New York may no longer be the only state in the country that outlaws professional mixed martial arts. Included in Governor Cuomo’s budget is a bill that “would authorize the New York State Athletic Commission to regulate professional mixed marial arts in a manner similar to how NYSAC regulates professional boxing, wrestling and sparring.”
In recent years, as Ultimate Fighting Championship matches have exploded in popularity on television, pro fighters living in New York have had to travel outside the state to fight, like Amsterdam native Tommy “Gunnz” Marcellino.
“The support’s awesome, it would just be awesome to give back and fight in front of a home crowd,” said Marcellino.
Last year, an amateur competition in Schenectady drew more than a thousand spectators. The event at the Schenectady Armory impressed co-owner Ray Legere.
Legere admitted he had some preconceived notions of the sport and fighters beforehand.
“But it turned out that most of these guys know each other and while they fight in the ring, they have a great deal of respect for each other outside of the ring. And, really, the spectators were just absolutely wonderful.”
It also impressed Capital Region Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, who has advocated for legalization of the sport.
“If this bill were to pass, and I’ve said this before, I think this could pave the way for the first upstate professional venue to be in the City of Schenectady. I’m hopeful that’s something that will happen.”
The bill says with the growing popularity of the sport, “unregulated events create unnecessary risks to both MMA participants and event attendees.”
While bills to legalize the sport have been introduced in the past, this one is likely to see more traction. Recently convicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was seen as one of the sport’s largest opponents in New York and effectively had the power to stop a bill from making it to the floor.
Santabarbara says the legalization and regulation of the support promises economic development.
“If we can do it with casinos, we can do it with MMA. We can see economic impact, we can make upstate New York a regional destination for these events, but then there’s also the fighters. They have a passion for this sport like any sport, like football, basketball, swimming, whatever it is, these are athletes. And they want to compete at the professional level, but they also want to be New Yorkers. So this bill would give them opportunity.”
Santabarbara’s office estimates that between larger and smaller venues, the sport could bring in more than $33 million a year, while training centers across the state could generate $67 million by 2017.
