The Weekend of December 11 Is Going to Be Big For New York MMA

NEW YORK

December 11 through 12 is going to be big for the New York MMA scene. While most of the MMA world will be focused on Las Vegas and the three UFCs scheduled for that week, the Big Apple will play host to another installment of the MMA World Expo, a New York Fight Exchange show, and an Assembly hearing on injuries in combative sports. Here's what you need to know about each event:

• Friday, December 11 - The Assembly's Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development is holding a public hearing on injuries in combative sports in Downtown Manhattan. Oral testimony is by invitation only, but a few things make this a compelling affair. First, though there seem to be a good number of MMA supporters sitting on the Committee, the Committee's chair is Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, and she does not approve of MMA in the slightest. The question, then, is how much (if at all) her feelings on the sport will color the proceedings. Another point worth noting is the timing of this hearing; it's happening before the 2016 legislative session even begins, which could mean good things in regards to how soon there could be action on the MMA bill.
• Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13 - The MMA World Expo returns to the Jacob Javits Center in Midtown for the sixth year in a row, and with it comes all the usual fun stuff, That includes rows of vendors, seminars, panel discussions, demonstrations, a grappling tournament, a Muay Thai card, and...
• Saturday, December 12 - The NYFE will be leaving their usual haunt in Jamaica, Queens, to set up shop at the Expo. It's too soon to talk match-ups, but there is expected to be fighters from Jungle Gym, Anderson's Martial Arts and East West MMA on the card, so it will definitely be a good time.

Obviously, Paige VanZant versus Rose Namajunas, a TUF finale, Chris Weidman versus Luke Rockhold, and Conor McGregor versus Jose Aldo are all worth your eyeballs, but that weekend in New York is going to be huge. I know where my attention is going to be.