Fight promoters cheered the passage of a bill to legalize mixed martial arts in Connecticut, predicting the oft-controversial but fast-growing sport could help generate millions of dollars in new tourism revenues.
While mixed martial arts (MMA) isn”™t a done deal until Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signs the bill into law ”“ which he hadn”™t done as of June 12 ”“ several of the sport”™s leading promoters were already beginning to ratchet up lobbying efforts in New York, which, aside from Connecticut, is the only state that prohibits professional MMA fights.
“I know New York likes to think of itself as a leader but when it comes to the fastest growing sport in the nation, New York is now the only outlier,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, chairman and CEO of The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is the country”™s largest promoter of MMA fights.
MMA features unarmed combat that can involve different techniques from various martial arts disciplines. New York state permits amateur MMA fights, where fighters are not paid, but not professional fights. In Connecticut, MMA fights are currently permitted within the territories of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Indian tribes, but not in the remainder of the state.
Gladius Fights, an MMA promoter based in Ithaca, is organizing a professional MMA event in Berlin, N.H., later this month. Greg Williams, a co-promoter for the event, predicted there would be a “quick rush to put MMA fights on in Connecticut.”
“Now that Connecticut has opened up, I”™m sure there”™s going to be a rush to put on some shows in places like Hartford, New Haven (and) Bridgeport,” Williams said.
In the past, promoters would look to states like New Hampshire, where professional MMA fights are legal and regulated, or states like Vermont, where MMA is not regulated but not illegal, for event locations, Williams said.
“In New York, the loophole is that you can”™t have a pro fight,” Williams said. “That”™s one of the reasons why people are coming over the New Hampshire. It”™s all sanctioned; it”™s all legal.”
The state Senate has sought to change that, voting four times to approve professional MMA fights in New York. However, the state Assembly has never followed suit. A group of 35 Assembly Democrats earlier this month signed a letter urging Speaker Sheldon Silver not to bring a bill to legalize professional MMA fights to the Assembly floor for a vote.
The “violent nature of the sport raises serious concerns about the adverse effect that legalizing professional MMA events in New York could have on the well being of our citizens,” the letter stated.
Promoter Rob Haydak said his organization, Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC), already has a representative scouting out potential locations for fights in Connecticut. He said he hopes Connecticut”™s passage of a bill to legalize MMA could spur an agreement in Albany.
“It very well could be the last domino,” said Haydak, president of CFFC, which is based in New Jersey. “Any time a market opens itself up to MMA, the local economy and the state is looking at an infusion of millions of dollars. With Connecticut coming on board and then probably eventually New York, it reasserts the fact that MMA is a global sport.”
Williams, of Gladius Fights, said the MMA community isn”™t hurting for exposure, but added that a fight at a venue like Madison Square Garden “would be epic, it would be tremendous.”
“New York is obviously a metropolis and it definitely makes them (promoters) upset that they can”™t get a fight at Madison Square Garden, one of the most historic fight venues in the world,” Williams said.
