Optimism High As N.Y. Senate Again Backs Legalizing MMA
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — The New York Senate has voted for the fifth straight year for legalizing professional mixed martial arts and ending the state's position as the last one to prohibit the sport.
With MMA star Ronda Rousey in Albany earlier Tuesday lobbying for its passage, supporters in the Democrat-controlled Assembly say they believe momentum is building.
The Assembly's majority Democratic Conference, where the legalization bill has foundered in the past, is expected to consider it again sometime after a new state budget is adopted for the new fiscal year that starts April 1.
"I really believe it will pass this year because … (Sheldon) Silver, who got arrested for corruption — the fact that the guy who was arrested for corruption was against this bill is a testament that no one should have been against it at all," Rousey said, according to the Albany Times Union. "If the corrupted guy didn't want it to pass, then I would like to be on the other side of that."
The Senate bill, approved 47-14, would authorize the New York State Athletic Commission to regulate MMA as it does professional boxing.
"We've been fighting for this for years, and I mean really fighting hard to get MMA in New York City," UFC president Dana White told the New York Post. "This has been a long time coming."
One proposed revision would establish a compensation fund, like the state's jockey fund, to benefit injured fighters.
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