TJ "The Spider" O'Brien Makes TUF 12 Cast

Normally I resist the temptation to post non-legal MMA news, but I can't pass this one up. The fighters for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter television show have been announced and TJ "The Spider" O'Brien is one of the 28 participants.

Getting on the reality show that many credit with saving MMA and having a shot at a contract with the UFC and international fame doesn't quite live up to the honor of having your photo at the top of MixedMartialArtsLawBlog but congratulations are still in order.

Video of the cast is available here.  The 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter premieres on Spike TV on September 15, 2010.

Welcome to the Mixed Martial Arts Law Blog

I created this blog to combine two of my main passions (Law and Mixed Martial Arts) and to justify the time I spent earning a journalism degree prior to law school.

My hope is that this site will eventually serve as a clearinghouse for all things related to MMA law, whether it is a story about the many fights that take place in a courtroom instead of a cage or a list of the various state athletic commissions that regulate MMA competitions. If you have an idea for an article or a link that could be useful to MMA promoters, fighters, and/or fans, please email me.

The fight photo at the top of the blog features T.J. "The Spider" O'Brien applying his signature triangle choke on Chris "The Religion" Perez Van Dam.  O'Brien is the former featherweight champion for the Midwest Cage Championship.  Perez Van Dam is one of the toughest fighters I've seen and he recently fought for MaxFightsDM. Brad Fuller of KickAssMMA took the photo.   I took the decidedly less interesting photo of the Polk County Courthouse, which is across the street from my office in Des Moines, Iowa.