MMA Looks Like It Will Get Its Decision In New York
Joe Favorito @JoeFav
The lone state holdout on Mixed Martial Arts in any form may soon finally be coming to an end after years of debate and millions of dollars spent by the UFC and other organizations lobbying for a decades old ban on the sport.
On Tuesday, The New York State Senate again passed legislation to approve MMA as a professional sport, something which had happened five times prior. The difference this time is that both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie appear to be in support of the bill, one which was fought tooth and nail by former Speaker Sheldon Silver, a fight which the now indicted politician won each time under previous administrations.
The reasons for Silver’s vehemence were widespread; they ranged from lobbyists of boxing working behind the scenes to keep the sport out of one of boxing’s most profitable states to his abhorrence with the violence of MMA (his brother is a prominent physician who has dealt with head trauma and has always been firmly against the brutality of MMA) to frankly, other more pressing issues in the State such as gay marriage and other causes that needed more attention. Still at this point with casinos in the State lobbying to bring in small events, while large venues like First Niagara Arena in Buffalo to Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center in New York to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse all wanting to reap bigger gates and paydays that have gone to Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the time may have come for change.
Mixed Martial Arts in the non-professional sense has thrived in New York for years. There are scores of training centers throughout the state which house not just amateur but professional fighters. The Renzo Gracie Academy just two blocks from MSG has trained UFC star Georges St. Pierre as well as a host of Gracie jiu-jitsu fighters, but their buts usually have been through the Lincoln Tunnel at places like the IZOD Center or the Prudential Center or in Atlantic City. The only full-fledged MMA cards have been in unregulated underground gyms which have catered more to the unfettered violence lawmakers have railed against than the safer and more regulated state controlled events that legal MMA would bring and have brought to virtually every other state across the country.
This week the UFC even brought their latest star, Ronda Rousey to meet with Governor Cuomo and defend her sport. The final holdouts against the bill, which include state Senator Liz Krueger, worry about the sexism and open violence against women that legal MMA would bring to venues, even though the fights are seen in millions of homes across the country and around the world today.
“Having women shown fighting on TV shows that it’s OK for us to be strong,” she said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “It’s OK for us to fight. So much history is being made through MMA for women in sports. It’s a new sport so it’s not really bogged down in tradition the way that a lot of others are.”
The solution she says, is for those who find the fights offensive to simply not watch or buy tickets. Proponents see the legalization of MMA as a huge windfall to venues across the state. However that huge flow of dollars has not held true in many cases. Big fights bring big crowds, and the possibility of a UFC card on Broadway will garner the exposure the sport would love on occasion. However small shows do not regularly outdraw similar boxing events, and the rush to book events with lesser known fighters could backfire in some cases. Regardless, in a free economy the opportunity to create and host events to fill distressed seats and dates in a controlled and sanctioned environment is a good thing for the sport of MMA and for the state of new York, which regardless of successful gates, will reap tax dollars and registration fees for events that are going elsewhere right now.
While MMA is known for its quick endings, this battle in Albany, New York has been a long and bloody one, one which it looks like will finally come to a decision and it will be a good one for a still fast-growing sport popular more with millennials than anyone else. Controversial and entertaining to many MMA is, now with a potential new home not far from Madison Avenue
