Mixed martial arts in New York is dead this year. Dead as New York Knicks’ chances of defeating the Miami Heat in their playoff series. The closest thing you will get to two men fighting on national television in front of a live audience is at a New York Rangers game this week.
For approximately the 710th consecutive year, the MMA bill has been ruthlessly murdered by New York lawmakers that hold on to the unreal notion that MMA is too barbaric for humanity. When Bob Reilly stepped down from the assembly back in February, we all thought MMA would be opposition free going into May’s hearing. However this year, the MMA bill wasn’t even brought to the floor. Here’s what Ken Lovett from NY Daily News had to say about the entire fiasco that transpired today.
The source said after eight people had spoken in favor of legalizing MMA and eight against, Silver called on members who don’t support the bill to raise their hands. About 25 members did.
Then he asked for a show of hands of those who support it before saying that it looked even, the source said.
An upstate member who supports the measure complained it didn’t look even to her, the source said. When Silver asked what she wanted, a city Democrat joked, a “slow roll call.”
The speaker took another informal vote, with 25 again raising their hands against. The “ayes” seemingly had more than 60, the source said.
Silver then said others had expressed opposition privately and that the votes weren’t there to move the bill.
Around this time every year the MMA community collectively believes the sport we all endlessly obsess over will be legalized in New York only to be disappointed by a tweet from the ‘Fight Lawyer’ himself, Justin Klein. He’s been the bearer of bad news for years now, and in 2013 I’m absolutely certain I can copy/paste this same article with only minor alterations and no one would even notice.
I guess the only thing we have left to look forward to is this entire 2012 Mayan Apocalypse coming this December to a country near you. I’ll see you guys in the afterlife — let’s just hope MMA is legalized there.
