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(Enlarge) James “Binky” Jones, 39, of Nottingham, was the winner of the first legal mixed martial arts fight in Maryland on Oct. 24 at 1st Mariner Arena. He won with a decision victory over Jason McLean, of New Jersey. (Staff photo by Matt Roth)

Deep into the first legal mixed martial arts fight in Maryland history, headliner James "Binky" Jones found himself in some trouble.

His opponent, Jason McLean -- a muscular wrestler from New Jersey -- had thrown Jones to the mat several times, and appeared to be on his way to a decision victory.

But the 39-year-old Nottingham resident, who weighed in at a lean 145 pounds, would have none of that.

Using McLean's momentum, Jones used a third-round lateral drop to send his opponent crashing to the mat, causing the crowd of 5,000 at the 1st Mariner Arena, in Baltimore, to burst into cheers. Jones dominated the rest of the round en route to his own decision victory.

After his hand was raised by the referee, Jones hoisted a Maryland flag in the air and thanked his coach, John Rallo, who led the fight to legalize the sport in Maryland.

"This was an awesome night. First time ever!" Jones said after his win, turning to the crowd. "I love you, Baltimore."

It was an emotional win for Jones, who, in the words of his coach, "represented Baltimore all over the world."

He's fought in large promotions such as Elite Xtreme Combat and Ring of Combat events in New Jersey, and in a series known as Bodog, including one event in Moscow.

"I've always been away, traveling to different states," said Jones, a two-time Maryland Scholastic Association wrestling champion at Mount St. Joseph High School, near Catonsville, who competed for Morgan State in college. "Now people can see me live. They can see me here in Baltimore.

"I'm almost 40 years old and I'm a professional athlete," he said. "How many guys can say that?"

Former Penn State lacrosse player Dave Danieki, who now lives in Perry Hall, was also victorious for Ground Control, dominating fellow local fighter Wade Drake, before submitting him with a chokehold in the first round.

Jones dedicated his bout to his friend and former teammate, Marty Kusick, who died earlier this year.

"We were supposed to do this together," he said in an interview before the fight.

A tough battle

The fight card, promoted by Shogun Fights, is the result of a multiyear struggle to legalize the sport once derided by U.S. Sen. John McCain as "human cockfighting."

Mixed martial arts is now legal and regulated by athletic commissions in 40 of the 50 states. It's banned in two states, New York and West Virginia, and is unregulated in the other eight.

Rallo, a Baltimore native, has emerged as the face of mixed martial arts in Maryland. He runs the state's best known school, Ground Control, and led the charge to get the sport legalized.

"I never asked, 'Can we legalize this?'" said Rallo, who also owns the Shogun Fights promotion. "I approached it like it was obvious that it should be legal. If boxing, wrestling and kickboxing are legal, then why shouldn't something that combines those sports be legal?"

Mixed martial arts is probably best known by the work of its highest-profile promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But dozens of smaller promotions, such as Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting, also hold events in the sport, which is a blend of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, wrestling and other martial arts.

Evolving from controversy

Once largely unregulated -- with no weight-classes and few rules -- the sport evolved. Rules have been added in recent years, such as disallowing strikes to the back of the head or kicking the face of a downed opponent, and the sport grew in popularity.

Earlier this month, more young men, aged 18 to 34, watched Spike TV's show "The Ultimate Fighter" than watched any of the Major League Baseball playoff games.

Despite the sport's evolution and popularity, Rallo said he was prepared for what could be a tough fight with the legislature. He gathered information to prove MMA was safer than the general public thought.

He got advice from the New Jersey lawyer who wrote the unified rules of the sport in the United States.

He retained a Baltimore law firm to help lobby the General Assembly, and, eventually, persuaded state Sen. Joan Carter Conway, of Baltimore, to sponsor the bill.

He received backlash in Annapolis, particularly from State Sen. Jim Brochin, whose 42nd District represents Towson, Timonium and part of Pikesville.

"I tried to lead a fight on the floor to get this thing killed," Brochin recalled. "One of the criteria for a judge to stop a fight is if the opponent is knocked unconscious. Knocked unconscious!

"The question isn't if someone will die in this sport. The question is when," Brochin said. "I think it's barbaric."

Brochin said he's not opposed to boxing, because he believes the standing eight count helps protect the fighters.

"Boxing is fine," he said. "Refs have criteria for stopping a fight. You have to show you can put your gloves up in the standing eight count. In mixed martial arts, you can get knocked down on your back and just get pummeled. A lot of the people who voted for the bill have never seen one of these fights.

"There is going to be a horrible injury and people will be asking, 'How did this get legalized?' "

Expanding popularity

But Rallo said people who think as Brochin are "totally clueless," and pointed to a Johns Hopkins University study that showed mixed martial arts to be safer than boxing.

"Fifteen hundred people have died in boxing," Rallo said. "One person has died in MMA. Six people died in boxing last year. You don't hear a lot about that."

Meanwhile, Rallo is expanding his business and victories.

The school he runs, in the Canton area of Baltimore, has expanded to locations in Owings Mills and Columbia.

Fighters from local Ground Control Academy won four of their five bouts at Maryland's first legal mixed martial arts fight Saturday night.

For more information, go to www.shogunfights.com.

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