Mixed Martial Arts fans’ dreams of seeing Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor possibly fight in “The World’s Most Famous Arena” Madison Square Garden could soon come true as the New York State Assembly finally voted in favour of legalising the sport of MMA in the state.
This ruling ends a near-20 ban on the sport in the state; in 1997 MMA was banned due to it being a largely unregulated sport at the time. As the years went by, however, the sport grew & evolved and became legal (if it wasn’t already) in all other 49 states, and was, for the most part, regulated by state athletic commissions; but New York held out.
The delay was frequently chalked up to the fact that UFC owners Frank & Lorenzo Fertitta had issues with Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the New York State Assembly, over the lack of unionisation in the Fertitta’s New York casinos.
Though completely unrelated to UFC or MMA it was assumed to be the main roadblock in MMA’s legalisation in the state until Mr.Silver was arrested & later found guilty on federal corruption charges and was automatically expelled from the Assembly in late 2015.
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