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They want to make a transition into a civilian community association = they want a deal like the UDA got for £3million or some ridiculous amount like that to pay their members to be community officers.

What a pile of crap.

Their guns should be destroyed.  Their drug running operations should be shut down and their members should definitely not be given paid office rolls in communities!

Imagine the government paying the IRA.

Colin Holmes went to Armagh Harps from the Moy because of a fall out with the Moy Management - Minnie signed with them too once he got over his injuries.

so whats all this then between Joe Geezer and the Macs? What happened or why are they not flavours of the month?

Tribeca - try the hotel continental

stayed there last summer - think it was maybe $125 per night

also do a search of past forum posts - i'm sure someone has asked this before

I bought a packet of Mach 3 and it had a voucher for £2 off Fusion blades so I think Gillette are trying to get us all to buy the Fusion and ditch the Mach 3's.
Cheap blades? Do they even exist?

I know I bought a box of 8 in America for something like $4 so they are a lot cheaper elsewhere.

I have just grown a beard - beats spending a crap load of money.

Beards are not just for Geography teachers - who gives a crap what it looks like.

Was talking to one of the boys from my club back home and he said Davey Patterson announced he has been approached to enter a local fighter for the show on June 16th.

Davey is probably the best fighter there but at 40 he is too old and isn't fighting anymore.

We reckon Greg Loughran will get the golden ticket or maybe Rodney......

Watch this space!

You know what I mean!  
Randy didn't make it at Heavyweight against the bigger guys so he dropped down to Ligh Heavyweight.

At the end of the day he's 42, a lot smaller, a lot lighter, he was a HUGE underdog and caused an upset that I will be smiling about for a long time, a la Matt Serra.

Well in MMA you target basically the entire body.  Boxing is more than 50% to the head - and its brain damage and head injuries which have been the cause of most deaths in boxing.
You'll often see the odd broken arm or limb - but no more than in any other full contact sport.  Fighters are smart, when you have submissions the fighter taps out. 
The fighter being submitted knows that there is no point in sustaining serious injury - if you are beaten you are beaten.
The fighter applying the submission (like the choke) knows the other guy is going to tap out and the ref is on hand to make sure anything serious doesn't happen.

MMA has come a long way since its bare knuckle origins.  Its now a recognised sport.

I think the biggest appeal is the "spectacle" the "wow factor".  The underdog winning. The everyday people fighting.  The 42 year old, 6ft 2, 230 llbs, former light heavyweight coming out of retirement to fight the 7ft 265llbs Heavweight champion and winning!

There has only been one death in the sport of MMA, in an event in Kiev, Ukraine in 1998, where American Douglas Dedge fought against doctor's orders and despite a pre-existing medical condition that was frequently causing him to black out in training (US promoters were unwilling to let him compete with his condition).
His death is unmistakably tragic, and may have been preventable, but this single death in MMA compares favorably to the death toll of boxing over 1200.

MMA has a lot of set rules and regulations now - the UFC in particular does its utmost to protect the fighters first and foremost.

Good work Gabriel!

So it may be an actual UFC! I hope they come to Belfast now.  Not sure about the truth of some of the rumours floating around as UFC 72 was originally scheduled for July and Gurgel was due to fight then too.

Franklin vrs Kampmann would be a good enough fight but definitely a win fof Franklin - Kampmann just doesn't have the experience though Rich was very hesitant in his last fight - maybe he has lost the killer instinct!

Griffin vrs Guida should be a war!

Now if we could get Tito vrs Evans moved to Ireland we would be on a winner!

Na its a terrible card and I'm in London at the moment working so don't think its worth the trip up.
Tickets are £50 - £250 - hopefully I'll be about home for the Belfast Night.
I heard Joe McVeigh got a wild card entry and is fighting for the title.....

Thats the talk so far - fighters said Belfast, Media says Belfast but you know yourself how these things work.

Lets hope so!

Cike my figures are not off the mark - they are not the biggest PPVs ever and I never said they were - they are simply the biggest PPVs during a period last year.

UFC is eclipsing boxing in terms of overall PPVs this year and that is set to continue  - FACT

Its cool that you prefer boxing.  Each to their own.  I think if people became educated in MMA they would appreciate it too as the "spectacle" it is.

Its like comparing street fighting and boxing.  Street fighting is a brawl  - Boxing is an art.  But MMA is a science and an art also.

You should try it sometime.....

I love the boxing too - grew up with it, fought myself, loved it back in the golden days when you had champions you could aspire to being like, characters who lit up our TV screens and captured our attention when they fought.

Today we have very few stars, very few characters and certainly nowhere near the same "draw" that boxing had before.

Please step forward MMA. 

MMA is Mixed Martial Arts.  Mixed martial arts has come a long way from its bare-knuckle roots. While violence still plays a central role, the sport has toned down and slicked up to attract a wider audience.  The ground fighting is extremely technical and to the "virgin" viewer often appears boring.  However once you begin to understand the submissions, the counter-submissions and the technicality involved - you really appreciate what happens on the mat and how much training is involved to get to that level.
It can be brutal, but statistically it is safer than boxing.  The referees do an amazing job in MMA.
Out of most of the promotions - UFC is definitely one of the safer ones where the fighter is protected by more rules and regulations. 

Give the UFC a chance and listen to the commentators - watch the Ultimate Fighter on Bravo and try to understand the technical side of the fights and I can guarantee you'll change your mind.

Most PPV buys, Jan.-Oct. 2006
1. May 5  Boxing  Oscar DeLa Hoya vs. Ricardo Mayorga      925,000
2. July 8  UFC  Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock                       775,000
3. Sept. 23 UFC  Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn                      700,000
4. April 2 Wrestling Wrestlemania 22                                636,000
5. May 27 UFC Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie                    600,000
6. Aug. 26 UFC Chuck Liddell vs. Renato Sobral                 500,000
7. April 15 UFC Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin                       425,000
8. Feb. 25 Boxing Shane Mosely vs. Fernando Vargas         420,000
9. Feb 3 UFC Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture                   400,000
10. April 8 Boxing Floyd Mayweather vs. Zab Judah            375,000

I think this speaks for itself.  So if you are going to choose boxing over MMA based on PPV then choose a different argument Cike