Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's venture into the state of New York suffered a brief setback today, as the company's scheduled settlement conference was canceled.

MMAfighting.com journalist Ariel Helwani broke the unfortunate news on Twitter at 10:30 a.m. EST, when he tweeted:

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is greatly disappointed that the settlement conference scheduled today before the Federal Court has been cancelled because the New York Attorney General is no longer willing to discuss a settlement consistent with the position his Office has repeatedly taken in Court. The Attorney General has once again changed his position on the meaning of the MMA ban in New York and we will vigorously urge the Federal Court to decide that the ban is unconstitutional.

Helwani closed the tweet by noting that not all was lost in this particular battle. In fact, his hopes remain high, as he said, "It's all about the Assembly vote."

Unfortunately, the measure has stalled at the State Assembly for the past four years, and MMA has remained banned in New York since 1997.

Proponents of MMA in The Empire State were given hope on March 6, though, when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said in an article with NY Daily News:

At some point, they’ll probably be an approval in this state — I can’t tell you when.

While Silver has not been traditionally marked as a supporter of MMA, this statement gives fans of the sport a cause for optimism.

Naturally, Twitter users and MMA journalists tweeted Helwani for more information, and his responses remained positive, as he repeatedly referenced the Assembly vote as the UFC's primary concern.



As of now, Helwani mentioned that the Assembly vote is scheduled to occur "before June," but more information should emerge before that time.

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