Ithaca Journal Not Willing to Bet on MMA in New York This Year

NEW YORK


According to the Ithaca Journal, the road ahead is still pretty foggy when it comes to the future of MMA in the state. But in the article they posted on Monday, they did a good job of getting quotes from the sport's detractors.

Here's one women's group chiming in:

“We will continue to be opposed to this and do everything we can to make sure that New York state doesn’t make this a legal event,” said Zenaida Mendez, president of the state chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Here's Senator Liz Krueger, who, when not railing against MMA, is trying to legalize marijuana:

“We think there is more and more evidence from a medical and health evidence that the state of New York should not be licensing additional sports that have proven dangers where the participants, even though it appears they volunteer they do this, have no idea what kind of long-term risks they are taking,” said Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan.

Krueger and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, Rockland County, have sponsored legislation that would put a two-year pause on all MMA bouts, including amateur fights, which are currently allowed. The state health department then would be directed to study the health impacts of MMA on fighters before the moratorium is lifted.

And here's Senator Brad Hoylman, who wants additional protections for the fighters:

Another bill introduced in December is sponsored by a pair of lawmakers that have been critical of the sport: Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Herman “Denny” Farrell, both Manhattan Democrats.

The legislation would legalize mixed martial arts, but only if promoters agree to pay into a compensation fund for injured fighters. It would also create a presumption that any neurological injuries later discovered in a fighter were caused by their participation in MMA.

“It’s a brutal sport, and in my humble opinion it doesn’t promote sportsmanlike behavior,” Hoylman said. “It doesn’t provide adequate protection for the fighters. What we know about brain trauma in other sports like boxing and football is these conditions often present themselves years after an athlete has retired.”

The article doesn't make any predictions, but it does lay out what some of the parties on both sides are saying. And I am named at the end of the piece, so yippee for that I guess.