UFC takes fight to legalize MMA in New York State to court
Ultimate Fighting Championship has taken its fight to legalize professional mixed martial arts events in New York State from Albany to the courts and has already scheduled its first event in New York at Madison Square Garden in April.
Lawyers for Las Vegas-based UFC, the powerful MMA promotion and media organization, on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against New York State, alleging that the state's ban of MMA events is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit is challenging New York's Combative Sport Law. MMA has been banned in New York since 1997. "State officials are unable to offer any coherent explanation for why the UFC's competitors may promote their events ... but the UFC may not," alleges the 37-page complaint filed by UFC's law firm of Morrison & Foerster in U.S. District Court in New York.
The lawsuit names state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, state Liquor Authority Chairman Vincent Bradley, and state Liquor Commissioner Kevin Kim as defendants.
The complaint also alleges, "State officials have engaged in a history of erratic and arbitrary enforcement, underscoring the vagueness of the Combative Sports Law."
Later this week, UFC lawyers plan to ask a federal court judge for a preliminary injunction against state officials. Without the injunction, UFC will not be able to move ahead with its MMA event scheduled for April 23 at Madison Square Garden. The event does not include any specific UFC fighters, just "top champions competing with other world-class athletes," according to a UFC announcement.
New York Attorney General spokesman Doug Cohen said the agency had no comment.
Year after year, UFC officials led by CEO Lorenzo Fertitta visit Albany to lobby state lawmakers to legalize MMA events in the Empire State. Even UFC superstar Ronda Rousey has lobbied officials in New York, the only state in the U.S. where professional MMA fights are outlawed.
"Professional MMA is legal around the world and it is about time New York followed suit," UFC Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein said in Monday's statement.
A bill legalizing MMA events draws approval in the New York Senate every year, but does not reach the floor of the Assembly for a vote. Some opponents say MMA fights are barbaric and anti-women, but UFC lawyers pointed out in the lawsuit that "live amateur MMA events occur regularly throughout the state."
In the past, UFC President Dana White has blamed Culinary Local 226 of Las Vegas for asserting political pressure on New York legislators to keep the MMA bill from reaching the Assembly floor for a vote. Fertitta and his brother, Frank, own Las Vegas-based Station Casinos, which is non-union.
Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com Find him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel
