The following announcement was released on Tuesday:

YAMMA PIT FIGHTING EMMERGES AS NEW FORCE ON THE MMA SCENE

New League to Revolutionize Mixed Martial Arts

First Pay-Per-View Event Set for April 11, 2008

Los Angeles, January 29, 2008 - Ultimate Fighting Championship founder Bob Meyrowitz and his company Rope Partners today announced the formation of a brand new mixed martial arts (MMA) league, YAMMA Pit Fighting (YPF). Continuing in his role as a trailblazer in MMA, Meyrowitz and YPF will take a unique approach to the sport by reviving the Tournament fighting format and unveiling a new fighting surface that promises to revolutionize the traditional MMA approach.

YAMMA Pit Fighting will host a series of pay-per-view television events, the first of which will air live from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City on April 11, 2008.

YAMMA Pit Fighting will return to the popular origins of MMA by reviving the Tournament format, in which fighters will participate in multiple fights on their way to claiming the ultimate YAMMA victory, the title of YAMMA Heavyweight Champion. In addition to the exciting Tournament, YPF will also host two “Masters Superfights,” one-on-one matches between some of MMA’s most illustrious and legendary fighters.

Bob Meyrowitz is a veteran in the MMA industry, and it was through his guidance and vision that the Ultimate Fighting Championship was created. Now Meyrowitz is at it again with his company Rope Partners creating a new league to once again keep Martial Arts and the sport of MMA moving forward.

“It’s with great excitement that we launch YAMMA Pit Fighting,” said Bob Meyrowitz. “Our deep and proven knowledge of the entertainment and MMA spheres put us in a great position to add a new dimension to the presentation of MMA as it moves into the future.”

The YPF surface, known as “The YAMMA” is an evolution of the traditional fighting ring that will greatly alter the current basis of MMA by changing how the fight is fought and the strategy the fighters must use to win. This new surface has been specifically designed to keep the fighting more explosive and continuous. The YAMMA will change the face of the sport and will challenge the relevance of the fighters’ trademark tactics, as methods that were previously successful may be rendered useless with the new ring. This twist on an already successful sport will prove hugely popular with fighters and MMA audiences alike.

The fighting line up, commentators, rules and regulations, ticketing information and more event details will be announced on an ongoing basis beginning in February.

About Rope Partners

Rope Partners, formed by Bob Meyrowitz and Peter Kauff, have over a 20 year track record of pioneering successful ventures in the music, broadcasting and sports industries. As illustrated by their successes in building the largest independent radio syndication company, DIR Broadcasting, The College Television Network, the largest private television network in the United States, and Semaphore Entertainment Group the originator and founder of the UFC.

This leaves me with many more questions than answers.

1. A tournament? Really? Are fans really demanding tournaments? Are they reminiscent of the days when winners of matches had to drop out of following rounds due to injury and the fighters in the finals are completely gassed before the start of the match?
2. What is a YAMMA? And how will a surface keep fighting more explosive and continuous? For the life of me, I can’t imagine how a surface will have such an impact as to make methods and tactics irrelevant?
3. Pit Fighting? The organization thinks that it’s a good move to use the term ‘pit fighting’? With MMA’s recent history in the United States, does pit fighting not remind one of when it was banned in 48 states? Is this the best term to use when talking to athletic commissions, broadcasters, and venues?
4. Do you have any fighters signed? You have a date, a venue, and pay-per-view deal but you can’t give us one single name?
5. So, the winner of the tournament is your champion. Then what? Do they need to win another entire tournament to remain champion? One would think this would lead to extremely short title reigns.

I did have a sixth question - “What’s does the word YAMMA mean?” But, I looked it up online and discovered it’s a llama. Actually, it’s THE Llama. Whatever that means.

I do know that I’ll be watching closely as April 11 grows closer, and at the end of the day, that’s really what the YPF wants.