!

Knockout Blow

MMA Tweet of the Week: "It's for the best. After I got through with Bisping the only person that would ask for his signature is FedEx." - @SonnenCh (Chael Sonnen) following TUF 14 versus Michael Bisping being off due to his suspension

Thank you very much for checking out "Gessner's Ground and Pound" this week. I'll be back every Wednesday with my opinions and news in the world of MMA over the past week. If you have any thoughts, feel free to email at Kliq4Life28@gmail.com or shoot me a tweet @MarkGessner. I'll be back with my preview of UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill later this week.

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