UFC competitor’s partner faces trouble outside MMA ring

This has all the cauliflower earmarks of a beat down in the making.

  Everyone with a television or a newspaper subscription knows Mixed Martial Arts is one of the most popular sports in the world. In that world, UFC President Dana White and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta are major players.

What is less known is that the UFC has filed a federal lawsuit that alleges competitor Bellator Fighting Championships purloined "trade secrets" and committed fraud.

There's nothing particularly noteworthy in that. Competing companies go to civil war all the time in court. In business, one man's definition of fraud is another man's financial strategy.

Now comes the part that threatens to bloody the noses of Bellator's bosses. Fortune magazine has reported Bellator's major investor, multibillion-dollar hedge fund heavyweight Plainfield Asset Management, is the subject of an FBI investigation. It's reported FBI agents are inquiring into possible fraud allegations on the part of Plainfield, which holds a controlling interest (51.6 percent, according to MMApayout.com) in Bellator.

Plainfield, which once boasted $5 billion in assets, is under investigation for possibly committing fraud through fee gouging and overstating the value of some investments.

How Plainfield's problems eventually will impact Bellator remain unclear, but it's sure to make the courtroom feel smaller than an MMA ring.

HIGH NOTE: The late, great jazz singer Joe Williams gave much to the College of Southern Nevada through his annual scholarship fundraising concert. Now some talented musicians plan to honor the man and his legacy.

The CSN/Joe Williams Scholarship Fund concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Nicholas J. Horn Theatre on the college's Cheyenne campus.

In past years, the scholarship concert has featured internationally known jazz performers and has taken place in larger showrooms, but this year's gathering will feature the talented alumni who developed their mastery thanks to the existence of the music program.

MILK RUN: Republican U.S. Senate challenger Sharron Angle's campaign has posted an advertisement cut by GOP legislator and dairy farm manager Ed Goedhart that attempts to counter a recent television commercial touting the efforts of Harry Reid to help Southern Nevada's Anderson Dairy.

Goedhart's lament: Reid helped Anderson Dairy but not his employer, Ponderosa Dairies of Amargosa Valley.

Will Reid's team be forced to respond?

Is Goedhart's commercial an in-kind contribution?

STEPPING UP: If Reid survives his hard-fought battle against Tea Party favorite Angle, it might be linked to his early decision to gather support from state business leaders, many of whom are members of "Republicans for Reid."

On Thursday, Reid's campaign was ready to trot out Palms owner George Maloof, LVCVA CEO Rossi Ralenkotter, Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, Club Cal-Neva owner William Thornton, and business and political players Tim Carlson, Jim Rogers, Brian Greenspun, Sig Rogich and Marybel Batjer.

They can only vote once. It will be interesting to see if their endorsements carry weight, and whether Angle responds with in-state endorsements of her own.

HAIR-RAISING HELP: The crew at Mosaic Salon at 8320 W. Sahara Ave. is taking fundraising into its own hands starting at 10 a.m. Sunday with a "Cut-A-Thon" to benefit the Children's Specialty Center of Nevada, which calls itself the state's only not-for-profit outpatient pediatric cancer treatment facility.

  The haircuts are cheap, and the cause is downright stylish. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

ON THE BOULEVARD: Local Ed Frederico has penned a story that thumps like a mob loan collector called "Sons of Mafia." He says it's inspired by true events. … Matthew O'Brien is about to publish his second nonfiction effort. It flies under the intriguing title, "My Week at the Blue Angel: And Other Stories from the Storm Drains, Strip Clubs, and Trailer Parks of Las Vegas." O'Brien is scheduled to participate in the Vegas Valley Book Festival Nov. 3-7 at the Historic Fifth Street School.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.