Did MMA in New York become a reality today?

BREAKING: Huge Breakthrough for Professional MMA in New York


Posted by Chris Leslie on Feb 13, 2013 at 5:08 pm ET


Huge news in the MMA world as it appears that a lawsuit brought by
the UFC will lead to sport being allowed in the Empire State. The UFC
had brought a lawsuit against the state looking for the legalization of
MMA and today a judge ruled that the matter should be settled out of
court after both sides agreed that a loophole could be used to allow for third-party sanctioning in the state.
Rebellion MMA’s Managing Editor Jim Genia will have more on the story
tonight as MMA in New York has seen a major breakthrough today in the
courts.

Tweeted Genia:




http://mmafrenzy.com/32706/breaking-huge-breakthrough-for-professional-mma-in-ny/

Potentially means the UFC or another athletic commission can commission the fights.

GDPofDRC wrote:

Potentially means the UFC or another athletic commission can commission the fights.

Doesn't New Jersey already have a commission ready to go?

http://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-ceo-on-hand-as-new-york-senate-committee-again-approves-mma-bill


UFC CEO On Hand as New York Senate Committee Again Approves MMA Bill





Posted on March 1, 2013 by Press Release
Lorenzo Fertitta, the Ultimate Fighting Championship Chairman &
CEO, on Thursday thanked the members of the New York State Senate
Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation for
overwhelmingly – 11 to 3 – approving S.2755, which would authorize the
New York State Athletic Commission to add Mixed Martial Arts to the list
of contact sports that may hold matches and exhibitions in New York.
“New York State’s time has come. We are confident that 2013 is the
year that the Empire State joins 48 other states in legalizing MMA,”
Fertitta said. “I want to thank Senator Griffo and the other cosponsors
of the legislation for their leadership and Senator Little and the
other members of the committee for their support.

“On behalf of the millions of New York State UFC and MMA fans, I’m
hoping that this year, finally, the Assembly will join the Senate in
supporting this legislation to bring revenues to the state and to local
governments across the state, produce desperately needed jobs, and allow
New Yorkers to see UFC and professional MMA events live in their own
communities,” Fertitta said. “As the UFC commemorates its 20th
anniversary this year, we would love to celebrate with the most exciting
fight card in our history at Madison Square Garden this fall. Then we
want to hit venues from Buffalo to Utica to Long Island.”
S.2755 is sponsored by Senator Griffo (R-Utica), along with eight
cosponsors – Republicans and Democrats. The bill passed the Senate in
both 2012 and 2011.

“I know the Senate will again pass the bill this year and I am
hopeful that with the leadership of Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle
it will finally become law this year,” Sen. Griffo said. “The
legislation enjoys widespread, bipartisan support from upstate and
downstate members in both houses. Legalizing MMA in New York will means
jobs and increased revenue. It will mean UFC, as well as other MMA
promoters, will hold matches here. It means New York fans will no
longer have to travel to New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and
other states but will be able to see live professional MMA in their
local arenas.”

“Once New York legalizes and regulates MMA, outstanding UFC fighters
like light heavyweight champion Jon Jones – born in Rochester, raised in
Endicott and living in Ithaca – and middleweight contender Chris
Weidman – a proud Long Islander and Hofstra graduate – will be able to
fight in front of their hometown fans. And scores of other UFC
fighters, including Olympic medalist and bantamweight champion Ronda
Rousey, will finally be able to show off their skills for their New York
fans live and in person,” Fertitta said.

I keep reading on the forums about Bones vs. Silva being the planned main event for a NYC card.

Ali* wrote:

I keep reading on the forums about Bones vs. Silva being the planned main event for a NYC card.

Hendo vs Vitor as the co-main event. Melvin vs Wand, Hunt vs Fedor...10 million buys.

GDPofDRC wrote:

Potentially means the UFC or another athletic commission can commission the fights.

Before anyone goes crazy about this, it still has a long way to go before it becomes legal and actually happens.

•The Third-Party Sanctioning Organizations – When the law was written banning combative sports, exceptions were made for events sanctioned by organizations such as the U.S. Judo Association, Karate International, the International Kenpo Association, and others. All told, there are a dozen organizations listed in the statute, although the passage of time has seen more than a few of them become defunct or merge with other entities. Would any of them sanction pro MMA in New York? "We would never sanction a UFC event," a representative of the U.S Tae Kwon Do Union told me over the phone. "We sanction no events other than karate tournaments," said a rep of the North American Sport Karate Association. But there are those on the list who would do it – some of them with experience overseeing MMA in other states, some of them with no real sanctioning experience to speak of for the last decade. And those organizations have already been contacted by the UFC and Bellator about the possibility of making something happen in New York. This presents a great opportunity for these organizations to make a lot of money. After all, how much do think Zuffa would pay the XYZ Fight Sanctioning Association to help make their November Madison Square Garden event a reality? However, one group not happy with the idea of third-party sanctioning is…

•The Association of Boxing Commissions – In late January, the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) sent a letter to Governor Cuomo taking him and the New York State Athletic Commission to task for allowing unregulated amateur MMA and third-party-regulated pro kickboxing events to go on. Why would this bother a group of athletic commission reps from other states? Because medical screening and record keeping at these kinds of events in New York fail to meet the standards set in the rest of the country, and that's a problem that crosses state lines. For example, if a pre-fight blood test in New Jersey reveals a potential competitor has Hepatitis, what's to stop that fighter from getting into the ring in New York, where pre-fight blood tests are an iffy proposition? And what if someone gets knocked out in an amateur MMA show in New York but a week later tries to step into the cage in Pennsylvania? According to the ABC, New York State isn't doing enough, and it's creating a dangerous situation – a situation that will only get worse if third-party sanctioning opens up the floodgates and makes New York a hotbed of under-regulated fighting. Unless the law is changed, is there nothing to be done about it? Well, there is, actually…

•The New York State Athletic Commission – Under the law, the athletic commission has no authority when it comes to regulating amateur or pro MMA, which means if the UFC or Bellator or anyone does a show in New York utilizing third-party sanctioning, the folks at the NYSAC are going to be watching the event from the comfort of their own homes. But the same statute that listed those dozen "exempt" organizations also had a provision in there saying that the commission could put in place procedures that would add sanctioning bodies to the list or remove them, and sources say they're drafting and implementing those procedures right now. What does this mean, exactly? It doesn't mean anything for amateur MMA, but it does mean that if it came to it, the NYSAC could try to impede pro shows from happening by knocking the offending sanctioning body off the list. In that scenario, there'd most certainly be another court battle. Of course, it's clear the UFC isn't afraid to lock legal horns with the state, and they've got the money to afford the fight.

Here is the full article if you guys wanna read it.

The MMA In New York 2013 Scorecard
http://www.fightline.com/fl/news/2013/0227/553718/mma-new-york-scorecard/index.shtml

Melvin vs Wand lol, that would be awesome, great news though, may get Matt Serra out of hiding, start training fat boy.