Tag: Bob Reilly

New York Senate Votes 42-18 in Favor of Sanctioning Mixed Martial Arts; State Assembly Vote is Now Last Hurdle to Legalization


(“Reach into my back pocket there and take out that envelope marked, ‘Housewarming gift for Senator Robach.'”)

State senators voted 42-18 today in favor of passing a bill that could lead to mixed martial arts being  sanctioned in New York. The bill will now go to the New York State Assembly where a final vote on the matter will be cast by members of the group that includes opposition stalwart Bob Reilly.


(“Reach into my back pocket there and take out that envelope marked, ‘Housewarming gift for Senator Robach.’”)

State senators voted 42-18 today in favor of passing a bill that could lead to mixed martial arts being  sanctioned in New York. The bill will now go to the New York State Assembly where a final vote on the matter will be cast by members of the group that includes opposition stalwart Bob Reilly.

To put things in perspective, last year’s New York Senate vote on the same themed bill passed with a vote of 32-26. Two other legalization bills have made it to various levels of state legislature before stalling for various reasons. The one last year was brushed aside by senate Democrats due to “budget concerns.”

The overwhelming majority of those in favor of the bill who spoke at today’s debate pointed to the increased safety measures that have been implemented since the introduction of the then-no-holds-barred sport more than 15 years ago, as well as the economic boost events will give the local economy across the state as the reasons why they supported the bill.

No date has been set for the Assembly vote, but even if it passes, a 90-day waiting period would need to be observed before an event could be held in the state, which means that it’s unlikely New Yorkers will be able to attend a show at home before the end of the year. Still, there is hope that we could see another of the few remaining holdout states approve the sport before 2011.

Bob Reilly Questions Motives Behind Zuffa’s Accident Insurance

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsMixed martial arts’ most vocal critic in New York acknowledges that Zuffa’s new accident insurance for its fighters is a positive move but won’t go as far as saying it will help get MMA legalized in the Empire …

Filed under: , ,

Mixed martial arts’ most vocal critic in New York acknowledges that Zuffa’s new accident insurance for its fighters is a positive move but won’t go as far as saying it will help get MMA legalized in the Empire State.

MMA Fighting contacted Assemblyman Bob Reilly to discuss whether Zuffa’s new insurance policy could help pave the way for the legalization of MMA in New York, and while he at first admitted to not hearing the news, he offered — for perhaps the first time — a compliment to the MMA promoters.

“I certainly wouldn’t disparage that,” Reilly said. “I think that’s a good thing.”

The praise ended there, though, as Reilly quickly questioned the motives behind the decision.

Union Memo Reveals Its Arguments Against MMA In New York

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsAt the UFC 129 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White stated that the real reason MMA had yet to be legalized in New York State was due to a long-standing battle between Station Casinos, which is…

Filed under: , ,

At the UFC 129 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White stated that the real reason MMA had yet to be legalized in New York State was due to a long-standing battle between Station Casinos, which is owned by UFC co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, and a Nevada-based union.

“It has nothing to do with mixed martial arts the reason that we’re not in New York,” White said. “It has to do with the Culinary Union. The Culinary Union is spending millions of dollars of all these people who pay dues to keep us out of there because my partners, the Fertitta brothers, are the largest non-union gaming company in the country. So these union idiots, all these people work in the Culinary Union, pay their money towards dues, this is what all their money’s being spent towards. Fighting the UFC from coming there and bringing money into the state of New York.”

Culinary Union Local 226, which consists of over 60,000 members working in the food service industry in Nevada, has been trying unsuccessfully for approximately 15 years to unionize almost 14,000 workers at the 18 hotel-casinos operated by Station Casinos.

Bob Reilly’s Still An Ignorant Jackass

("Should I use the golf analogy or the fishing analogy this time?")
New York State Assemblyman Bob Reilly made an appearance on Larry Pepe’s ProMMA Now radio show yesterday and the adamant MMA opposer finally gave a glimpse into the cause of …


("Should I use the golf analogy or the fishing analogy this time?")

New York State Assemblyman Bob Reilly made an appearance on Larry Pepe’s ProMMA Now radio show yesterday and the adamant MMA opposer finally gave a glimpse into the cause of his deep-rooted hatred of the sport.

It turns out the ancient stammering curmudgeon is a boxing fan from way back and he’s upset that MMA is eclipsing boxing in popularity.

Here’s what he had to say about his love of the sweet science (as transcribed by FightOpinion): 

"I grew up being a boxing fan, alright? Muhammad Ali… in fact I go back to Rocky Marciano, but all of our great fighters…and I enjoyed it and thought it was a great sport, but today I don’t think professional boxing, as opposed to amateur boxing, professional boxing I don’t think would be legalized in many states today because of the danger to the fighters. So, I just dismiss that argument of ’safer than boxing.’ One, I don’t, you know, boxing has a much longer history, there are many more boxing matches than there are MMA matches. And it’s something, as I say and this is not entirely facetious, more people are killed fishing than in boxing, so let’s eliminate fishing. Well, no. What we do is we put in safety measures. For example, in New York state, we have rules where in certain boats you have to wear a life preserver.”

And in MMA we have stringent medical testing requirements, padded gloves, rules, ringside physicians, referees, athletic commissions and the options to tap out or to throw in the towel when a corner feels a fighter has had enough. What more do we need to do? This close-minded prick wouldn’t know a rational argument if it bit him in his ignorant, wrinkled, jaundiced ass.

Seriously. This is one of the law-making representatives of New York?

read more

Bob Reilly’s Opponent for New York State Assembly Close to Conceding Defeat as Mail-In Ballots are Tallied Today

(Video courtesy WNYT-NBC New York) The vote gap between staunch MMA opponent New York Democrat Assemblyman Bob Reilly and his opponent Jennifer Whalen is widening as State officials total the absentee ballots from last week’s midterm election toda…

(Video courtesy WNYT-NBC New York)

The vote gap between staunch MMA opponent New York Democrat Assemblyman Bob Reilly and his opponent Jennifer Whalen is widening as State officials total the absentee ballots from last week’s midterm election today.

According to a TimesUnion.com report, with 44 of the 60 voting districts counted today Reilly’s lead has increased by 91 votes to 522 over his Republican opponent.

Although she hasn’t completely given up hope, Whalen doesn’t seem optimistic that she can recover from such a large hole with only 16 districts left to count.

"I don’t know if I can make up the ground. I’m not going to give up until everything is opened and counted," she said. "I can’t be happier with the fact I’m a newcomer and I almost unseated an incumbent."

Hopefuly Zuffa’s campaign donations to newly-elected Governor Andrew Cuomo weren’t as big of a waste of money as Tito Ortiz’s latest obscene UFC deal.

Election Results From Supporters and Opponents of MMA

Filed under: Fighting, NewsWith America moving on to the hangover phase of the election season, it makes some sense to take a look at the results of the men and women running for office who have had or could have some impact on the sanctioning of mixed…

Filed under: ,

With America moving on to the hangover phase of the election season, it makes some sense to take a look at the results of the men and women running for office who have had or could have some impact on the sanctioning of mixed martial arts around the country.

While New York assemblyman Bob Reilly seems to be the politician most fans connect with MMA for his vocal opposition of the sport, there are several others who have influential voices in the matter.

Below is a look at how they did.