2008 looks to be a big year for MMA on the east coast as the major organizations look to tap that hotbed market. EliteXC, IFL, Ring of Combat, and Battle Cage Xtreme are all represented in the 2008 schedule with the heavy-weight, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, surprisingly quiet on the east coast for Q1.

The two legendary street fighters currently in MMA, Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott, are scheduled to go at each other on Feb. 16th, according to Sam Caplan of Pro-Elite.

Fedor returned to fighting on NYE and he finishes his fight with a nice arm submission on the giant Hong Man Choi. Read on for the results for all the fights on that night and if you missed the event, you can catch it on HDNET in the upcoming weeks. Check programming on their site for details.

Chute Boxe is a high level MMA camp that has been ticking since the very beginning. Without change, however, nothing stays current and this camp that has been responsible for the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, and the Rua brothers, is looking to expand.

HDNET, who sponsored four huge fights in December of 2007, has postponed indefinitely their Feb. 15th card until they can firm up the card line-up and partnerships.

The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI) today announced that Shannon Knapp has been promoted to the newly-created position of Director, Fighter Relations. Knapp, who has been with the IFL in various roles since its formation in 2005, will take a more expansive role in working with fighters, agents and business partners on growing the IFL brand in the mixed martial arts community and in local event markets. She will begin her expanded duties immediately.

Ok, maybe that's a little facetious although he might be a good candidate on the current ballot. ESPN is currently running a poll where the world can vote on "SportNation Top 5 Athletes" and Randy Couture is one of them.

Soa "The Hulk" Palelei has just signed a 3 fight deal with the UFC. He will be on the undercard for UFC 79 and is pitted against Eddie Sanchez. This KOTC and PRIDE veteran has 8 wins and only 1 loss (Mu Bae Choi on PRIDE 28) on his record.

Floyd Mayweather is considering MMA after vociferously denying it's legitimacy earlier in the year. Yes, the 6 time world champion golden gloves-caliber boxer has been in discussion with HDNET Fights for a possible career change.

The fighter salaries for the TUF 6 finale were finally released. One thing to take notice is the higher purse the undercard fighters received this time around (8/8 vs. 4/4). Could the UFC be finally paying their fighters more than in the past?