Suffice it to say, if you aren’t aware of all the downright despicable practices The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 has pulled over the years in regards to the UFC and MMA in general, you’ve probably been living in the dark. Operating under a thinly-veiled “concern” for the conduct of UFC fighters and a need to protect our children from the potty mouth of Dana White, the CU — often backed by one or more anti-women’s violence groups — has been the driving force behind the anti-MMA movement in New York. The fact that their continuous harassment of the UFC and laughable (not to mention libelous) smear campaigns have only hurt the economy of the state they are trying to “protect” is an irony that has apparently been lost on them.
In either case, it appears that the UFC has grown tired of seeing so many websites backed by the CU — websites that, like the CU itself, operate under a false front — popping up over the years, and has launched their own counter-website, TheTruthAboutCulinary226.com. The website aims to both expose the Culinary Union for the dissembling moralists that they truly are in addition to uncovering just how poorly the organization is managing its own member’s funds:
The Culinary Union has targeted Station Casinos because the company refuses to agree to a “card check” process whereby the Culinary Union may become the representative of its employees without being elected as such through a secret ballot election. Rather than simply following the secret ballot election process that U.S. federal law provides, the Culinary Union’s management has instead waged a dishonest campaign to pressure Station Casinos to capitulate to its demands. As part of that campaign, the Culinary Union has been engaging in harassment tactics that target all of the business interests of the Fertittas, including Station Casinos and the UFC.
The Culinary Union has criticized Zuffa for making political contributions of $231,650 in 2012. However, in 2012, UNITE HERE itself spent almost 5 ½ times more than Zuffa on cash disbursements for political activities and lobbying, totaling $1,252,676.Additionally, UNITE HERE paid a total of $1,158,598 to “consultants” in 2011.
Suffice it to say, if you aren’t aware of all the downright despicable practices The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 has pulled over the years in regards to the UFC and MMA in general, you’ve probably been living in the dark. Operating under a thinly-veiled “concern” for the conduct of UFC fighters and a need to protect our children from the potty mouth of Dana White, the CU — often backed by one or more anti-women’s violence groups — has been the driving force behind the anti-MMA movement in New York. The fact that their continuous harassment of the UFC and laughable (not to mention libelous) smear campaigns have only hurt the economy of the state they are trying to “protect” is an irony that has apparently been lost on them.
In either case, it appears that the UFC has grown tired of seeing so many websites backed by the CU — websites that, like the CU itself, operate under a false front — popping up over the years, and has launched their own counter-website, TheTruthAboutCulinary226.com. The website aims to both expose the Culinary Union for the dissembling moralists that they truly are in addition to uncovering just how poorly the organization is managing its own member’s funds:
The Culinary Union has targeted Station Casinos because the company refuses to agree to a “card check” process whereby the Culinary Union may become the representative of its employees without being elected as such through a secret ballot election. Rather than simply following the secret ballot election process that U.S. federal law provides, the Culinary Union’s management has instead waged a dishonest campaign to pressure Station Casinos to capitulate to its demands. As part of that campaign, the Culinary Union has been engaging in harassment tactics that target all of the business interests of the Fertittas, including Station Casinos and the UFC.
The Culinary Union has criticized Zuffa for making political contributions of $231,650 in 2012. However, in 2012, UNITE HERE itself spent almost 5 ½ times more than Zuffa on cash disbursements for political activities and lobbying, totaling $1,252,676.Additionally, UNITE HERE paid a total of $1,158,598 to “consultants” in 2011.
TheTruthAboutCulinary226 also cites several lawsuits and complaints that have been filed against local unions including 226 over the years, and wouldn’t you know it, the allegations aimed at many of the CU’s members are far more reprehensible and corrupt than anything they’ve been able to dig up on the UFC thus far. Hypocrisy at it’s finest, Nation. A few examples:
– On October 22, 1992, a Complaint was filed with the United States government against HERE Local 100 and former officers of the local. The Complaint alleged that the local was influenced and controlled by members of organized crime. On October 23, 1992, a Consent Decree was filed, pursuant to which a monitor was appointed to investigate wrongdoing and review the international union trustee’s actions.The trusteeship concluded on August 23, 1994.
– HERE International Union was reported to have “a documented relationship with the Chicago “Outfit” of La Cosa Nostra at the international level, and subject to the influence of the Gambino, Colombo, and Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra families at the local level” in the President’s Commission on Organized Crime presented to President Ronald Reagan in 1986 (emphasis included in original).
– In that same report, HEREIU Local 54, located in Atlantic City, was described as “a classic case study in organized crime and labor racketeering. Several of the officers of this union and its predecessor unions boast convictions for murder, arson, extortion, drugs, bribes, kickbacks, and racketeering…”
– In 2010, a complaint was filed against Local 226 charging the union with using coercive and intimidating tactics with union members at early voting sites around the Las Vegas valley.
You can read up on the history of the Culinary Unions corrupt tactics, the mismanagement of their own funds, and the UFC’s continuous community efforts here.
In what was supposed to be a day of oral arguments pertaining to the State Attorney General’s most recent motion to dismiss, attorney John M. Schwartz — representing the Attorney General’s office — acknowledged unequivocally that the law prohibiting pro MMA did not apply to amateur versions of the sport, and that as per the statute, a pre-approved third-party sanctioning body could oversee MMA events in the state. The admission of the latter prompted the counsel representing Zuffa’s interests to say that if that were truly the case, then there’d be no further need to pursue the lawsuit – which in turn prompted the presiding Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S District Court of the Southern District of New York to push both sides to immediately settle…
Notwithstanding whether a settlement is reached, the door is now open for Zuffa — or any other MMA promotion — to circumvent the ban by utilizing one of the pre-approved sanctioning bodies enumerated in the statute. Those sanctioning bodies include the World Karate Association (since renamed the World Kickboxing Association, a.k.a. the “WKA”), the Professional Karate Association and the U.S. Judo Association, among others…
In what was supposed to be a day of oral arguments pertaining to the State Attorney General’s most recent motion to dismiss, attorney John M. Schwartz — representing the Attorney General’s office — acknowledged unequivocally that the law prohibiting pro MMA did not apply to amateur versions of the sport, and that as per the statute, a pre-approved third-party sanctioning body could oversee MMA events in the state. The admission of the latter prompted the counsel representing Zuffa’s interests to say that if that were truly the case, then there’d be no further need to pursue the lawsuit – which in turn prompted the presiding Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S District Court of the Southern District of New York to push both sides to immediately settle…
Notwithstanding whether a settlement is reached, the door is now open for Zuffa — or any other MMA promotion — to circumvent the ban by utilizing one of the pre-approved sanctioning bodies enumerated in the statute. Those sanctioning bodies include the World Karate Association (since renamed the World Kickboxing Association, a.k.a. the “WKA”), the Professional Karate Association and the U.S. Judo Association, among others…
Under the 1997 law [banning professional MMA in New York] and by the Attorney General’s own admission, sanctioning by a third-party organization is a viable way around the ban. In addition, as long as the law remains on the books, the New York State Athletic Commission has no regulatory authority over MMA and would therefore have no oversight over such events.
“We’ll take it,” said UFC in-house counsel Timothy Bellamy, who was present at today’s proceedings. “We’d rather have the state lift the ban and we go that route first, but we’ll know in the next two months if that’s going to happen.” If it doesn’t, said Bellamy, then the UFC would use the third-party-sanctioning option.
The UFC held a show in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1995, and all was well and good. That is, until New York banned professional mixed martial arts in 1997 on the grounds that it was “human cockfighting” and fights to the death suck. Or something like that. But the passage of time has seen the sport evolve, and now MMA is sanctioned almost everywhere in the country — everywhere but New York.
So last year Zuffa filed a lawsuit against the state alleging that the ban violated all sorts of Constitutional rights, and while the suit is currently mired in the muck of the judicial process, and efforts to change the law via the legislature get bogged down year after maddening year, something has changed. Depending on where you live in the state, it’s now possible to take in an MMA event live. There are shows sprouting up on the sovereign territory of Indian Reservations, and amateur MMA competitions are kicking off in ice skating rinks and in armories — all of them happening pretty much unmolested by an athletic commission that went from “search and destroy” mode to laissez-faire in seemingly the blink of an eye. Which begs the question: What the heck is going on in New York?
The short answer is that there’s a lot going in New York. The long answer, however, involves an athletic commission finally admitting that amateur MMA is legal, fights on Indian Land, and an underground fight scene that shows no signs of slowing down.
(A nice little Sunday at the Underground Combat League. / All photos courtesy of the author.)
The UFC held a show in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1995, and all was well and good. That is, until New York banned professional mixed martial arts in 1997 on the grounds that it was “human cockfighting” and fights to the death suck. Or something like that. But the passage of time has seen the sport evolve, and now MMA is sanctioned almost everywhere in the country — everywhere but New York.
So last year Zuffa filed a lawsuit against the state alleging that the ban violated all sorts of Constitutional rights, and while the suit is currently mired in the muck of the judicial process, and efforts to change the law via the legislature get bogged down year after maddening year, something has changed. Depending on where you live in the state, it’s now possible to take in an MMA event live. There are shows sprouting up on the sovereign territory of Indian Reservations, and amateur MMA competitions are kicking off in ice skating rinks and in armories — all of them happening pretty much unmolested by an athletic commission that went from “search and destroy” mode to laissez-faire in seemingly the blink of an eye. Which begs the question: What the heck is going on in New York?
The short answer is that there’s a lot going in New York. The long answer, however, involves an athletic commission finally admitting that amateur MMA is legal, fights on Indian Land, and an underground fight scene that shows no signs of slowing down.
The Word from Above
When Governor George Pataki and the State Legislature enacted the law that banned pro MMA, their ire was aimed squarely at the sport’s two biggest offenders — the UFC and Extreme Fighting (the UFC’s top competitor), both of whom were planning events in the Empire State at the time. But while the 1997 ban was effective in keeping those promotions out (and it even spelled doom for Extreme Fighting), no one in charge really cared about the MMA bouts that popped up here and there on kickboxing cards. Athletic commission officials even sat ringside as guests, watching newcomers like Matt Serra and Phil Baroni do their thing at events that took place in nightclubs on Long Island and hotel ballrooms in Manhattan. As long as the UFC was kept far away, it was all good in the ‘hood.
Things took a turn in 2003, when the athletic commission actively began to shut down anything and everything that involved dudes smashing each other — a move that drove most established promotions out of state, and fostered the growth of New York’s underground fight scene. Why the sudden about-face? Since commissioners are appointed, and they and their staff can come and go like the tide, the 2003 policy shift has always been attributed to the occasional changing of the guard. For the official word, CagePotato reached out to the athletic commission last week.
“The New York State Athletic Commission’s stance with respect to combative sports has remained consistent and has always complied with applicable statutes and regulations,” said NYSAC spokesman Edison Alban via email. “Prior enforcement actions taken by the NYSAC have related to events where prohibited activities, such as unsanctioned boxing and professional martial arts, have been featured.”
Sadly, that answer does nothing to address the amateur combative sporting events that were stamped out.
What of the amateur events that are happening throughout the state now? Thanks to Zuffa’s lawsuit, and the State’s subsequent Motion to Dismiss, it was finally acknowledged by one and all that the law banning pro MMA does nothing to prohibit the amateur version of the sport.
Said Alba: “The New York State Athletic Commission has no regulatory or legal authority over amateur events. The Commission defers to local authorities with respect to whether such events comply with local statutes and ordinances.”
Of course, it helps matters that the current athletic commission regime includes Chairwoman Melvina Lathan, who’s made no secret her appreciation of the sport. Given what the Zuffa case forced the State to admit, and the Commission’s change in posture, it’s no wonder that amateur events have flourished.
(One last question to the Commission, one that Cagepotato couldn’t help but asking: How soon until after the ban is lifted can we start seeing pro shows, like a UFC at Madison Square Garden or a Bellator at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn? “The Commission will not speculate on this,” said Alban.)
Fights on Indian Land
Ryan Ciotoli is sick of traveling. As head coach of the Bombsquad, an MMA team based out of the city of Cortland in Upstate New York, the former collegiate wrestler must trek with his fighters all over the Northeast just so they can compete professionally. To put it bluntly, driving back and forth to places like Maine and South Jersey, over and over again, stinks. But what other option do you have when your state refuses to sanction pro MMA events? For Ciotoli, thinking outside the box involves finding an Indian Reservation (of which New York has a few) willing to host MMA shows, and donning a promoter’s hat. After all, federally-recognized reservations are places where state laws don’t apply. Thus, Gladius Fights was born. Friday, September 22, will be the first event.
“It’s on Sovereign Territory,” said Ciotoli, who is credited with being one of UFC champ Jon Jones’ first coaches in the sport. “It’s going to be in Irving, New York, which is Seneca territory, and the Seneca athletic commission will be overseeing our show. They’ve done shows in the past — they’ve done the Raging Wolf shows, and a couple other smaller shows, so they have some experience. It’s important to us to host a show in New York because there are a lot of pro New York teams and New York fighters and amateur MMA fighters that are aspiring to be professionals. It’s a good home for those guys. Oftentimes we’re travelling to New Jersey, Atlantic City, Massachusetts. We just had a road trip to Maine, which is eight hours, so we’re travelling quite a bit. It’s just nice to have something in your own backyard.”
In terms of running a show, this isn’t Ciotoli’s first time at bat. “We’ve done some amateur shows,” he said. “We started up a league called Fortune Fight League. I think we just got sick of waiting for New York to pass the law to allow [pro] mixed martial arts in the State of New York. So we started looking for venues on that territory, and they just built a brand new facility called the Cattaraugus Sports Arena and it’s pretty modern and perfect for mixed martial arts.” He added: “We’ve done certain aspects of professional shows. I’ve done some matchmaking before…Obviously, we’ve managed a lot of fighters. We’ve just been around mixed martial arts for a long time, and I think we’ve got a pretty good understanding of the sport.”
“Our goal with Gladius Fights is to bring good fights to fans,” said Ciotoli. “Good local fights. You know, guys from New York, and give them the opportunity to fight in front of their fans. Many times, we’re going to other states, and we’re being booed. It’s hard to travel, it’s hard to be the ‘away team’ all the time. It’s just giving fighters a place to compete.”
Clearly, Ciotoli has pros on his team that need fights. But he has amateurs as well. Why not promote more amateur events? “You know, we’ve considered it, but there are so many shows right now that are scheduled — it’s a lot of competition. I know we’d do better than anyone else just because we’ve been involved in the sport the longest in Upstate New York. But it’s touchy, because they’re not using any commissions or sanctioning bodies, and we’ve been to a couple shows already and it’s a mess. It’s dangerous. If you don’t have the proper people in place to run an event, or the proper commission, it’s not good to host those types of events. I would probably stay away from it. Again, the Seneca commission is great. They’ve got a lot of experience, and they oversee the fights. You can’t ask for anything more. I don’t think we’d touch amateur MMA right now.” He added: “I kind of disagree with a lot of those amateur MMA shows. I mean, we’ve competed in a couple of them, and you’d be shocked. It looks like it did ten, fifteen years ago. It’s the Wild West up here.”
The Underground Scene
It’s the Wild West in New York City, too.
It’s Sunday afternoon at a secret location in the South Bronx, and Peter Storm — the man behind the Underground Combat League (UCL) — is running around with a Post-It scrawled with names. It’s the fight card, and as usual it’s an amorphous thing, so in gi pants and four-ounce MMA gloves (Storm’s is one of the names on the Post-It), he’s doing his best to make sure everyone who wants to fight gets one.
February will mark the ten-year anniversary of the UCL, and with over forty installments — held in always-changing locations within the Five Boroughs — it would be hard to label the illicit fighting organization as “just a bunch of dudes throwing down.” In fact, mixed in with the wannabes, thugs, and psychos who’ve stepped into the UCL ring, there have been quite a few legitimate MMA fighters, including licensed amateurs and pros from out of state. Former UFC champ Frankie Edgar even fought there, back in 2005.
Like Ciotoli, Storm chose not to wait for New York to start sanctioning the sport. Unlike Ciotoli, though, Storm saw the amateur loophole as an opportunity. How does he feel about the State now admitting that amateur shows are okay and the sudden explosion of promotions?
“Not too good, because at the end of the day there’s really no appreciation,” he said. “Everybody’s acting like they found the stipulation in the law themselves, and they’re not acknowledging what I’ve done.”
The fights begin. An ardent kung fu practitioner falls prey to a guillotine choke and taps out in about twenty seconds. He wants more, and gets back in there to face a Jeet Kune Do stylist from Harlem; this time he taps out to an armbar about two minutes in — an improvement, at least. Meanwhile, Storm fights a Muslim kickboxer, and after taking him down and delivering a series of headbutts (UCL fights are often vale tudo), he taps his foe with a kimura. The main event sees a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt named Chad go back and forth with a submission wrestler named Pedro. Pedro opens up a cut under Chad’s eye with a punch, and threatens with a perilously close guillotine attempt, but eventually he taps to Chad’s barrage of fists from above.
“The thing about the UCL that’s so marketable is the mystique of the UCL,” said Storm when asked if, in the new climate of acceptance, he’d consider ditching the “underground” aspect. “You always want to keep that mystique,” he said, unwilling to expose his organization to the light of day. “February will be ten years, and there’s nothing that’s really changed about a UCL show — we still do them underground, still word of mouth. I still have the same formula for producing shows, and I’m going to keep it until it gets sanctioned in New York.”
There are usually no doctors or EMTs at Storm’s shows, nor is there pre-fight medical screening. You just show up and fight. Once, an ambulance had to cart away someone who broke their leg, but other than that, the barebones “what you see is what you get” motif has worked like a charm. With no other options for New York-based aspiring fighters to compete locally, the UCL has long been the only MMA game in town.
So what will happen when New York finally starts sanctioning the sport? Will Storm head down to the athletic commission’s office and apply for a promoter’s license, and go legit once and for all? Said Storm without hesitation: “Absolutely.”
Until then, Storm and his UCL will keep keeping on, the lone MMA competition outlet in an area that’s been barren for almost a decade.
In a move that is sure to upset hundreds of thousands of dozens of people, the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, and specifically its Executive Director Joe Miller, recently issued the following statement to promoters statewide that has more or less banned MMA from the land of fried okra:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission will not be accepting applications for event permits for events scheduled after March 31, 2012. The Commission is faced with an out-of-state threat that, if successful, could greatly affect the Commission’s ability to provide for the public safety and for the health and safety of the athletes for future events throughout the state of Oklahoma. The Commission is currently trying to address legal and legislative efforts which have given us serious concerns about how we move forward with adequate oversight of Oklahoma’s boxing, mixed martial arts, and professional wrestling events. As you know, the primary focus of this agency is to make sure the athlete’s health, and safety is not compromised. We take this charge very seriously. The Commission and I will be working diligently to address these issues and develop a plan of action to return to a normal course of business.
Now why, pray tell, do you think Oklahoma would do this to us? Here’s a hint: Dana M.F. White.
Join us after the jump for more on this story as well as a great piece of Pro-NY MMA propaganda.
(We hear you there, bro.)
In a move that is sure to upset hundreds of thousands of dozens of people, the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, and specifically its Executive Director Joe Miller, recently issued the following statement to promoters statewide that has more or less banned MMA from the land of fried okra:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission will not be accepting applications for event permits for events scheduled after March 31, 2012. The Commission is faced with an out-of-state threat that, if successful, could greatly affect the Commission’s ability to provide for the public safety and for the health and safety of the athletes for future events throughout the state of Oklahoma. The Commission is currently trying to address legal and legislative efforts which have given us serious concerns about how we move forward with adequate oversight of Oklahoma’s boxing, mixed martial arts, and professional wrestling events. As you know, the primary focus of this agency is to make sure the athlete’s health, and safety is not compromised. We take this charge very seriously. The Commission and I will be working diligently to address these issues and develop a plan of action to return to a normal course of business.
Now why, pray tell, do you think Oklahoma would do this to us? Here’s a hint: Dana M.F. White.
Turns out, Oklahoma was imposing a four percent tax on all UFC pay-per-views purchased within the state. Whether or not the events themselves were actually held in Oklahoma did not change this fact. Though you would expect Dana White to be pissed upon hearing of this, the money itself was used to help fund the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, similar to how Wyoming is planning to fund the first ever MMA-only commission. As Miller explained:
It takes approximately $360K for the Commission to provide regulation for the approximately 275 events per year we regulate. The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission does not receive any state funding. We are funded solely from license fees, assessment on live events, and an assessment on pay-per-view events. We receive approximately $137K per year through license fees and assessments on live events. Receipts from Pay-per-view are approximately $240K per year. About $80K per year comes from UFC PPV. The UFC has threatened a law suit against our PPV law unless our legislature repeals our PPV law during this legislative session. The Commission loses either way. OK has been collecting on PPV since 2004 and this is the first time the issue has been brought to light. For the Oklahoma Commission to survive and for Combat Sports to continue in Oklahoma it will be up to the Oklahoma legislature to come up with a solution to the funding shortfall. You can do the math.
Seems understandable in the broader spectrum of things, right? Sure, it’s money out of the UFC’s pocket, and sure, they really don’t visit Oklahoma enough to need a lot of pull there (they’ve visited just twice in their existence, UFC 4 in Dedember of ’94 and UFN 16 in Sept. of 2009), but its money that allows the sport to legally exist in the state.
Well, apparently that sentiment wasn’t enough to make DW’s cold, dead heart grow three sizes that day, as it seems the Zuffa brass has decided to sue the Commission in order to get what they want, ie. that bread. You know, similar to what they’re doing with New York.
I may be in the minority here, but the UFC’s long running policy of “We’ll fuck you harder than you’ve ever been fucked before” (just quoting here) could really bite them in the ass in the near future. Let’s face it, a LOT of state governments are strapped for cash right now. The high school I attended, for instance, is eliminating all sports from its program next year due to a lack of state funding. Insane right? And if a state requires a multi-billion dollar company like Zuffa to fork over a minuscule percentage of their PPV earnings to help fund the committee that helps oversee the sport’s safety, it’s truly in the better interest of the sport, is it not? It’s not like the government is taking this money to buy another G5 for their fleet or anything. Until we find out that they are, of course, because we all know politicians are nothing more than swindlers in fancy suits.
It’s a give and take world is all we’re saying. The UFC provides millions of dollars in revenues to the states it chooses to hold its events in, and in turn the states provide a broader audience for the sport’s (not to mention the UFC’s) continued growth. And if a state decides to ban the sport, it all but kills the hopes of local fighters with upper-tier potential to compete in the sport they love, because not everyone can afford to travel out of state for each given fight.
In either case, the push for nationwide legalization of MMA just took a small, but noticeable step back.
Speaking of MMA legalization, check out this great bit of pro New York MMA propoganda created by FoxNews contributor (take it easy) Steven Crowder. The video, which features interviews with Pat Militech, Chael Sonnen and Renzo Gracie among others, lays out the history, safety, and the potential economic impact of MMA in a state like NY, as well as debunks the myths laid about by long time NY Assemblyman, Bob Reilly.
It’s times like these that we really, truly appreciate Chael Sonnen. Sure, the Brazil jokes and general xenophobia are funny in their own right, but when Chael actually removes the pro wrestling facade for a little and speaks his heart on an issue, it’s hard to disagree with the guy. Especially considering the fact that he knows first hand the pitfalls of greed politics.
Like Crowder said, if you’re a fan of freedom, forward this video along and contact your local representative. And if that doesn’t work, we take Tulsa. And after that, we’re taking Topeka. Why? FUCK IT, THAT’S WHY.
(“What about the Craftmatic adjustable bed we bought you, Bob?!!”)
Well, the MMA legalization bill in New York just passed through yet another hoop today. A04146A was approved by a vote of 17-1 by the State Assembly’s Codes Committee. Insiders estimate that’s as close as it will get to becoming a law, however, since the next vote will be chaired by vehement MMA opposer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the Ways & Means Committee.
(“What about the Craftmatic adjustable bed we bought you, Bob?!!”)
Well, the MMA legalization bill in New York just passed through yet another hoop today. A04146A was approved by a vote of 17-1 by the State Assembly’s Codes Committee. Insiders estimate that’s as close as it will get to becoming a law, however, since the next vote will be chaired by vehement MMA opposer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the Ways & Means Committee.
Still, the UFC is pulling out all the stops in a last ditch effort to persuade Assembly voters to jump on the MMA bandwagon. UFC vice president of regulatory affairs, Marc Ratner is in New York meeting with legislators in an attempt to educate those who might be sitting on the fence due to safety concerns, that MMA’s safeguards are as good if not better than other mainstream sports.
UFC president Dana White penned the following open letter to New York residents that was featured in a full page of today’s New York Daily News:
“If you’ve paid any attention to mixed martial arts over the past decade, you know the sport has exploded. It has the highest pay-per-view numbers of any sporting event, is broadcast on numerous cable, satellite and network television stations, enjoys mainstream sponsorships and has a large and diverse fan base. It is sanctioned in 45 of 48 U.S. states that have athletic commissions and across Canada and Australia.
Unfortunately, MMA fans in New York are forced to enjoy the sport from afar. Here in New York, MMA is totally banned.
It’s long past time to overturn that prohibition. It’s a safe and respectable sport that’s every bit as legitimate as boxing or professional football.
I won’t pretend to be objective. I run the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the single most popular MMA promotion company. While I think that our fans here in New York and the city would profit immensely from legalization, it will also certainly affect my bottom line.
But the benefits go far beyond my business. Bringing MMA to New York would make public policy sense in a city and state that need jobs and tax revenue badly.
I understand some people think no amount of economic activity is worth selling the state’s soul – and some people insist that MMA is simply too brutal to allow. But MMA is completely different from the spectacle New York legislators banned back in the 1990s.
When MMA first came to the United States, it was modeled after a Brazilian sport known as vale tudo – “anything goes.” Its early days were marked by a distinct lack of strong regulation – no weight classes, no time limits and no rules.
In 2001, MMA reinvented itself. The Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were written and adopted by the leading regulatory bodies working closely with promoters, including the UFC. The rules include provisions for weight classes, rounds and time limits. Dangerous maneuvers are totally outlawed. In the UFC, we have multiple ringside doctors at every fight, mandatory pre- and post-fight MRIs, comprehensive drug testing and a competitive atmosphere.
If a fighter gets a concussion, he is forced to sit out of matches and training for a mandatory period determined by the regulatory body overseeing the event. No other professional sport has such strict concussion rules.
All of those changes have produced two incredibly positive results: First, no athlete has suffered a serious injury in the history of UFC – nothing beyond a broken bone. Second, the sport has gained worldwide popularity and firmly established itself as the fastest-growing sport in the country.
At this point, it’s very odd that New York would allow and even celebrate a sport like football, in which people have experienced serious and lasting physical injuries, and cling to the fiction that MMA is legalized assault.
How successful would the sport be here? We got a taste a few weeks ago. A fight at the Rogers Centre in Toronto brought in ticket sales at the gate of more than $12 million – the largest for any event ever held at the arena. The sellout crowd of more than 55,000 – bigger than when an NFL game was held there – poured in to the city early and stayed late, purchasing arena concessions, staying in hotel rooms, dining at restaurants and taking taxis.
I am positive that an event in New York would have the same kind of success. While Madison Square Garden is obviously a pinnacle for any sport, we have a large fan base in cities like Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Albany, all of which could use the economic lift.
We commissioned an economic impact study to demonstrate how much revenue one of our events would generate for the State of New York. The study, by HR & A, found that sanctioning MMA in New York City would generate more than $23 million in net new economic activity. In Buffalo, an event would generate $5.2 million in economic activity.
Those figures assume only two UFC events, and we estimate we could do as many as three per year in New York State.
Little wonder momentum is growing to overturn the ban. The state Senate recently voted overwhelmingly to sanction mixed martial arts and the Assembly’s tourism committee followed suit; now it’s time to allow a full Assembly vote.
The sports capital of the world deserves access to one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, one that will bring money and jobs to state and local businesses.”
We urge all New York residents to contact their State Representatives to voice your opinion about MMA in New York and to let them know that your vote in the next election will be influenced by how they vote on this bill.
A list of all of the Assembly members and their email addresses can be found HERE.
(“Minimum wage, child labor laws, eight-hour work day – that stuff’s for pussies.”)
For a couple of years now word has been percolating that the real reason MMA can’t seem to successfully find its way through the New York State Assembly might have less to do with the sport itself than with Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta’s purported anti-union business practices back home in Nevada. The Spark Notes version is this: The Fertittas’ Station Casinos group is reportedly the largest non-union company in Las Vegas and has a longstanding beef with a powerful nationwide hotel and restaurant workers’ union called Unite Here, which claims Vegas’ Culinary Union Local 226 as its largest chapter. That relationship turned even more icy in 2000, when the brothers allegedly fired 850 of 1,000 union employees working at a casino they’d just acquired. Ever since then the union has done everything it can to put political pressure on the Fertittas’ various business ventures, including bringing its considerable lobbying clout to bear in opposition to the UFC operating in New York.
Anybody who’s ever seen a Martin Scorsese movie knows you can’t piss off one of the country’s biggest labor unions and expect to do business in the Empire State, right? That’d be like publishing nude photos of one of the UFC’s ring girls on your website and expecting to still get press credentials. Just wrong-headed and crazy. Anyway, UFC Prez Dana White has long stayed mum about the Fertitta’s feud with big labor, but this week White mustered his usual political savvy and velvet-glove oratory skills to break down MMA’s New York legalization efforts thusly …
(“Minimum wage, child labor laws, eight-hour work day – that stuff’s for pussies.”)
For a couple of years now word has been percolating that the real reason MMA can’t seem to successfully find its way through the New York State Assembly might have less to do with the sport itself than with Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta’s purported anti-union business practices back home in Nevada. The Spark Notes version is this: The Fertittas’ Station Casinos group is reportedly the largest non-union company in Las Vegas and has a longstanding beef with a powerful nationwide hotel and restaurant workers’ union called Unite Here, which claims Vegas’ Culinary Union Local 226 as its largest chapter. That relationship turned even more icy in 2000, when the brothers allegedly fired 850 of 1,000 union employees working at a casino they’d just acquired. Ever since then the union has done everything it can to put political pressure on the Fertittas’ various business ventures, including bringing its considerable lobbying clout to bear in opposition to the UFC operating in New York.
Anybody who’s ever seen a Martin Scorsese movie knows you can’t piss off one of the country’s biggest labor unions and expect to do business in the Empire State, right? That’d be like publishing nude photos of one of the UFC’s ring girls on your website and expecting to still get press credentials. Just wrong-headed and crazy. Anyway, UFC Prez Dana White has long stayed mum about the Fertitta’s feud with big labor, but this week White mustered his usual political savvy and velvet-glove oratory skills to break down MMA’s New York legalization efforts thusly …
“It has nothing to do with mixed martial arts, the reason that we’re not in New York,” he told MMA Weekly. “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 … These union idiots, all these people work in the Culinary Union, paying all their money towards dues, this is what all their money’s being spent towards.”
According to a 2008 report from MMA Payout, Unite Here is a heavyweight on the New York political scene, with 90,000 members in that state alone. Payout reports “the union spent $100,000 lobbying the Albany legislature (in 2007) and made more than $130,000 in political contributions to the Democratic and Working Families parties. That financial commitment dwarfs the UFC’s reported $40,000 in donations to New York Democrats.”
We assume this is still going on today. So, if you were wondering how the UFC made some contributions to the campaign of New York governor Andrew Cuomo last year, only to have MMA legalization disappear from his annual agenda, that’s probably your answer. We hate to openly speculate (no we don’t) but given Dana’s quote above, it also sounds like we won’t be seeing MMA legalized in New York for some time. Or at least until the Fertittas become better bosses.
