After many unsuccessful attempts over the years, the UFC finally got what they’ve been pushing for when mixed martial arts was legalized in New York last month. To make matters even more realistic, Governor Andrew Cuomo officially signed the bill today (April 14, 2016), and the UFC has announced its inaugural show at the legendary
After many unsuccessful attempts over the years, the UFC finally got what they’ve been pushing for when mixed martial arts was legalized in New York last month.
To make matters even more realistic, Governor Andrew Cuomo officially signed the bill today (April 14, 2016), and the UFC has announced its inaugural show at the legendary Madison Square Garden for November 12, 2016.
The event will serve as UFC 205.
As far as who may compete on the card, or rather who may headline it, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta told MMAFighting.com that former bantamweight queen and global superstar “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey could make her much anticipated return in New York:
“It’s certainly a possibility (Ronda Rousey is on the card).” Fertitta said. “Nothing has been determined yet. We’ll kind of see what happens. I can tell you that whatever card we do bring, it will be massive. It’ll be a big card with our biggest names.”
Rousey has been out of action since a shocking knockout loss to Holly Holm at last November’s UFC 193 from Australia. A return date has not yet been confirmed for the “Rowdy” one, but UFC President Dana White has previously stated that next Fall would likely be an ideal timeframe, making UFC 205 a real possibility.
Whether or not Rousey will headline the card is obviously still up in the air, but Fertitta did confirm that the card will play host to at least one title fight:
“Yes, I would say that that (a title fight) will happen.”
Who would you like to fight when the UFC finally heads to the Empire State next November?
MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) overcame a massive hurdle in 2016, finally breaking the final US state and gaining nationwide legalisation in America. New York had put up a drawn out battle against the sport of mixed martial arts for years, with corruption and scandal often overcoming common sense and reason. After the New York senate’s
MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) overcame a massive hurdle in 2016, finally breaking the final US state and gaining nationwide legalisation in America. New York had put up a drawn out battle against the sport of mixed martial arts for years, with corruption and scandal often overcoming common sense and reason. After the New York senate’s final debate on the bill for MMA in NY, which included some rather hilarious arguments, it was finally agreed that the Big Apple would finally be open to more combat sports.
The bill was officially signed today, as the UFC tweeted this brief snippet earlier:
Notice Lorenzo Fertitta, Chris Weidman and Ronda Rousey present for the historic signing. Is this a hint as to+ Rousey’s return to action? She’s been bound by contract to her latest Hollywood acting roles, and has stated that she’ll look to return around November time. In another Tweet by the UFC, they released the date of the first event to be held in New York, and you’ll never guess when:
So it’s going to be a huge blackbuster event at Madison Square Gardens, the last scheduled PPV for 2016 so far is UFC 200 in July, so expect to be somewhere around the UFC 205 mark by November 12, give or take. Check out the rest of the UFC’s activity regarding MMA2NY today:
With mixed martial arts finally being legalized in the state of New York this past week, speculation has now turned to when the UFC will host an event at the infamous Madison Square Garden, and just who will fight on that card. While New Yorkers and former champions Jon Jones and Chris Weidman will likely
With mixed martial arts finally being legalized in the state of New York this past week, speculation has now turned to when the UFC will host an event at the infamous Madison Square Garden, and just who will fight on that card.
While New Yorkers and former champions Jon Jones and Chris Weidman will likely lobby to fight in their native state, there’s also the possibility of the promotion booking their biggest star, featherweight champion Conor McGregor, for their first trip to the Empire State.
In fact, the brash Irish champion may have an opponent tailor made for him if he were to fight in New York.
Former 155-pound kingpin Frankie “The Answer” Edgar has won five in a row including three by way of stoppage, putting him near the forefront of the 145-pound title race. He also happens to be a New Jersey native with a strong New York following, and an obvious hope of one day fighting at MSG.
Recently speaking on the possibility, Owen Roddy, McGregor’s striking coach, said a bout between the “Notorious” one and “The Answer” in New York would be ‘amazing’ (Via Sky Sports):
“That would be amazing, realistically that would be huge for the first New York show. Madison Square Garden would be fantastic.”
“[McGregor and Edgar could fight] at featherweight or even at lightweight—Frankie spends a lot of time there, and he was the lightweight champion. But if Conor is on the card, it would be huge anywhere.”
McGregor is expected to rematch Nate Diaz at July 9’s UFC 200, but the UFC isn’t planning to head to New York until next fall, making the timing for a bout between McGregor and Edgar seem just right.
What are your thoughts on this potential showdown?
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.
UFC and Arianny Celeste took to their Twitter accounts today asking for fans to sign this petition. The form is titled: Tell Albany: Bring MMA to New York State and essentially pleas to make New York state the 45th MMA sanctioned state. It briefly suggests that since MMA is the “fastest growing sport […]
Hey New York! We Got Your Next Flasher, Right Here!
UFC and Arianny Celeste took to their Twitter accounts today asking for fans to sign this petition. The form is titled: Tell Albany: Bring MMA to New York State and essentially pleas to make New York state the 45th MMA sanctioned state. It briefly suggests that since MMA is the “fastest growing sport in America” it could boost state’s dwindling economy:
MMA is not only the fastest growing sport in America – it’s a source of jobs and economic development that our state desperately needs. MMA events would drive millions in revenue for our cash-strapped cities and arenas.
