After years of false starts and late stoppages, the New York Legislature may be on the verge of passing a law that would legalize mixed martial arts in the Empire State.
According to a report published Monday evening by Michael Gormley of Newsday, the New York State Assembly has introduced and amended a legalization bill that closely mirrors a similar version currently in the Senate.
MMA proponents are currently working to muster enough votes to pass the bill before the legislative session ends Wednesday.
“We’re getting much more optimistic,” said State Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle (D), a lead sponsor of the bill, according to the report.
New York is the only remaining state in which professional MMA is illegal. Although the New York State Senate has passed a legalization measure for several years, efforts were always blocked in the Assembly, thanks in large part to former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D).
But MMA fans and promoters saw a silver lining in February, when Silver was arrested on corruption charges and Democrat Carl Heastie, a previous MMA supporter, replaced him. In the spring, UFC officials, including UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, visited lawmakers and did interviews to push for legalization.
However, a quick bill passage proved elusive. Now Morelle and Senator Joseph Griffo (R) are spearheading a late push to make the bill more palatable to its detractors. According to TheMMAJournalist.com’s Jim Genia, who has closely tracked the legalization drama, some of the changes include requiring mandatory MRIs for fighters who have suffered brain trauma and MMA fighters or promoters to foot the bill for brain scans (boxers in New York have this tab picked up by the state). The state also requires a $1 million insurance policy to cover medical costs for fighters with life-threatening brain injuries sustained during a fight.
Here’s the most recent update on the NY MMA bill: *emoticon of dinosaur scoring from three-point line as a pumpkin explodes*
— jim genia (@jim_genia) June 16, 2015
Though there is still some final wheeling and dealing to be done before supporters can celebrate, a passage appears closer than it ever has before.
“The UFC is strongly supportive of Assemblyman Morelle‘s and Senator Griffo‘s efforts,” said UFC spokesman Steven Greenberg, according to the Newsday report. “And we hope this is the year New York joins 49 other states.”
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