New York State Assembly unanimously voted 113 to 25 on Tuesday to finally legalize mixed martial arts (MMA) in the “Empire State” (read all about it here).
However, several members against the sport did their best to keep the ban intact.
In what was truly a comedic and head-scratching speech, Assembly member Daniel O’Donnell — who is openly gay and brother to comedian Rosie O’Donnell — tried his best to sway voters against the regulation of MMA in “The Big Apple” using several homosexual references, while comparing the sport to “gay porn with a different ending.”
Here’s a small snippet of his ludicrous comparisons:
“You have two nearly naked, hot men, rolling around on top of one another trying to dominate each other. And in case you didn’t know, that’s gay porn with a different ending.”
If you thought his statements were ridiculous, you’re not alone, as several prominent members of the MMA community such as Chris Weidman and Lorenzo Fertitta responded to the statements.
“Some of the things they were saying were so ridiculous that I was actually happy and embarrassed for them for even bringing it up,” Weidman said during a conference call (via MMA Fighting).
“First of all, that comment by O’Donnell was absolutely ridiculous,” Fertitta said. “And no, that is absolutely — we have no knowledge of anything like that. We invested in the sport, no different than we have done in the last 15, 16 years. It’s unfortunately part of the process.”
In the end, O’Donnell’s efforts — as well as others who compared MMA to slavery and tied it to domestic abuse and child molestation — proved fruitless, as the bill was finally approved pending Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature.