The UFC might be closer than ever to holding a show in New York again.
Attorneys for UFC parent company Zuffa and the state attorney general’s office have agreed that a loophole in a law banning professional mixed martial arts in New York allows for third-party sanctioning, according to Fightline.com’s Jim Genia.
In New York, amateur MMA is allowed, but pro MMA is illegal based upon a 1997 law banning the sport. That contradiction has been one of the major points in Zuffa’s lawsuit against the state. Attorneys for New York have conceded that because of the inconsistency of the law that MMA could be sanctioned under a third-party commission and not the state’s athletic commission. The judge in the matter has pushed both parties to settle.
Most MMA shows in the United States are under the watch of state athletic commissions. The UFC has had to be its own commission in other countries that don’t have regulating bodies. Under the current law, the only body that would legally be able to sanction MMA in New York and has actually sanctioned past events in the state is the World Kickboxing Association, Genia reports.
Zuffa attorney Tim Bellamy told Genia that the UFC would rather wait for the ban to be nixed entirely, but if third-party sanctioning is the only option right now, the organization would accept that. Bellamy also told Genia that the UFC would hold off on further action until the legislative cycle is over. If the bill repealing the MMA ban is passed, Zuffa would presumably pull its lawsuit.
To clarify: UFC would be able to hold a show in New York State, but it would not be sanctioned by the New York State Athletic Commission. Another organization would have to sanction it. Not ideal, of course. But progress, for sure.
“We’ll take it,” Bellamy told Fightline.com. “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.”
This is hardly a done deal and anything can still happen within the legal process. But steps are being taken in the right direction to get professional MMA shows in New York before the end of 2013.
The state Senate has voted to legalize MMA the last two years only for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to shoot it down before even letting it go to vote.
There are positive signs that this year things will change. But lobbyists supported by the Culinary Union, a longtime rival of UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, have made serious inroads in Albany and are a big part of why MMA is still not legal here.
UFC president Dana White has said that the company wants to bring a massive show to Madison Square Garden in November for its 20th anniversary. When he made the comment in December, it seemed like just a pipe dream. As it turns out, it could very much be a reality.
White rips ‘Cyborg’: One day after Ronda Rousey dubbed Cris “Cyborg” Santos as “Cryborg,” UFC president Dana White piled on, saying Santos is “irrelevant” and “wants nothing to do” with a Rousey fight.
White confirmed what Santos’ manager Tito Ortiz said Friday on “Inside MMA” – that “Cyborg” has asked for her release from the UFC because she claims to be unable to get down to 135 pounds, the only women’s weight class in the company.
“When you send you a letter from your lawyer and your doctor saying I will die if I try to make 135, it’s the goofiest thing,” White said at the pre-UFC on Fuel TV 7 press conference in London. “I’ve never seen anything like it in the fight business.”
White said the UFC was willing to compromise with Santos – sign her and get her a few fights at her 145-pound weight class in Invicta FC, the all-women’s MMA promotion.
“[We said], we’ll figure something out where Cyborg gets some fights, Ronda defends her title a few times and then maybe Ronda moves up to whatever and fights [her],” White said. “She wants nothing to with that. It’s wacky beyond wackiness.”
Rousey-Santos would be the biggest women’s MMA fight ever. Both are in their primes and are dominant champions. “Cyborg” held the 145-pound title in Strikeforce before being stripped due to failing a drug test.
“‘Cyborg’ is pretty much irrelevant right now,” White said. “She really is. Go out there and win some fights again, get your name back, stay clean, stay off steroids. Get your career back on track and then we’ll talk. … For her to think everybody should move around and jump through hoops for her is insane.”
Couture vs. UFC: The war of words continues between UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and UFC president Dana White.
Last week, Couture and Spike TV announced that they had signed an agreement that would make Couture a part of two of the network’s reality shows, both affiliated with UFC’s biggest rival Bellator MMA.
White fired the first shots saying Couture is only a man “when he sets foot in the cage” and that he had no respect for him. White doesn’t want Couture at a UFC show even as a coach from now on.
Couture responded Wednesday on SiriusXM Fight Club. The MMA legend stated that he asked for a more significant job with the UFC, but all the company would give him was a role as an analyst for FOX shows four times a year. That prompted him to look elsewhere for employment. Then he found out soon after that the UFC had given a retiring Matt Hughes a cushy vice president gig.
“Frankly that was a big ‘[expletive] you’ to me from Dana,” Couture said. “And that’s exactly what he intended to do.”
On top of all this, Couture’s son Ryan just signed with the UFC. He’ll be debuting in April against Ross Pearson. Awkward.
Quick jabs:
Dana White said Wednesday that the IOC dropping wrestling could actually help MMA become an Olympic sport one day. “This sport draws – wrestling doesn’t,” White said. That probably won’t be a popular take on things by his fighters. … Bellator should be explosive Thursday night, headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Eduardo Dantas and Marcos Galvao. The middleweight tournament will also kick off. … UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz could be back from two consecutive torn ACLs as soon as the summer, White said. … Cain Velasquez defends his heavyweight title against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Junior dos Santos gets a crack at Alistair Overeem at UFC 160 on Memorial Day Weekend in Las Vegas. Not in love with “Bigfoot” getting a another fight with Velasquez after losing to him decisively last time. But that’s a fun card shaping up.