PixabayIt has been a hell of a long time coming, but yesterday the New York State Assembly legalised MMA in the Empire State.
It took nearly 20 years, four hours of debate, and despite bizarre opposition that the sport is linked to drugs, gay porn, and child molestation, the bill passed with a majority of 113 yes votes to just 25 noes, reports MMA Fighting.
It means the likes of Jon Jones, Frankie Edgar, and Chris Weidman will be able to fight on home soil, plus a range of iconic venues such as Madison Square Garden will finally be able to host major MMA events.
It was certainly met with joy on social media by some of the sport’s biggest stars:
Wow long time coming! Better late than never! #Repost @ufc with repostapp.
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Thank You NY… https://t.co/0F9VA1vuDE— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) March 22, 2016
I've waited a long time for today and couldn't be more excited to have MMA legal in my hometown of New York!! pic.twitter.com/uoxIpPbcQ4
— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) March 22, 2016
Glad to see NY on the menu now. Unfortunate about the timing.
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) March 22, 2016
Better for Chris I don't beat him down in his home state.
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) March 22, 2016
Great #REsult #mma4ny #ufc pic.twitter.com/vNEv5mbWSf
— Rashad Evans (@SugaRashadEvans) March 22, 2016
For Dana White a picture spoke a thousand words.
— Dana White (@danawhite) March 22, 2016
About fucking time! MMA is finally legalized in NYC!
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) March 22, 2016
This is a historic day for New York and the MMA community! So excited to fight at home! #ny #MSG #longisland #islip @LIslandStrong @ufc
— Chris Wade (@CWadeMMA) March 22, 2016
CM Punk seems to have set his sights on a non-WWE return to MSG.
Back to @TheGarden then!
— Coach (@CMPunk) March 22, 2016
But he is not alone…
I wanna fight in Madison square garden! https://t.co/yFzz4EHBAl
— Jerome-Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) March 23, 2016
Let the "Hey @ufc @danawhite put me on the MSG show" requests begin with me. #UFC #MMANY
— Josh Samman (@JoshSamman) March 22, 2016
Glad we may have an opportunity to compete #MMA4NY a @ufc event at the famed Madison Square Garden will be one for the history books!
— Joe Ellenberger (@JoeEllenberger) March 23, 2016
Bellator were pretty chuffed too.
Finally MMA legal in New York!!! #NewYork #MMA #BellatorMMA #BellatorNation pic.twitter.com/F01wm6TZCW
— Georgi Karakhanyan (@georgimma) March 22, 2016
UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta has wasted no time in suggesting a blueprint for the UFC’s staging of events in New York.
Fertitta said at a press conference that the sport’s largest organisation is hoping to stage two events before the end of 2016.
According to MMA Fighting he said:
We are hopeful that we will be holding one, possibly two events [in New York] before the end of the year here in 2016…We’re confident we’ll be able to get dates that work, but a few things still need to play out before we’re actually able to do it.
Fertitta also addressed early speculation that Ronda Rousey may be the first to headline MSG.
He said:
I haven’t had any conversation with Ronda about it. But like I said before, when we go to New York, we want to come with a big event. And obviously any time Ronda Rousey fights that is clearly a big event. That’s to be seen.
It’s gonna be massive, and when you do massive events, it takes time … there’s gonna be a tremendous amount of promotion and a ton of marketing assets. We’re gonna have to book the fights that make sense there, which will include Chris Weidman. It’s gonna be big.
Exciting times.
