Jon Campbell

jcampbell1@gannett.com

ALBANY - New York's longstanding ban on professional mixed martial arts will soon be lifted.

The Assembly voted Tuesday to rescind the state's 19-year-old ban on the popular-but-violent sport, clearing the final hurdle for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and other professional MMA promoters to host fights in Madison Square Garden and other arenas across the state.

The vote was the culmination of a seven-year effort by UFC officials, who made frequent visits to the state Capitol and retained influential Albany lobbyists in an effort to have the ban overturned. The bill has support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has pledged to sign it.

New York is the only remaining state with a ban in place. It will be lifted August 1 if Cuomo signs the bill before the end of the month.

UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said he's hoping to hold at least one and maybe two events in New York arenas before the end of the year: One in New York City; the other in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse or Utica.

“Through letters and phone calls, rallies and social media, New York’s MMA and UFC fans have lent their voices of support," Fertitta said. "It took a while, but their voices have been heard.”

The Assembly's vote Tuesday marked a dramatic shift within the chamber's Democratic majority, which has long stood as the final roadblock to having the ban overturned.

While the state Senate had approved the measure eight times in the past seven years, the Assembly had never put it to a vote before Tuesday, with many long-tenured Democrats opposing it. The most-powerful opponent, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, was removed from office last year after he was convicted of an unrelated corruption scheme.

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Silver was replaced by current Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Manhattan, who voted in favor of the bill.

In the end, the vote wasn't close: The bill passed by an unofficial tally of 113-25.

Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, who sponsored the measure and defended it during a lengthy floor debate that stretched into Tuesday evening, repeatedly spoke about the need to regulate MMA fights. His bill will require the state Athletic Commission to oversee the competitors and promoters, much like it does for boxing and other combat sports.

"Boxing, single-discipline martial arts and mixed martial arts are violent by their nature," said Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County. "So are football, hockey, basketball. In fact, most competitive sports -- from pole vaulting to race-car driving -- carry a degree of risk. It's the responsibility of policymakers to empower regulators to mitigate that risk, and that's what the bill before you attempts to do."

Some Democrats remained opposed to the measure, including Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, Rockland County, who spoke out Tuesday against the violent nature of the sport. In UFC bouts, fighters battle in eight-sided cages, with the violent bouts frequently ending with bloodied fighters and a knockout or chokehold.

"Cage fighting, also known as MMA, has no place in a civilized society," Jaffee said on the Assembly floor. "It is a spectacle of violence. Except for those who stand to profit from this barbaric entertainment masquerading as a sport, cage fighting causes great harm."

Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell, D-Manhattan, was more graphic during the Assembly's debate, likening the sport -- in which fighters wear little clothing and frequently grapple -- to "gay porn with a different ending." O'Donnell, who is openly gay, said money was fueling the effort to overturn the ban -- both the lobbying funds spent by UFC and the money gambling interests stand to gain.

"Not a single person is harmed in this state or this country based on our failure to let them do this," O'Donnell said. "But if we do let them do it, more people are going to become addicted to gambling, more people are going to see violence, more people are going to turn to violence as a mechanism to express how they feel."

Professional MMA bouts have gained popularity over the past decade, with some of the sport's well-known fighters -- including Jon "Bones" Jones, who was born in Rochester and raised in the Binghamton area -- hailing from New York. Jones and other big-name fighters, including Ronda Rousey, have traveled to the Capitol in recent years to advocate for MMA.

As part of the bill, the state Athletic Commission will be tasked with regulating MMA bouts, while promoters would be required to take out three separate types of insurance for fight cards.

The state will also levy an 8.5 percent tax on ticket sales, as well as a 3.5 percent tax -- up to $50,000 -- on broadcast rights. Competitors, promoters and judges will also be required to purchase a license or permit from the state.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Niagara Falls, Cuomo acknowledged the violence in mixed martial arts and the "divided opinion" about the sport. But he said lifting the ban will have a positive economic impact on the state.

"(The UFC) committed to do shows in New York and do shows in New York in areas that would bring people from out of state into New York," Cuomo said. "Buffalo hosts a show and you get people from Canada coming to Buffalo to see mixed martial arts, then that’s a good thing. So I think there’s an economic upside for the state and I support it."