The job market is tough today, but what if you had to leave the state every time you wanted to make a dollar? Wouldn’t you eventually be forced to choose between work and home? For professional mixed martial artist and Lansing resident Rashad Evans, that’s exactly the choice Michigan lawmakers have left him with.

Born Sept. 25, 1979, Evans stands in at 5-foot-11 and competes in the 205- pound light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), a position he earned by winning season two of Spike TV’s reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter (TUF)”.

Evans is now 11-0-1 since turning professional after going 48-34 in three years with the Michigan State wrestling program, where he also earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology. Because of state law, Evans cannot compete professionally in Michigan, and here’s one example as to why, according to www.michigan.gov: dated August 3, 2007: “The Department of Labor & Economic Growth Bureau of Commercial Services, in consultation with the Department of the Attorney General, served a Cease and Desist Order against Michigan Fight League, and unlicensed boxing promoter Daniel J. Cousineau to block future unlicensed and unauthorized fight or boxing events.”

“The Bureau’s Enforcement Division determined the scheduling and promotion of the event was in violation of the Michigan Boxing Regulatory Act, 2004 PA 403. These types of events also don’t appear to conform to requirements for exemption under the Public Act.”

As I interpret this, the reason mixed martial arts events aren’t a legally viable form of entertainment in Michigan is because they don’t conform to the laws created to safely regulate boxing. Really? I can’t even begin to point out the litany of improprieties that exist within that statement.

You mean, I can watch reality shows like “The Real World”, almost 24 hours a day and revel in the repeated drunken exploits of a veritable gaggle of goofy buffoons, but if I try and enjoy the things I’m driven by and have passion for, that’s not alright. Really?

Forget working. Let’s start our own reality show called, “Punch and Run”. First, we’ll equip contestants with hidden cameras and a disguise before sending them undercover inside a minimum security prison.

The contestant will then identify a target, give him a friendly Kung-Fu chop to the Adam’s apple, and run like hell. If they make it to a guard in time, they win. If not, I’m sure they’ll sort things out themselves. Maybe the losers should also have to stay the night. We’ll see.

Here’s another show idea that’ll absolutely blow your mind: Drive-by knife fights. I think the title says it all.

While Rashad Evans has truly proven himself to be an impressive athlete by notching wins over other former TUF cast members like Stephen Bonnar, Sam Hogar and Michael Bisping, until Michigan allows professional MMA events to occur, most of us will never get to see him perform live.

Instead, we get constant access to reality shows like “Flavor of Love” and its spin-off “Rock of Love” where former musical acts Flavor Flav and Brett Michaels are treated like royalty as their every wish is catered to by females of lacking morality and questionable appearance. Really?

The one guy’s got eight kids and the other was labeled a “Retrosexual” by the television mini-series, “The 80s”. I don’t even know what that is, but I do know reality TV is eating away at America’s core values like a termite to wood as other people’s misery has become the key to speed for so many television producers looking to take the fast track to funkytown.

The bottom line is freedom of expression is an inalienable right, even if you’re expressing it all over someone’s face, so let’s legalize professional MMA in Michigan. It’s not perfect, but there are definitely greater ills in our society than this.

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