While New York State had a 2010 gross domestic product of$1.16 Trillion, (3) the vast majority of that came directly from New York City, which provided $691.9 Billion of that amount. (4) The latest 2010 figures show that New York City travel and tourism contributed some $31.5 billion to the economy directly to that figure.(5) And while these figures are an improvement over 2009, they still represent a decline from its peak in 2008, due in no small part to the current weak economic climate. One major part of travel and tourism of New York City is Madison Square Garden (MSG) – hallowed ground for sports enthusiasts.

MSG, however, bears more than the just the weak economy; as the home of the Knicks basketball team, it had to deal with the recent 2011 NBA lockout, which was only just resolved on December 8, 2011. (5) On top of the NBA lockout and weak economy, MSG is also currently undergoing extensive renovations, which has only added further downward pressure on MSG and local businesses (6) with some stores around Madison Square Garden losing up to 40% of their revenue, according to Fox Five New York. The one saving grace, according to local business owners that “the Knicks aren’t the only ones in town.”

This is true as the stadium is also called home by other sports teams including the Rangers, The Liberty, and The Red Storm. In addition, other sports such as wrestling and professional boxing frequently make appearances at MSG and even popular amateur events such as the revered Golden Gloves Tournament are staples of MSG. Curiously, the fast growing sport of Mixed Martial Arts is still absent from this hallowed ground.  The sport’s growth is undeniable.

The UFC, the sports preeminent league, is brand valued at over a billion dollars and sold over 106 million PPV buys in 2010 alone.(7) In fact, Forbes Magazine’s June 2008 cover story featured MMA and the UFC, titling it: Ultimate Cash Machine. According to that article, “[t]hat night before the Super Bowl 10,700 fans packed the arena, paying an average of $340 for a ticket to witness nine mixed martial arts fights. Another 500,000 fans paid $45 ($55 for high definition) to watch five of the nine fights at home. The total haul from the event: $25 million.” CNBC lso devoted a primetime special on the UFC as business, highlighting the company’s record profits in the midst of recession and the sport’s growth. (8) According to CNBC, the marquee UFC 100 event sold seats as high as $40,000 in the secondary market. (9)

And the sport’s popularity has only grown and local New York businesses are cashing in on this popularity; some estimates speculate that a major MMA event in Madison Square Garden with an attendance of 10,000 (the last UFC event in Newark, NJ hosted 12,619 guests)(10) would generate 1.4 million in visitor spending.(11) The UFC estimates that two events alone (one in Buffalo and one at The Garden) would generate 138 new jobs and 16 million in economic activity.(12)

By the end of 2011, New Jersey will have held over 40 sanctioned MMA events, with the state standing to make $175,000 per event. The argument, of course, is that $7 million to the state ($175,000 x 40) amounts to only 2% of the $350 million shortfall noted by Governor Cuomo. However, there are three crucial distinctions to be drawn here:

1. That $7 million figure is a direct tax figure for large arena events, it does not take into account secondary income such as hotel bookings, restaurant reservations, tourist memorabilia and the like.
2. Moreover it does not take into account the primary and secondary income to the state from smaller events that could be held in local venues, such as the highly regarded Friday Night Fights (13) which has been held since 1997 and in one of countless kickboxing, boxing, and wrestling events in city.
3. Finally it does not take into account tertiary income such as New York MMA schools- which currently, and legally exist, to create the tomorrow’s MMA fighter.

On that last point, it seems somewhat sad that this MMA fighter tomorrow will not be able to showcase his or her talents in the famed MSG nor any other arena in New York State. Instead, he or she will have to cross the river to New Jersey where his talents, and the spectator’s money, will be warmly welcome.

Whatever the actual figure we’re talking about – be it $7 million or $70 million – this all seems a high price to pay for reasons that remain completely murky to us.

– Sony Fortune & Logan Lo

(1) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/new-york-state-sees-350-million-budget-gap.html
(2) Id.
(3) http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/state_rev_summary.php?chart=Z0&year=2010&units=d&rank=a
(4)Moody’s Analytics, 2011.09
(5) http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7332374/nba-labor-players-owners-vote-ratify-new-labor-agreement
(6) http://www.nycgo.com/articles/nyc-statistics-page
(7) http://www.mma-manifesto.com/ufc-ppv-data/ppv-main/2011-ufc-finacials-midway-point-ppv-gate-a-salary-figures.html
(8) http://www.hulu.com/watch/86545/cnbc-originals-ultimate-fighting-fistful-of-dollars
(9) Id.
(10) http://mmajunkie.com/news/22903/ufc-128-draws-a-reported-12619-attendees-for-2-14-million-live-gate.mma
(11) http://www.nj.com/sports/njsports/index.ssf/2011/02/still_illegal_in_new_york_mma.html
(12) http://www.mmafacts.com/econstudy
(13) http://www.fridaynightfights.com/

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1. Smaller 4-6 ounce (1) gloves, and
2. the ability of combatants to strike from the ground.

There is a huge misunderstanding of the role of gloves in combat sports. The primary function of the glove is to protect the fighter’s hands, NOT the head. There were far less punches to the head in the early days of bareknuckle boxing because of the risk of the fighter breaking their hands.  Modern day boxing gloves (9-10 ounces)(2) protect the face from cuts but they actually increase the risk of brain damage because fighters can hit harder without risk of hurting their hands.(3)  It can be argued that the smaller MMA gloves make MMA safer because fighters have to be careful of hitting too hard so as not to damage their hands.(4) This is particularly important because the MMA fighter will need finger dexterity in case the fight transitions to grappling.

Striking an opponent while he is on the ground has gotten a considerable amount of scrutiny because of the potential concussive danger from being hit and immediately banging one’s head on the floor. Coincidentally the creators of the UFC are the originators of an entire system devoted to effectively defending oneself from the ground strikes. There is no doubt that the ground and pound can be a dangerous place to be and the possibility of concussion is very real but is it any more dangerous than being hit while standing?(5)

The number of strikes that land flush on a trained opponent is hotly debated.  Most fighters will agree that the ground and pound looks worse than the reality.  Fighters also explain that the number of flush strikes is far less than strikes landed while standing.  This is why many competitors go to the ground if they are outmatched during stand up.  As yet, nothing has been shown proving that ground and pound posed an overwhelming risk to the fighter as compared to boxing or Thai boxing. The UFC has also worked to minimizing danger to participants fighting from the ground with stringent refereeing rules and striking restrictions. (6)(7) In fact, this is part of our main argument – that this sport NEEDS to be regulated as it is happening all over the country.

Without regulation, these safety rules and restrictions disappear.

On that note, the biggest danger in MMA in the current climate is when an untrained competitor steps into the ring with a seasoned and highly trained opponent.  This mismatch usually happens when there is no sanctioning body.

This could be seen in the many underground matches throughout the US during the early days of both boxing and MMA and currently in states where MMA is not legal. There is simply no excuse for this.

 – Akira Bryson

(1) http://www.nj.gov/lps/sacb/docs/martial.html
(2) http://www.wbcboxing.com/downloads/RULES_FOR_CHAMPIONSHIP_FIGHTS_-_SYNTHESIZED_09.pdf
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_glove#Impact_of_gloves_on_safety_and_injuries
(4)  See generally: Malcom Gladwell’s article Blowup, where he notes that with the advent of ABS braking systems in cars, more accidents occurred because “drivers used the additional element of safety to enable them to drive faster and more recklessly without increasing their risk of getting into an accident. As economists would say, they ‘consumed’ the risk reduction, they didn’t save it.”
(5) http://www.ufc.com/discover/sport/index
(6) http://www.ufc.com/discover/sport/index
(7) Three recent New York Times articles highlight the dangers of concussions in sports not traditionally thought of as traumatic to the brain:

• On ‘Punched Out’: Looking at Brain Trauma and Other Risks of Violent Sports
• Derek Boogaard: A Brain ‘Going Bad’
• How Dangerous is Heading a Soccer Ball?

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It was in this vein that the UFC originally marketed the sport, which is to say as a no holds barred competition. The intent was to promote the danger factor in order to whip up excitement and, by-and-large, this succeeded but perhaps a little too well as it soon developed an unsavory – and not wholly undeserved – reputation for brutality and spectacle.

Since then, professional organizations, including the UFC, have had considerable success in elevating and legitimizing MMA as a separate, unique combat sport in the popular culture.(1)  popularity of this “new” sport has spurred many states to sanction MMA matches in order to cash in on some of the potential revenue.  There are several states that oppose legalizing MMA, based on its previous reputation and New York State is one of them.  Many of the reasons given for not legalizing MMA seem to boil down to an assumption that MMA is more dangerous to the fighters than already legally sanctioned combat sport events  such as boxing, kickboxing, judo, and jujitsu. The irony is that MMA, as sanctioned by the professional organizations, is a combination of all of these legal combat sports.

This then begs the question: Why would New York State consider MMA an illegal sport when it is essentially a combination of all of the martial systems already legally available to us?

There’s little doubt that MMA suffers under its outdated reputation of “human cockfighting” spurred by its aforementioned own early marketing. This, in turns, leads to the assumption by governing bodies that the sport does not fit into the confines of the law. But there has been a sea change since those early days when the sport was struggling for recognition and this is simply not true.

Technically speaking MMA easily passes the New York State Athletic Commission guidelines’ definition of a combat system.(2)  Unfortunately, the NY State Athletic Commission has the authority to include or remove organizations from its list of approved Martial Arts Organizations, based on additional criteria. (3)

It seems that, because MMA does not fit completely within the additional criteria, it has not been approved as a legal combat sport in NY State. However it can be argued that other legal martial organizations do not fit these criteria either.

Consider that Thai Boxing does not provide feet protection – one of the mandates in the law, 19 N.Y.C.R.R. § 206.7.(4) Similarly , boxing and wrestling matches do not require an organization and only a licensed promoter

This law seems to be more of a reflexive action against the original gory reputation of MMA in its early days and an easy political slam dunk for lawmakers looking to score with conservative voters. MMA has undergone a complete overhaul in the past 20 years with it’s pivotal moment on November 22, 2002 with the UFC 40 (5) fight between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock whereby Shamrock represented the previous iteration of the UFC and Ortiz represented the it’s current iteration. Put another way, the 40th fight of the UFC represented a break from it’s past and it’s entrance into the mainstream.

Since then, the UFC, as the largest and most influential MMA organization, has been very diligent in working with various state athletic commissions by amending existing guidelines and creating new rules for any gray areas where rules conflict or do not exist. Overall, MMA is far safer and has shed its former roadhouse reputation.

MMA being illegal in NY State is not due to a lack of safety or a lack of adherence to NY State law.  It suffers from a cultural stigma due to a lack of knowledge of its current form. A clear majority of almost all of the legal martial sports in New York do not strictly adhere to New York State law. MMA has not been proven to be any more dangerous than existing combat sports.  Organizations like the UFC have standardized guidelines(6) to protect their competitors and lift MMA from spectacle to sport.

 – Akira Bryson

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(1) http://mmaweekly.com/ufc-mirrors-nba-and-nfl-rise-to-mainstream-with-strikeforce-purchase
(2) http://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2006/boxing-sparring-and-wrestling-ch.-912.20/
(3) see generally: here.
(4) http://www.nyintegrity.org/law/ethc/Part937.html
(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_40
(6) http://www.ufc.com/discover/sport/index

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American MMA reached its first mass audience in 1993 with the broadcast of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship. No rules, no gloves, no weight classes, no judges; the tournament promised to crown an “ultimate fighter” – and in a way, we are still dealing with the effects of this hype. Early matches were often, admittedly, brutal and bloody, pitting giants against smaller men,(1) while allowing hair pulling and repeated groin strikes, something that is thankfully not permitted in modern professional MMA. The brutality of the sport led to oft-quoted sentiment of MMA as little more than human cockfighting,(2) which eventually forced it underground in many jurisdictions as a direct result of the ensuing political pressure.

Like football (18 deaths in 1905 alone nearly led to its banning(3)) and boxing, MMA was forced to transition from spectacle to sport or face demise. Stricter rules began to develop culminating in the drafting of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts,(4) the de facto governing rules for professional MMA in the US. The Unified Rules is the MMA equivalent of boxing’s adopting of the Queensberry Rules(5) and football’s foregoing of leather helmets.

Amongst other things, the Unified Rules(6):

• Established clear weight divisions such that Sumo wrestlers no longer fight Welterweights
• Required protective gear and gloves for all fighters
• Established the current round lengths of three 5-minute rounds with 5 rounds for championships and main events
• Codified a logical judging scheme, whereby the same 10 point utilized in professional boxing is utilized here

Note that the most comprehensive section of the Unified Rules is devoted to fouls. While the first UFC only explicitly banned biting and eye gouging, the Unified Rules lists 31 fouls.(7) As a comparison, the World Boxing Council (WBC) enumerates 29 punishable fouls (PDF).(8)

The rules were put in place to make it safer for athletes and to legitimize MMA as a sport. Once banned in most of the US, MMA is legal in all but three states that have athletic commissions (PDF).(9) As noted previously, the safety standards of MMA are on par with or even greater than those of professional boxing, a sport with deep roots in New York.

As a credit to the relative safety of regulated MMA as a combat sport, the sport has lost a total of two fighters(10) as a result of fight-related injuries as compared to 27 deaths in boxing since 1993(11) in the US alone. While all sports have inherent risks, the steps taken by the MMA community in recent years have resulted in a sport that boasts lower rates of Traumatic Brain Injury than boxing (PDF).(12)

State officials are taking note of the increased safety of MMA. Once MMA’s most vocal critic, Senator McCain, the author of the aforementioned “human cockfighting” declaration, has gone from claiming Mixed Martial Arts is “a brutal and repugnant blood sport . . . that should not be allowed to take place anywhere in the U.S.”,(13) to recognizing its legitimacy and making note of its progress and reform.

Surely NYS can do the same.
 – Sony Fortune

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(1) http://vigilantemma.com/2011/07/01/flashback-keith-hackney-vs-600-pound-emmanuel-yarborough-this-is-worth-watching-again/

(2) http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1998-02-12/news/john-mccain-breaks-up-a-fight/

(3) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703712504576242431663682162.html

(4) http://www.nj.gov/lps/sacb/docs/martial.html

(5) http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring03/bueneventura/rules.htm

(6) http://www.ufc.com/discover/sport/rules-and-regulations

(7) http://www.ufc.com/discover/sport/rules-and-regulations#15

(8) http://www.wbcboxing.com/downloads/RULES_FOR_CHAMPIONSHIP_FIGHTS_-_SYNTHESIZED_09.pdf

(9) http://www.abcboxing.com/states_regulate_mma.pdf

(10) http://www.cagepotato.com/second-mma-related-death-should-bolster-case-sanctioning-not-hinder-it-0/

(11) http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/boxingmma/ufc-sues-right-fight-new-york

(12) http://www.jssm.org/combat/1/18/v5combat-18.pdf

(13) http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/01/15/a_fighting_chance/?page=1

(14) http://www.mmafighting.com/2008/06/04/dont-forget-john-mccains-other-mma-quote/

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At that time, it was known as Pankration or “all powers”, meaning that all manner of attacks, including those from boxing and wrestling, could be used and combined together. The historical record is replete with references to famous pankrationists, like the champion Dioxippus who later served under Alexander the Great. It was integral part of life in Greek society at that time, particularly as training for the citizen-soldiery. Additionally, the cache of the sport was such that the great mythological heroes of the ancient world, Theseus and Hercules, were both said to have been experts in it. Pankration enjoyed a near 1000-year history as an essential part of the Olympic games until the banning of games themselves by Theodosius I in the 4th century.

Similarly, MMA in this regard has a long history in Asia and the New World. The Asian fighting arts have always had a tradition of mixed rule, style-versus-style clashes: this was particularly true in Japan, where even in the 19th century numerous challenge matches took place between competing styles of Jiu-jitsu.(1)

But mixed martial arts’ Western roots are also quite strong. Turn of the century professional ‘wrestling’ competitions often pitted boxers against wrestlers or Asian fighters against western trained opponents. With the corruption and staged nature of wrestling’s professional side, these matches fell into obscurity in the US.(2) However, MMA found a truly lasting home in Brazil.

At the turn of the century, a Japanese mixed-rules prizefighter named Mitsuyo Maeda settled in Brazil and bequeathed a legacy to the Gracie family; he gave them not only his Asian martial art training but also introduced them to what the Brazilians would later term Vale Tudo or “No Holds Barred” competition, a rough form of MMA competition.(3) The Gracie family became the pioneers of the sport in its modern incarnation, using the crucible of combat to refine their fighting style of Jiu-jitsu. For years it was a tradition of the Gracie clan to challenge all comers and to send official challenges to each successive boxing world heavyweight champion.

The Gracie clan eventually immigrated to the US, and in 1992 introduced their art as well and this “new” sport to millions of Americans through the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a theatrical pay-per-view event that was designed more to showcase the power of the Gracie style of combat rather than establish MMA as a sport. Pitting karate men against boxers, kung fu practitioners versus wrestlers, Sumo versus Kempo… all styles were on display. The UFC answered a question that every 11-year old boy asks, ”Who would win if X fought Y.” But it wasn’t the karate or kung fu practitioners who won.

Royce Gracie, a slight, somewhat gangly member of the Gracie clan proved that he could completely dominate much larger opponents with ease using his family’s technique. Proving it was no fluke, he did it over and over again, making both MMA and the Gracie style of Jiu-jitsu something unique and interesting to even casual fight fans. With the Gracie introduction, the modern sport of MMA was born, this time with a level of theatricality and the added touch of a cage in lieu of a ring.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was the first promotion to feature modern MMA competition. But soon Japan and many other countries followed suit, giving MMA a worldwide following. Unfortunately, here in the US the sport went through a difficult period in the late 1990’s. Legal and cultural backlashes vilified the sport, and often unjustly criticized it, characterizing it as human cockfighting. The cash dried up for the fighters and for the most part the skilled athletes disappeared. The Gracie clan withdrew from the UFC – as their goal to popularize their style was successful – so it was left to a few promoters to keep the sport alive.

At the time there were a handful of skilled fighters who dominated the upper ranks as standouts in a sport that was lacking in true professionalism. One such fighter was Frank Shamrock who retired at one point because, in his words, there was no real skilled competition. While unskilled brawlers never really ruled the sport, during the dark ages of the late 1990’s there were too many of them, and it detracted from MMA’s legitimacy in the US.

But in Japan it was a different story. The spark the UFC has ignited became a raging blaze in Asia. Of course, the Japanese propensity towards martial arts helped to garner a fan base, but also Japan had its own grassroots level of MMA competition for many years. In the 1970’s Muhammad Ali fought a controversial mixed styles match against professional wrestler, Antonio Inoki. The UFC was just the catalyst for a great boom. In the Japanese promotions, which were slick, professional and sportive, you saw what MMA was to become: great promotion values, truly skilled, technical competitors drawn from a variety of combat sports, and most importantly, very, very exciting matches that were safe.(4)

The UFC rested in the doldrums for some years. But the UFC, and MMA in the US overall, got a new lease on life when the Fertitta brothers of Las Vegas bought out the promotion. The brothers, and their partner Dana White (the current CEO), were old time boxing fans who succeeded both in getting proper regulation and in injecting a lot of much needed capital.(5) Suddenly, under the Fertitta stewardship and White’s forward-looking approach American MMA was reinvigorated, it received television coverage and began to be recognized as a legitimate sport; the age of brawlers was instantly over. Elite combat athletes from Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, Jiu-jitsu, Judo and Kickboxing gravitated to the revitalized promotion. Most detractors in the political establishment (like Senator John McCain among others), were convinced that MMA had evolved to a level of regulation that both standardized competition and protected fighters enough to ensure a high level safety. To this day American MMA ranks as one the safest professional sports.

MMA in America has taken off in popularity as well, scoring ratings and pay-per-view buys that no one could have expected a few years prior. With the biggest news being the recent airing of the UFC’s heavyweight title fight during prime time hours. Today the level of athleticism and awe-inspiring technique defies the imagination.(6) The sport here is now properly regulated by a number of athletic commissions, the fighters are properly protected, tested and judged. Moreover, the sport has truly returned to its ancient roots. Fighters are not simply one-dimensional boxers or wrestlers, but are trained in a variety of disciplines. The UFC began by asking the question of which fighting style was best. The answer, it turns out (and as any Ancient Greek could have told you), is that you need to know them all: the “all powers” of ancient Olympic Pankration.
And MMA has returned to a level of popularity that any Ancient Greek would recognize. The sport stands at the pinnacle of the modern fighting world, just as it did in the ancient world.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

  — Rene Dreifuss

(1) see generally: Bunasawa, Nori; Murray, John (2007 (2nd edition)). Mitsuyo Maeda: The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived. Judo Journal
(2) Although these fights sporadically continued even until the 1950’s, as the bout between famed Judo great, Gene LeBell, and boxer Milo Savage in a mixed rules setting would attest.
(3) Bunasawa, et. al.
(4) Note that while there is no national or local regulation of MMA in Japan, the sport often self regulates effectively by ensuring standards of Judging and safety. One notable example the popular Shooto league which has a complex regulation of amateurs and professionals as well as certifications for referee personnel. See generally: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooto
(5) While the process of regulation began in 2000 with the NJ athletic commissions endorsement of MMA’s unified rules and was prior to the Fertitta’s acquisition of the UFC, the Fertittas efforts to continue and support the process of regulation have been indispensable, particularly in the lobbying campaign for legalization in New York State.
(6) Who would have though a fighter could jump high in the air, bounce off the cage, and in mid-air strike his opponent with a kick?

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Ultimate fighting, or mixed martial arts, is like boxing or wrestling
Correct. Mr. Bowen does not denigrate boxing or wrestling, yet does the combination.

[The] fighter can even punch someone when he is on the ground
In terms of net damage, this is, in general, far better than giving a boxer 10 seconds to recover and then get pounded on again. Many times in MMA a fight is quickly over due to these ground punches (following a knockdown) – as opposed to boxing. In addition, the torque and power generated by a punch while standing is much greater than that generated by a punch while kneeling. I agree ground punching looks brutal, but in terms of net damage and force per punch it is less than that of boxing punches.

As a clear example, it generally takes multiple ground punches to knock out a fighter, while in both boxing and MMA, often a single standing punch will cause a knockout. As a hypothetical but undoubtedly true example, a single ground punch by a pro MMA fighter would hurt me badly – a single standing punch by a pro boxer would possibly kill me.

By comparison, championship boxing matches are usually 15 three-minute rounds.
To be fair, Mr. Bowen later published an erratum and correctly noted that nowadays most championship boxing matches are 12 rounds. Still, this is a telltale sign of writing sloppiness and one can likely infer relative unfamiliarity with combat sports by the writer.

But in those games (football, hockey), you are trying to win, not to hurt your opponent
To even the casual NFL and NHL observer, it is clear that many football and hockey players are often indeed trying to hurt their opponents. Broadcasts of each sport often highlight football’s “brutal sacks” and hockey’s “body checking” and fans cheer loudly for these events.

As a retired NFL player wrote in a recent New York Times Article, “Piles, oh, my God, they’re brutal. I’ve had my ankles twisted. I’ve been bit. I’ve done stuff. I’ve tried to break guys’ elbows, pinching people, twisting ankles, trying to bend up their arms, pop an elbow out. Why? I had to fight back.”(1)

As an ex-high school wrestler, martial arts dilettante, and MMA fan, I admit to having a bias towards MMA. I enjoy the “human chess” aspects, the rigor of physical competition, the quintessence of 1-on-1 competition, and the blending of all the world’s martial arts into one sport to determine which art is truly effective. I have no interest in watching amateur “Toughman” contests, sloppy low technique affairs, or unfair and highly dangerous mismatches – rather just as I enjoy watching a Nadal vs. Federer tennis match, so too do I enjoy watching two high-level MMA athletes compete to determine who, for this night, is the better.

Certainly, as a physician, I am concerned about the growing data and discussion on concussions – a discussion long overdue. The days of football players being told to “walk it off” and return to play minutes after a brutal sack are just starting to recede. My opinion though is that contact and combat sports are here to stay; they will always be popular as not everyone solely enjoys bowling, tennis, baseball, and other more “gentle” sports. Thus, regulation and legalization of MMA competition is in my opinion the optimal route to best protect MMA athletes while allowing them to pursue their chosen sport and profession.

 – David T. Huang, MD, MPH

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(1) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/sports/football/kris-jenkinss-view-of-life-in-the-nfl-trenches.html?scp=4&sq=nfl&st=cse

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1. Professional MMA matches from being “conducted, held or given”
2. “advancing” professional MMA
3. “profiting from” professional MMA

Violation of the law is a crime and any person “who knowingly advances or profits from a combative sport activity shall also be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed for the first violation ten thousand dollars or twice the amount of gain derived therefrom whichever is greater, or for a subsequent violation twenty thousand dollars or twice the amount of gain derived therefrom whichever is greater.” (emphasis added)

In 2010, the New York State Senate passed a bill to legalize MMA and it was approved by two committees of the Assembly but was not brought up for a general vote. A single individual – Bob Reilly, a Democratic state assemblyman from Clifton Park, NY – sent a letter signed by 48 members of the 150-seat Assembly to Sheldon Silver, the speaker, requesting that MMA not be included in the budget. And it was not.

“We shouldn’t be legalizing something that is causing concussions,” said Mr. Reilly in a recent NY Times article, “[K]eeping M.M.A. out of New York protects state residents from being exposed to its violence.” But with MMA now available simply by turning on any television set in America, this seems disingenuous at best. And if concussions are the issue, then there are any number of sports he should be zealously outlawing.

In the end, Mr. Reilly concedes that, “[t]he state would have to pay to regulate it…[b]ut no matter what the finances are, I don’t approve of it.” (Id.)(emphasis added).

In other words, regardless of how it may or may not help the economy, or the fact that it’s legal in the vast majority of the US, he simply doesn’t approve of it. And because of that, it was never even put to a vote.

Suppose, however, that “it” is gay marriage? Or mixed-marriage? Or women’s suffrage?

One man’s perception of a situation, is not the situation itself.

One man should not be able to hold up the needs and desire of the many.

While we are aware of – and fully support – the UFC’s recently lawsuit against NYS, MMAinNYS feels that no one wants the courts to have to legislate things. Not even the courts. It’s up to the legislature to determine what is right for it’s people.

Let it come to a vote, Speaker Silver. That is all we ask and the purpose that we have representative government in the first instance.

Kickboxing is legal, Tae Kwon Do is legal, Judo is legal, wrestling is legal. Combine them and you are breaking the law.

This is unfair and illogical. Let’s join the rest of America already, Mr. Reilly and Speaker Silver.

It’s really about time.

 – Logan Lo, Esq.

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Three things you can do right now to help change things:

1. Sign our petition
2. Write your district’s State Assemblyman and demand a vote; to find out who he or she is, simply click here and type in your address. You may use our petition as the basis of your letter if you wish.
3. Write your district’s State Senator and demand a vote; to find out who he or she is, simply click here and type in your address. Again, you may use our petition as the basis of your letter if you wish.

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