ALBANY – The fight to legalize mixed martial arts in New York is probably facing another split decision this year.
The state Senate passed a bill Tuesday to legalize the controversial but popular sport for the fifth straight year.
But the effort is likely to be knocked out in the Democrat-dominated Assembly, which thus far has refused to allow a vote to come to the floor.
Insiders close to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver don’t expect that to change before the legislative session ends in June.
New York is the only state in the country that still outlaws the sport.
Members of the Ultimate Fighting Championship league were again in Albany making their case.
“Let the democratic process work,” said Lawrence Epstein, the league’s chief operating officer. “Allow it to go to the Assembly floor and let there be an up-or-down vote.”
Epstein noted that the Assembly bill is carried by Majority Leader Joseph Morelle (D-Rochester) and has 60 sponsors. Seventy six votes are needed for passage.
“We’re confident if it made it to the floor, it would pass easily,” he said.
Critics call the sport — which was barred in New York in the 1990s — barbaric, misogynistic and anti-gay, characterizations league officials vehemently deny.
“The sole goal of the activity is to inflict as much physical damage and pain as possible,” said Assemblywoman Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan), a leading opponent of legalizing the sport.
Some supporters say the Assembly opposition is more rooted in a non-related union dispute in Las Vegas involving the league.
UFC fighter Alexis Davis, who will be competing for the bantamweight title on July 5 in Vegas, dismisses claims the sport degrades women.
“If anything, I feel like it’s empowering women,” Davis said. “I was a quiet kid, a little heavy. it wasn’t until I found mixed martial arts that it helped build my confidence.”
Assembly Democrats are expected in the coming weeks to discuss whether to allow a vote.
Silver has said he believes the sport’s legalization is inevitable.
