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New York Tells UFC to Go F*ck Themselves, Basically

("This one. Right up your ass.")
Despite a high-profile appearance at Madison Square Garden last month in which the UFC announced its intentions to bring MMA to New York State — as well as a reported $75,000 in palm-grease to An…

("This one. Right up your ass.")

Despite a high-profile appearance at Madison Square Garden last month in which the UFC announced its intentions to bring MMA to New York State — as well as a reported $75,000 in palm-grease to Andrew Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign — MMA Payout broke the news last night that Governor Cuomo neglected to include a provision in the state’s 2011-2012 budget that would sanction MMA in New York. In fact, Cuomo’s Executive Budget actually proposes eliminating the chairperson of the state athletic commission altogether. So not only is the Governor not backing MMA as Zuffa had hoped, he doesn’t seem to have a high opinion of combat sports in general.

At this point, the MMA ban in New York can still be lifted through the more traditional route of a legislative bill — of which there are currently two in the assembly and one in the senate, all awaiting review — but we saw how well that worked last time. Making MMA part of the state budget was supposed to be the easy way in, and it just ain’t happening. If I were Dana White, I’d be furious right now. Money has been donated. Big press conferences have been held. And now, the current timetable of MMA regulation in New York is: Who freakin’ knows?

Now That It’s Legal, What’s the Next Step in MMA Sanctioning in Ontario?

(When will Ontario see its first event?)

When the Ontario government announced a little over a week ago that it had decided to sanction mixed martial arts in the Canadian province, the news came as a very welcome surprise to pretty much all of t…

(When will Ontario see its first event?)

When the Ontario government announced a little over a week ago that it had decided to sanction mixed martial arts in the Canadian province, the news came as a very welcome surprise to pretty much all of the issue’s stakeholders.

It wasn’t the fact that the province’s Liberal majority government finally decided that MMA was on par safety-wise and skill-wise with other sports that are legally contested in Ontario, making it a no-brainer to legalize that threw so many people off; it was the fact that the announcement came without much warning or fanfare.

The then-Minister of Consumer Services (she was shuffled to a different cabinet position four days after the announcement) Sophia Aggelonitis tweeted the news early on the morning of Saturday, August 14. Within an hour of sending out her brief message, that simply stated “Ontario will move to allow mixed martial arts,” Aggelonitis’ office posted a press release regarding the decision pointing to “competitor safety and boosting local economies” as its main reasons behind its landmark decision.

MMA Loses Another Battle in New York; State Assembly Pulls Sport From Budget Bill

(So the UFC is too brutal for New York, but children are allowed to see "Mamma Mia"? Explain that one to me. / Photo courtesy of graciemag.com.)
NYDailyNews.com breaks the unfortunate turn of events:
ALBANY – The push to legalize ultimate …

(So the UFC is too brutal for New York, but children are allowed to see "Mamma Mia"? Explain that one to me. / Photo courtesy of graciemag.com.)

NYDailyNews.com breaks the unfortunate turn of events:

ALBANY – The push to legalize ultimate fighting in New York is on the ropes. Assembly Democrats stripped approval for the wildly popular violent sport from a budget bill that lawmakers will take up as soon as today.

Gov. Paterson sought to legalize mixed martial arts, saying fights could pull in more than $2 million in tax revenue for the cash-strapped state.

"The majority of voices who spoke about this issue in our conference were not supportive of approving it as part of the budget," said Assemblyman Steven Englebright (D-L.I.), a fight fan. Englebright said it’s a long shot the Assembly will revisit the issue. The state Senate has already approved the sport.

New York MMA Bill S 2165-B Passed Another Hurdle Today

("All those for MMA in New York State, say ‘Aye’. All those against, say ‘duh’.")
New York’s MMA bill S 2165 made it over another major hurdle today by passing a third senate reading and vote and being referred to ways and means.
If this soun…

("All those for MMA in New York State, say ‘Aye’. All those against, say ‘duh’.")

New York’s MMA bill S 2165 made it over another major hurdle today by passing a third senate reading and vote and being referred to ways and means.

If this sounds familiar, its because the parallel bill, A 2009-C was recently passed by the Committee of Parks, Tourism and Sports Development onto the Codes Committee for a June 14 vote, where it was passed on to ways and means as well.