(Not) Coming to America: Massachusetts State Law Threatening to Derail ‘UFC on FOX Sports 1:1? [UPDATED]

Not to give any of you Massachusetts-based Taters a full-blown, Buster Bluth panic attack, but UFC on FOX Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen is currently facing some legal issues that could throw a wrench into the plans of several foreign fighters hoping to compete on the Boston card in August, including headliner Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

The Boston Herald first passed along word of a potential issue, which relates to temporary Social Security numbers that must be attained by foreign-born fighters before they are allowed to compete in Massachusetts:

“This law has been in existence since we legalized mixed martial arts in the commonwealth of Mass­achusetts,” said Terrell Harris, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, which regulates prize fighting.

“It’s been brought to the attention of the UFC more than a few times since we legalized the fighting here. But they’ve chosen basically to ignore the law and hope that they could skirt it somehow,” Harris said. 

When they bring in fighters that are not American citizens, there are exceptions that allow them to obtain a Social Security number,” Harris said.

“The Social Security Administration will issue a temporary work visa but it’s up to them to do their due diligence…the law is the law. The law doesn’t allow us to make exceptions.”

“Indeed it does not.” – Chad Johnson. “Occasionally it does.” – Lindsay Lohan

Not to give any of you Massachusetts-based Taters a full-blown, Buster Bluth panic attack, but UFC on FOX Sports 1: Shogun vs. Sonnen is currently facing some legal issues that could throw a wrench into the plans of several foreign fighters hoping to compete on the Boston card in August, including headliner Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

The Boston Herald first passed along word of a potential issue, which relates to temporary Social Security numbers that must be attained by foreign-born fighters before they are allowed to compete in Massachusetts:

“This law has been in existence since we legalized mixed martial arts in the commonwealth of Mass­achusetts,” said Terrell Harris, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, which regulates prize fighting.

“It’s been brought to the attention of the UFC more than a few times since we legalized the fighting here. But they’ve chosen basically to ignore the law and hope that they could skirt it somehow,” Harris said. 

When they bring in fighters that are not American citizens, there are exceptions that allow them to obtain a Social Security number,” Harris said.

“The Social Security Administration will issue a temporary work visa but it’s up to them to do their due diligence…the law is the law. The law doesn’t allow us to make exceptions.”

“Indeed it does not.” – Chad Johnson. “Occasionally it does.” – Lindsay Lohan

The Herald article also states that applying for said SS numbers requires a ten day grace period, but thankfully…

[UPDATE]

Suckerpunch managing partner Shu Hirata has shed some light on the issue (via Hirata’s twitter):

Shu Hirata ?@ShuHirata
if u don’t live in US then u can no longer get ss #. Only tax ID # and u have to send in actual passport to IRS to get this.

Shu Hirata ?@ShuHirata 
fill out form W7 and send in with passport, then u can get tax ID # in like a month so for Boston UFC show still got time.

Shu Hirata ?@ShuHirata
I do tax filing for all my foreign clients so I am an expert in this topic :) But sending in passport makes everyone nervous.

According to other reports, the UFC is already in the process of addressing these legals snags. So crisis averted for now, we guess…

–J. Jones