The UFC has started announcing the details of its super spectacular, mega awesome 20th anniversary event on November 16, and the good news right out of the gates is that we’re finally going to see Johny Hendricks get his shot at Georges St-Pierre and the UFC Welterweight Championship. Hendricks earned this opportunity with his unanimous decision victory (and Fight of the Night) over Carlos Condit at UFC 158. Oh, and that whole being 10-1 since joining the UFC thing helps, too.

Of course the bad news for this event – which will likely be UFC 167 – is that lawmakers in New York decided not to vote on a bill to legalize mixed martial arts in the state before the end of the current legislative session. UFC President Dana White was hoping to host this milestone event at Madison Square Garden, but now it’s just going to be in Las Vegas again, even though the bill probably would have passed if it hit the floor.

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Don’t worry, that headline’s not really supposed to make sense.

This is a map of the current legality of MMA in the United States and Canada. As of June 5, mixed-martial arts became legal in Canada, and Connecticut legislature voted to regulate it. If you were to, say, color every state, province or territory wherein MMA was legal one color (let’s say green) and color every state, province or territory wherein it was NOT a different color (let’s say bright red), you’d get an interesting graphic that does not necessary NOT look like North America with an anus.

Here’s what Dana White had to say when he tweeted it out, because of course he tweeted it out:

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Pre-show notes:

- Comments, shares, likes, whatevers are appreciated!

- As with last year, this is a live Mania report, so please excuse me if I mention (or don’t mention) some stuff that was either explained by commentary or obvious to people seeing things through the camera’s lens. It’s hard to pick up some of the small stuff when you are an acre away, trying to figure out whether the MetLife Stadium french fries are vegan.

- Be sure to be back here tomorrow for the Best and Worst of WWE Raw report, because as you may know, post-Mania Raw is like a thousand times better than Mania proper. I don’t know why.

Please click through to enjoy the Best and Worst of WrestleMania 29 live.

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What you see above (with a hat tip to the entire Internet at once, and a specific hat tip from me to John Canton) is the still-in-progress set for Sunday’s WrestleMania 29 event at MetLife Stadium. Yes, that’s the Statue of Liberty. The actual one, I hope. And yes, that’s the Empire State Building. It’s very important to WWE that everyone knows their New Jersey WrestleMania is taking place in New York City.

I’ll be attending this event live, just like last year. The good news (so far) is that the Empire State Building is way in the back and the Statue of Liberty is on TOP of everything, and as of now there are no giant solid pillars blocking my view. If you remember WrestleMania 28, you may recall the four giant palm trees around the ring blocking the view of everybody not lined up perfectly with or 15 feet from the ring. Readers of the Best and Worst of WrestleMania 28 Live may remember my view specifically, which was … well, this:

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How DARE New York ban these women!

Much to the shock of many people who probably had no idea this is true, professional mixed martial arts matches are currently banned in New York. In fact, New York is just one of two states in which our favorite fighting sport is still banned, with the other being – you know what? Screw that state. It doesn’t even deserve to be named. As for New York, the lawmakers are at least trying.

As Mixed Martial Arts continues to grow in popularity, New York government officials are trying again to bring fights to the state. Currently, professional MMA matches are banned in New York. But Senator Joe Griffo is supporting a bill that would make amateur and professional fights legal.

While the bill has already been stalled by the assembly twice, Griffo says he thinks this year will be different.

“The Senate has passed it several times,” he said. “I’m hopeful now with the new sponsor in the Assembly that we can really see progress there and have this bill before the governor for his signature.”

Griffo says bringing this sport to New York will lead to an economic boost across the state. (Via YNN, H/T to Stephen Douglas)

As MMA fans, we should be outraged that New York state – home to the capital city of the entire world – has made it illegal for a UFC event to be hosted at Madison Square Garden. Again, at least NY lawmakers are trying, but in case they’re going to fail again like they did last May, let me give them our official argument on why they should want to host UFC events in their state.

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If I had to define and specifically choose one dream job for myself for the next 365 days of my life, I’d want to travel around the country, attending the most bizarre and ridiculous competitions. That is, of course, unless someone posts a Monster.com ad for “Kate Upton breast holder”, in which case I will take that, please.

Sure, I could cover the Super Bowl and World Series and that would be cool, because they’re super huge events, and all that jazz. But to be able to cover the U.S. Beard and Mustache or American Pole Dancing Championships would be so much more incredible, because who the hell are these people and where do they come from? I’m fascinated by the strange and extraordinary.

This week’s bucket list event comes in the form of the 2012 Old Timey Coney Island Strong Man Spectacular. Upon first glance, it looks like your ordinary hipster festival, but I feel like once you see a man pull a truck with his hair, you enter an entirely different realm.

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