Zuffa Lining NY Governor Candidate Andrew Cuomo's Pockets In The Hopes To Legalize MMA In NY
by S.C. Michaelson on Oct 4, 2010 6:00 AM EDT
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According to the NY Post, Zuffa Entertainment, which owns the UFC, has given over 74 thousand dollars to the campaign of the Democratic Candidate for Governor in NY State, Andrew Cuomo. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Cuomo is the son of the former governor of New York and currently serves as the Attorney General. According to most polls, he is ahead of his opponent, Republican Carl Paladino (who has received nothing from Zuffa).
As you know, MMA is in the middle of a 5-round war with the NY State Legislature over sanctioning of MMA. Their biggest opponent is Bob Reilly (who I have discussed in the past) who also has the ear of the Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (who is the key to keeping the bill from going to vote).
Current Governor David Paterson is a strong proponent for MMA but that has not helped the cause as it is still illegal. However Paterson was not elected and only ascended to the Governorship after Eliot Spitzer resigned. Andrew Cuomo is a much more popular figure in the state of New York and thus could have more influence. According to the Post, Cuomo has not officially stated his position on the legalization of MMA. I'm sure that Zuffa has some knowledge of his position as they donated a substantial sum.
The interesting thing about this whole issue is that, despite what most people assume, Reilly and Silver are Democrats and not Republicans. Gov. Paterson is a Democrat as well. Paladino, Cuomo's opponent, is a Republican and a staunch opponent of the Speaker Sheldon Silver. He's gone so far as to compare Silver to the Anti-Christ or Hitler. So the guy the UFC isn't supporting is against the guy who is one of the main people against the legalization of MMA. That's funny.
I'm not sure what role Cuomo can play in getting MMA legalized as Reilly seems hard-pressed on keeping MMA out of NY State. The UFC is banking on Cuomo's pull inside the party being able to influence Reilly and Silver to ease up on their positions allowing MMA to be voted on by the Assembly.
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It’s Andrew Cuomo who’s running this year. Mario’s his dad, I think, and used to be the governor.
Hadoken!!
I wrote this at 4am
My bad
"Boy you got me confused with a man who 'peats himself"
SCM aka Black Lesnar aka Nr, NakeUmad aka Slap ya Favorite MMA Writer
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by S.C. Michaelson on Oct 4, 2010 6:41 AM EDT up reply actions
Man I was wondering why dude was govenor 2 decades ago
Eh.
"Boy you got me confused with a man who 'peats himself"
SCM aka Black Lesnar aka Nr, NakeUmad aka Slap ya Favorite MMA Writer
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by S.C. Michaelson on Oct 4, 2010 6:46 AM EDT up reply actions
A couple of comments
It’s Eliot Spitzer, not David Spitzer.
And the commentary about the party identification is moot in this situation because the legalization of MMA is (thankfully) not a partisan issue. In states where one party is really strong (like the Democrats in New York), it’s not surprising to see lots of diversity in that state’s party.
Also, if Paladino is comparing Silver to Hitler, how is he supposed to convince him to do something like legalize MMA. As Cuomo is on the same side as Silver, it could be easier to convince him to abandon Reilly’s position.
That was my whole point
A) to clear up the misconception that Reilly is a Republican (he’s not)
and B) to ponder why the UFC would only sponsor one candidate
"Boy you got me confused with a man who 'peats himself"
SCM aka Black Lesnar aka Slap ya Favorite MMA Writer
Follow me on Twitter
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Oct 6, 2010 7:58 AM EDT up reply actions
