It’s always good to have a Plan B. Nowhere does that philosophy make more sense than when you’re pinning your future hopes to politicians and cage fighters.
So it’s a wise move by the UFC to plan a card in late December for the city of Calgary. You know, just in case this whole push to legalize MMA in New York and hold that triumphant first event at Madison Square Garden somehow, some way fail to materialize.
UFC President Dana White revealed the contingency plan while speaking to reporters Saturday night after UFC 186 in Montreal, according to a report from Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie.
“People in Calgary should be pulling for no New York, and the rest of the world should be pulling for New York,” White said, according to the report. “Calgary is what I’m focused on. I owe Calgary a fight. What’s determining whether we go to Calgary or not right now is what happens in New York.”
@danawhite @lorenzofertitta A return to Calgary is long over due after what happened at 149! Hopefully it will be worth the wait! #yyc #ufc
— DJNS (@dj2mex) April 26, 2015
The last UFC event to take place in Calgary, UFC 149 in July 2012, was decimated by fighter injuries. The main event ultimately pitted Renan Barao against Urijah Faber for the interim bantamweight belt. The co-main event featured middleweights Tim Boetsch and Hector Lombard. Among those who were removed from the card because of injuries were UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, Erik Koch, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Thiago Silva and Thiago Alves.
The UFC is currently embroiled in legal and legislative efforts to legalize pro MMA in New York. New York is the only state in the USA where professional MMA remains illegal.
Last week, the company retained former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement to help appeal a recent court decision to reject the UFC’s bid to challenge the legality of the ban currently in place.
Meanwhile, MMA proponents are cautiously optimistic that, after years of false hope and late failures, a new law can be created from scratch. A longtime opponent of legal MMA, Sheldon Silver, was recently arrested on corruption charges, and his replacement, new Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie, is an outspoken supporter of MMA and the financial benefits it could bring to the state.
Still, there is no sense of how the full legislature in New York might vote. Their current session ends in June, and officials are hoping to reach a decision before lawmakers take their summer recess.
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