the development of the modern rules of the sport. Bob Meyrowitz, the original owner of the UFC, tasked Blatnick to push the sport forward. With help from referee John McCarthy and then UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, Blatnick created a manual of policies, procedures, codes of conduct and rules, many of which exist to this day. He traveled around the country, educating regulators and changing perceptions about a sport that was thought to be bloodthirsty and inhumane. By April 2000, Blatnick's efforts had clearly made an impact. California was set to become the first state in the U.S. to sign off on a set of codified rules that governed MMA. Soon after, New Jersey adopted the language. He sat cageside in Atlantic City months later, when UFC held its first event regulated under the unified rules, headlined fittingly by two outstanding wrestlers, Kevin Randleman and Blatnick's favorite fighter, Randy Couture. Blatnick's contributions to the sport of mixed martial arts helped keep the sport alive during its darkest period and helped pave the way for the sport to flourish later in the decade. Blatnick has also been credited with giving the sport of mixed martial arts its name. Nick Lembo, the man who runs the New Jersey athletic control board, wrote, "(Jeff) would urge people to stop calling the sport No Holds Barred, in order to help it grow and gain acceptance." Dave Meltzer added, "No Holds Barred, (Blatnick) said, gave people a bad connotation of what it was, and felt it was a negative. Mixed Martial Arts, the idea of combining techniques from all the various martial arts forms with that of wrestling, was really what the sport was, he would say." Blatnick authored the Mixed Martial Arts Council Manual and was also licensed as a referee and judge with the New Jersey commission. A petition was also started on the MMA Underground forum by UFC fighter Shane Carwin for Blatnick to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame for his contributions to the organization. On May 20, 2015, it was announced that Blatnick would be inducted into the new contributors wing of the UFC Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport and organization. On July 11, 2015, at the UFC Hall of Fame event in Las Vegas his widow, Lori, accepted the award on Blatnick's behalf. Death and legacy Blatnick died on October 24, 2012, as a