UFC Battles Ignorance In New York

Mixed Martial Arts is banned in New York state. It doesn’t look like that’s going to change because the people who create the laws are opposed to and ignorant about the sport. The latest face of the opposition is Assemblyman Bob Reilly. In his latest effort to blindly justify something he knows nothing about, his office did a poll of New York residents. 468 to be exact.

The 2007 US Census put the New York population at 19,297,729. That’s approximately .000025% of New York residents. Gosh, that certainly seems like a small sample size. I’m pretty sure I heard on the news that the survey took place in Newtonville which is the area I live in. I was not surveyed. I’m also willing to guess that the students at Siena College were not surveyed.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I’m guessing this survey went out to the upper-middle class residents that primarily own homes in the Newtonville area. And how did they pose the question to these residents?

“Ultimate fighting, or mixed martial arts, is currently banned in New York State. There is current debate whether ultimate fighting should be permitted statewide. Do you think ultimate fighting matches should be allowed in New York State?”

FAIL

It’s not “ultimate fighting.” It’s mixed martial arts. Of course, you can’t present it as “mixed martial arts” because that sounds nice and lesson-providing like “taekwondo.” And explaining that its banned? How many people who don’t know anything about MMA are going to answer favorably?

Think about it this way – I ask you a question about something you have no knowledge of and I tell you it’s currently illegal. Would you, without any information or idea what I’m talking about say that it should be made legal?

How about the economic impact? This is from Capital News 9, our local 24/7 news station:

A UFC study claims a live New York City event could have an $11 million impact. An event in Buffalo could kick up $5 million. But Reilly doesn’t buy it saying the Vegas-based company would profit the most.

Gasp! How dare a business want to come here and profit! Would he like the UFC to come to a charity show? All proceeds go towards New York’s failing economy? Of course they would make the most profit – it’s their business!

“The gate would be approximately $4 million,” Reilly said. “They would say a half million would stay in Albany to help the economy, but the simple fact is $3.5 million would go out of this economy.”

Only half a million dollars from the gate would go to Albany? He’s trying to make it sound like Capital Region residents would be putting $3.5 million in an envelope and mailing it to a foreign land. This is the same as a concert coming to Albany.

Also, live gate isn’t the only way that anyone makes money. All the people who come from around the Northeast to see the fight would get there right as the gates opened and leave as soon as the final match ends. Nobody would eat anywhere, or pay for parking or stay in a hotel. In and out.

How much does Albany get whenever a concert act plays the Times Union Center? More than a half a million dollars? I call bullshit on that Assembleman.

We can’t have a fair and balanced media story about MMA without promoting the fallacy that MMA is more dangerous than boxing.

“In boxing, you don’t hit someone when they’re down,” Reilly said.

Yes, but with the 10-count, boxers are allowed to recover from flash-knockouts and continue sustaining blows to the head. In MMA, good referees will step in when a flash-knockout has occurred. There were two great examples of this on Saturday at UFC 95. Then of course there’s the MMA fights where people are submitted without actually being punched at all. And football is legal in this state, right? There are just so many holes is these arguments.

New York's own Matt Serra has campaigned to fight in his home state.

Our ignorant, placating media doesn’t help either.

Watch the video included and you’ll notice old footage from the early UFC events. It’s grainy footage that makes it look dark, underground and amateur. When they briefly mentioned the UFC trying to get MMA legalized in New York last summer it was typically introduced as, “Ultimate Fighting, or cage fights” and then it was added that MMA was, “gaining big-time in popularity around the country. It’s a sport that’s also referred to as mixed martial arts.” Spoken like someone who just learned how to Google.

Maybe New York will never legalize MMA. I’ll live. I can still watch the UFC on Pay Per View. This is the same debate that happens anywhere people know nothing about the sport and it’s not going away anytime soon. The truth is, MMA is getting a fair shake in New York. Until people with knowledge of the sport are the ones distributing the surveys and writing the stories, MMA in New York is doomed.