Thursday, October 1, 2015

Breaking Down the UFC's Preliminary Injunction vs. New York

NEW YORK


On Monday, the UFC filed another lawsuit against the State of New York that claimed the Combative Sports Law banning professional MMA was Unconstitutional. That was the jab. Yesterday came the right cross, in the form of a preliminary injunction.

A preliminary injunction (PI) is a request for a court order that would make a party refrain from an action that causes a potential harm, and it's filed before the court decides on the merits of a particular case. That's what the UFC filed yesterday, and it essentially asked the presiding Judge Kimba Wood of the Southern District of New York to order the State Attorney General, the New York State Athletic Commission, et al. to not shut down the planned UFC event at Madison Square Garden in April.

Here's a breakdown of the PI:

If the MMA Bill Passes Early, There Will Be No UFC at MSG in April

NEW YORK


Timing is everything, and that's especially true of the UFC's announced event at Madison Square Garden in April. For the groundbreaking event to happen, Judge Kimba Wood of the Southern District of New York must grant the UFC their preliminary injunction, which was filed yesterday. But all bets are off if the legislature repeals at the beginning of the legislative session the Combative Sports Law banning pro mixed martial arts .

I spoke in detail about this possibility on Sherdog's Press Row - listen to it here.