New York Governor Backs MMA in Budget Proposal

New York Governor David Patterson previously expressed his support for Mixed Martial Arts regulation (he keeps calling it 'ultimate fighting' though. But hey, beggars can't be choosers) and today he presented a budget to the New York legislature, which included revenue from state regulated MMA events.

"Currently, 40 States safely regulate the sport of mixed martial arts and enjoy local and statewide economic benefits associated with the conduct of mixed martial arts events," reads a summary from Paterson's office of his revenue proposals. "While New York's ban on professional combative sports would be removed, conduct of the sport would be carefully regulated."

It appears that momentum is building for MMA legislation in New York and it is only a matter of time before the sport is regulated. However it may not be a done deal to get a UFC event in Madison Square Garden before the end of 2010. Marc Ratner, the UFC’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, told Sherdog that passage by April 1st would be enough time for the commission to prepare for an event in the fourth quarter of this year. But if it took the Assembly longer than April 1st to pass the bill then all bets are off on an UFC event being held in 2010. With New York state politics' pension for devolving into ugly fights (like, over coffee) a late passage is entirely possible.

Michael David Smith echoes these problems:

No. I agree with you that 2010 will be the year MMA is sanctioned in New York, but I still believe that there are some powerful people who are opposed to it who will drag their feet long enough that the UFC won't be able to get a Big Apple card set up for 2010. I think it happens in 2011, and it'll be a stacked card in New York City that will draw as much mainstream media attention as any UFC card ever has.

Still, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic for witnessing a major MMA event in Madison Square Garden. Hell, we may see LeBron and the UFC headed to The Garden at the same time.