Chael Sonnen offered a challenge to New York State legislators: Be honest about why Mixed Martial Arts is banned in New York.

“Just come clean,” Sonnen said during his media availability Thursday morning at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden to promote Saturday night’s UFC 159 pay-per-view card at the Prudential Center. Sonnen will challenge UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones for the title in the main event.

Sonnen was joined by Jones and semi-main event fighters Alan Belcher, Michael Bisping, Cheick Kongo, Roy Nelson and UFC President Dana White at the two-and-a-half hour media session.

“[The legislators should admit], ‘Listen, we don’t have the courage to stand up to the unions. They gave us a bunch of money and they put us in office. We’re not skilled enough to go into the private sector and do anything. We really need these jobs we have, so we’re going to go ahead and keep you out,’” Sonnen said.

New York and Alaska are the only states in which professional MMA is illegal. The sport has been banned in New York since 1997 when Gov. George Pataki signed a bill to prohibit professional, sanctioned fights.

Strangely, Muay Thai, kickboxing and amateur MMA is legal in New York.

“I think they can legalize any laws that they want. They have somehow banned 32-ounce cups of Coca-Cola in New York City. So as long as they follow the democratic process I’m all for it. The problem that I have is representation has not been restored in New York. You will not find a New Yorker that doesn’t want this. But their legislature doesn’t have the courage to go and represent the people that put them in office,” Sonnen said. “To find courage within a state legislature is extremely rare.”

At the time, the sport was labeled “human cockfighting” by Sen. John McCain, a label the UFC continues to struggle against. White said yesterday he and the UFC’s owners, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, have spent 13 years trying to “educate” lawmakers and journalists about the sport.

Bills legalizing MMA have passed the state Senate each of the last four years, only to be stalled in the Assembly. Earlier this month, the state Senate passed a bill that would legalize the sport.

But White is pessimistic that the bill will pass the Assembly due to the efforts of the Culinary Union. The union has waged a long and costly battle with the Fertittas over their Las Vegas casinos’ employment of non-union employees.

Had the bill passed, the UFC was going to have its 20th anniversary show at Madison Square Garden and it is believed that the main event would have been a superfight between Jones and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

“We don’t need New York but New York could damn sure use us. We have evidence that we could bring in $10 million in a 24-hour period to this city. We have evidence that if we bring Expo — which Dana White has very clearly said he would do — we could bring in $40 million in the course of a week. The actual number was $60 million but I’m just rounding it down to 40 so no one argues with me,” Sonnen said.

“If New York doesn’t want it, we’ll go right across the bridge to New Jersey and sell out like we’re doing Saturday. We’ll go to Connecticut, which just legalized it. We’ll go to any of the other 47 states in the country that want it. New York needs us. We don’t need them. That’s my stance.

“This isn’t just a sport anymore; it’s an industry. If they don’t want industry in New York and that’s the choice of the New Yorkers, then I completely respect that. My pushback is that is not what the people are saying. My pushback is that here we are in New York in a packed Madison Square Garden media room and the competition is going to take place 12 miles away. It’s going to go over the bridge which means the taxes and the gross receipts are all going to go to Gov. [Chris] Christie’s state. That’s on New York. If they don’t want business, we can’t force it upon them.”

Follow MMA writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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Nick Diaz has a message for those who think he is insolent: It’s not me. It’s you.

“It’s disrespectful people don’t think I’m important,” Diaz said in a bizarre rant during the UFC 158 conference call Thursday afternoon.

Diaz will meet welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in the main event for the title. The pay-per-view event is scheduled for next Saturday at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

Both fighters were on the call, as was UFC President Dana White. They were joined by Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks, Jake Ellenberger and Nate Marquardt. Condit will meet Hendricks, while Ellenberger will fight Marquardt in the semi-main events of the welterweight-heavy card. Tickets are available at the Bell Centre box office. Prices range from $85 to $600.

“I don’t get a lot of recognition for what I set out to accomplish,” Diaz said. “Nobody knows who I am. [I] just think I should be given the [mainstream] credit I deserve. That makes me pretty angry. I’m disrespectful because I want the acknowledgement.”

White has criticized Diaz in the past for not working with the UFC to generate media coverage for his fights.

Diaz and St. Pierre were scheduled to meet at UFC 137 but the fight was cancelled after Diaz missed press conferences. White told reporters during the UFC 157 postfight press conference that Diaz and his brother, Nate, who fights in the UFC lightweight division, had passed on three interviews with in-house television producers for the UFC Primetime series.

White opened the call by noting the media relations staff was looking for Diaz, who apologized for running late.

“I like [media coverage] just fine,” Diaz said. “I don’t like when I’m not ready for it.”

He does sound ready for the long-awaited fight. Diaz is 26-8-1 all time but 7-4-0 in UFC. Half of Diaz’s 26 wins have come via knockout.

“[You] can’t underestimate his standup. He knocks people out,” White said. “The champ wanted this fight.”

It showed as the two verbally sparred throughout the call.

Diaz wondered why St. Pierre (23-2-0 all-time; 18-2-0 in the UFC) would not look past him to a potential superfight with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. St. Pierre said he “didn’t care about it at all. [I’m] not looking past Nick Diaz. I respect my opponent” when asked about his interest in a fight with Silva.

Silva is scheduled to meet Long Island’s Chris Weidman in a title fight at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, Nev. in July. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey is tentatively scheduled to fight the winner of the Cat Zingano-Miesha Tate bout on that card.

St. Pierre’s irritation spilled over after Diaz repeatedly suggested he was “pampered” and had people do things for him. St. Pierre admitted he has people who tweet for him when asked about a series of twitter messages about his “dark side.”

“Let me tell you something, uneducated fool. I started from the bottom. I worked very hard to get to where I am,” St. Pierre said. “[You] didn’t succeed yet. [Maybe you won’t succeed because you’re] not smart enough to reach that point.

“You need a team [to help you out when you reach a certain level of stardom].”

Responded Diaz: “I’m not a disrespectful human being.”

Follow UFC writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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Well, the Oscars are here (well, they’ll be here Sunday) and why can’t sports join in on the fun? And if you’re thinking, ‘What about the ESPY Awards?’, then click a banner ad and move along because they don’t count.

So, to borrow an old Bud Selig phrase, this time it counts. With that, we bring you Playing the Field’s version, better known as the Oscar Pistorius Awards.

Best male athlete in a leading role » LeBron James. As much as we’ve hated on the King in this space in the past — and all apologies to Kobe — he’s the best. He’s flat-out unstoppable right now, and he’s living proof that you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Best female athlete in a leading role » Beyonce. Before you even try and say that Bey isn’t an athlete, take a look at her abs in that GQ photo shoot. If that doesn’t sell you, remember that time she turned out the lights at the Super Bowl? Yes, that happened.

Best supporting male athlete » Oscar Pistorius’ prosthetic legs. The Blade Runner scooped up six Paralympic golds (and didn’t embarrass himself in the real Games). Oh right … he also strapped on those bad boys before shooting and killing his girlfriend. Legs!

Best supporting female athlete » Gabby Douglas’ hair. Douglas, the 17-year-old gymnast nicknamed the Flying Squirrel, turned in one of the most impressive performances in Olympic history. Then several detractors took to Twitter to call out her unkempt hair. Umm, looked fine to us. Then again, our grooming habits our very suspect.

Best producer » John Calipari. Kentucky coach earned his first national championship last April — and while his squad is struggling this year — Cal continues to churn out NBA hits (Nerlens Noel, he’ll be fine once Dr. James Andrews gets done with him, is his latest project).

Best costume design » Andrew Bynum. We’re not even factoring in his ridiculous, ever-changing hairstyles. No, no. Bynum gets this award for pretending to be an actual NBA superstar. Sorry, Sixers fans.

Best music » The real academy prefers original scores. We don’t. We’re giving this one to the Miami Dolphins cheerleading squad for its awesome rendition of that annoyingly addictive Carly Rae Jepsen song.

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It’s Valentine’s Day, a day created by Hallmark to make couples spend loads and loads of money on candy, flowers and gourmet dinners. Or the day when singles and cheaters clean up on the internet and in the bars.

Whatever side of the romantic fence you’re standing behind this year, one thing is certain: the made-up holiday is on everybody’s mind. Radio stations are cranking out all the classic love songs, while kids and grown-ups alike are handing out cards to classmates and co-workers. On Thursday, ESPN did a ridiculously stupid sketch where Damien Woody, starring as the Love Doctor, gave NFL fans advice on their favorite teams and players.

Point is, it’s infectious and we here at PFT aren’t above any of it. So away we go as we name the athletes and celebrities we would like to see hook up.

» Dwight Howard and Taylor Swift: We don’t get the whole fascination with Swift — a nice-looking girl with a decent voice — and her whiny, boyfriend-dissing ballads (not to mention her penchant for firing lovers … but she sure sounds like she would be perfect arm candy for Howard, who has made a living off whining, dissing teammates and getting coaches fired. Plus, Swift (5-foot-11) is one of the few girls that might not look completely ridiculous standing next to Howard (6-foot-11).

» Chad Johnson and Rihanna: The receiver formerly known as Ocho Cinco has been bored out of his mind since beating his wife and being kicked out of Dolphins camp. He is constantly on Twitter posting pictures (in Spain, at NBA games, at a Marilyn Manson concert), but Chad is usually alone — and he is dying for attention. Enter Rihanna, a longtime favorite in this space who needs to ditch Chris Brown. Rihanna, like Chad, is addicted to Twitter — and she likes to get wild and crazy, and doesn’t mind being put in her place every once in while.

» Andrew Luck and Jennifer Lawrence: Wow, what a pairing this would be, right? Luck is arguably the best young quarterback in football and Lawrence is the best young actress in Hollywood. Luck’s Colts have 40-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, while Lawrence is one of the front-runners to win the Oscar for Best Actress. Not to mention, they are both extremely young and attractive — with the possibility of spawning a long line of rifle-armed, post-apocalyptic killing machines.

» Jim Boeheim and Andy Katz: Because being an idiot and a disloyal person is no way to go through life. We need to get these two crazy kids back together immediately. College basketball needs them, just like Arm needs Hammer … like Oscar Pistorius needs legs a good attorney. What? Too soon?

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For the first time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s nearly two-decade existence, a UFC pay-per-view will be headlined by women.

“I love the fact that they are scheduling more girl fights,” UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey said in a conference call Tuesday afternoon to promote next Saturday night’s UFC 157 pay-per-view. Rousey (6-0-0) will defend the title against Liz Carmouche (8-2-0) in the main event at Anaheim, Calif.’s Honda Center.

“I’m excited to see what’s next after this,” Rousey said about the UFC’s newfound concentration with women’s MMA. “It’s really encouraging. I’m very encouraged.”

Rousey is an overwhelming favorite to retain the 135-pound title as all of her wins have come via first round armbar.

“There’s a lot on the line. [I’m] not looking past this fight. We’ll see what happens after that,” Rousey said. “Liz Carmouche has 100 percent of my attention.”

It is what the future may hold for Rousey that has garnered interest.

UFC has scheduled a Miesha Tate-Cat Zingano fight for The Ultimate Fighter season 17 finale on April 13 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. Rousey announced on the call she will be in attendance that night, and wants to face the winner.

Rousey submitted Tate for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title last March. She has never fought Zingano.

“I have a lot of options ahead of me,” Rousey said. “I’m going to take the plenty of options available to me.”

One option that doesn’t appear to be available is a potential superfight with Cris “Cyborg” Santos. Last week, Santos’ agent, UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz told Inside MMA that he requested the UFC release the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion. However, other than the women-only Invicta promotion, there are not many alternatives for Santos.

Santos, who was suspended for a year after testing positive for stanozolol metabolites, has claimed she cannot cut down to 135 pounds due to health reasons. Rousey and the UFC have argued that if Santos wants to fight for the title then she will have to drop to 135 pounds. A 140-pound catch weight fight has been suggested but UFC President Dana White has told reporters that the bantamweight title would not be on the line should that come to pass.

“She’s making a lot of noise and trying to get attention because she’s kind of fading into being irrelevant,” Rousey said of her rival, who she mockingly renamed Cryborg. “She needs people going on TV and making a big fuss. At some point she’s going to have to come around and take the only fight that’s really available.”

Carmouche, Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida also participated on the call. Henderson and Machida will meet in the semi-main event to determine the No. 1 contender for Jon Jones’s light heavyweight title. Jones is scheduled to fight Chael Sonnen in the main event of UFC 159 in Newark on April 27.

Follow MMA writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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