UFC and PRIDE are unquestionably the two biggest promotions in the world of MMA.  However, that hasn't stopped other promotions from trying to claim their own piece of an ever-growing pie.  Boxing promoter Gary Shaw stepped into MMA with his league, EliteXC, and entrepreneur Calvin Ayre has launched BodogFight -- both promotions launched in the last year and both have already featured some decent cards.  In addition, there are other MMA leagues such as K-1 Hero's in Japan, Cage Rage in England, and IFL (the only MMA team league).

While most MMA fans are familiar with the leagues mentioned above, these fans are also being presented with other options.  As an example, I received a press release today stating that well-known boxing referee Richard Steele has formed his own promotion -- Steele Cage Promotions.  According to the press release, the promotion's first event -- "Fireworks in the Cage" -- is a 10-fight card that will be held July 7 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.  The card will feature former UFC fighters Marvin Eastman and David Loiseau.  Eastman is no longer in his prime and Loiseau is on a bit of a losing streak but it's still not a bad card for a brand-new promotion. 

An MMA event of potential interest for fans near Atlantic City is Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) 5, which takes place June 23 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.  The reason this card caught my eye is that it will feature former Olympic boxing gold medalist and former WBO heavyweight champion Ray Mercer in a fight against online bareknuckle brawling legend Kimbo Slice.  If you aren't familiar with Slice, check him out on Google or YouTube.  He has essentially made his name fighting guys in streetfights and destroying all except for one of them.  It's unclear to me whether either Mercer or Slice has any MMA training but the fight will be conducted using MMA rules in a cage.  While the fight is more gimmick than anything else, I am familiar with Slice's online fights and I have to say I am a bit intrigued to see how he fares against someone like Mercer, who has had formal training in boxing at least.

Closer to home, I mentioned in a previous post that MMA is now sanctioned in Washington, D.C.  Well, the first-ever professional MMA event is being held in our nation's capital on May 12 at the DC Armory.  The event, dubbed "The Revolution", is being promoted by Mixed Martial Arts Championship and features lesser-known fighters.  This is a card I will be very interested in for a number of reasons.  If the attendance is solid and the event is run well, it would be very interesting to see if we see any movement on MMA sanctioning in Maryland.

While these cards aren't UFC or PRIDE caliber, they still offer MMA fans opportunities to see some decent professional mixed martial arts action without having to pay top dollar.  And who knows, you may see the next big MMA superstar get his start in one of these lower-profile leagues.