MMA legal in which states now?

[GeneChing]

The cage in the big apple.

New York Legalizes Professional Mixed Martial Arts Fights
April 15, 20162:49 PM ET LAURA WAGNER


Gov. Andrew Cuomo (center) signed into law a measure that will allow professional mixed martial arts in New York. Behind him are UFC athletes Chris Weidman (left) and Ronda Rousey.
Mark Lennihan/AP

New York has ended its ban on professional mixed martial arts — the last state in the U.S. to do so — and the Ultimate Fighting Championship wasted no time in announcing a match at Madison Square Garden.

The league said it will host a major pay-per-view event at the storied venue on Nov. 12.

"Our commitment to bringing incredible live events to New York starts immediately," UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said at Thursday's bill-signing event with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The governor echoed that sentiment.

"It's time to bring mixed martial arts competitions to the New York stage. With venues like Madison Square Garden, New York truly is the international icon for great sporting events, and we're excited to begin a new chapter of MMA in the Empire State," Cuomo said in a statement.

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Ending the 1997 ban on pro MMA fights will also "close a statutory loophole under which unregulated and unsupervised 'amateur' mixed martial arts competitions had been occurring in New York State," the statement read.

With mixed martial arts contests newly under the purview of the New York State Athletic Commission, the governor's office touts that the industry will bring in $137 million, once it is operating at "full programming capacity."

The law also ensures the athletes' safety — at least to the extent that a sport where competitors kick and punch each other into submission can be safe.

In New York's semiregulated amateur MMA circuit, fighters were allowed to compete without being tested for blood-borne illnesses like HIV or hepatitis C, as Deadspin wrote when it reported on the MMA legalization bill in 2014.

In a sport where blood is nearly as inevitable as winning and losing, not testing athletes for such illnesses is a concern.

Deadspin wrote:

"The problem is that while these fights are nominally regulated by private organizations, some of them are, in practice, not regulated at all. That's why fighters can compete in New York with HIV, hepatitis C, and other conditions that would prevent them from getting in a cage anywhere else in the United States."
It also noted that some of the amateur events did not have doctors on scene, instead relying "on paramedics, acupuncturists, or calls to 911 operators."

After citing the number of jobs MMA will create and the revenue dollars it will draw, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan said in the statement from the governor's office: "More than that, this bill will help safeguard the health and welfare of these professional athletes."

[GeneChing]

This is about federal regulation, not state.

Don’t Let Congress Put a Choke Hold on Mixed Martial Arts


MMA fighters Chris Weidman (left) and Luke Rockhold during a match in December 2015. (Photo: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports)
by JOHN FUND November 5, 2017 6:32 PM @JOHNFUND

Trial lawyers and unions back federal regulation of America’s fastest-growing sport, which is already regulated by the states.

Congress is right in the middle of debating tax reform. Obamacare desperately needs legislative action. U.S. interests are threatened in unprecedented ways by weapons programs in Iran and North Korea. And this coming week, the U.S. House will hold its second hearing in less than a year on a bill to put mixed martial arts under federal supervision and control. What is wrong with this picture?

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a great American success story. Almost unknown 15 years ago, it is now the fastest-growing sport in America. Fans love seeing a full-contact combat sport in which fighters use martial-arts techniques but no weapons. MMA has grown to nearly rival tennis or golf in the value of its sponsorships and now has an audience of over 40 million people, mostly on pay-per-view.

But with success comes the potential for resentment and federal meddling in a sport that seems to be doing fine under state regulation. Add to this the fact that a former MMA fighter now sitting in Congress is using his friendships with other members to help push his regulatory scheme. Representative Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), who was briefly a part-time MMA fighter a decade ago, thinks that fighters in his former profession are underpaid, should form a union, and should have federal bureaucrats decide which fighters will fight which matches — something the private sector is currently excelling in doing.

The model here is boxing. In 2000, Congress passed the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act ostensibly to protect the health and safety of boxers and also to regulate the sport. Boxers are now barred from entering into certain contracts, and promoters are barred from having a “direct or indirect financial interest” in the management of fighters. Federal bureaucrats often dictate which fighters fight whom and where.

But boxing had a long history of both injury to fighters and a sketchy ethical record that included rigged bouts. There’s no evidence of significant corruption in MMA matches, and its fighters are regulated by state boxing commissions that enforce health and safety issues for both boxing and MMA. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the promoting organization that dominates MMA, has worked closely with states to improve the regulation of health and safety issues.

So if it’s not broken, why bring the feds into “fixing” MMA all the way down to the level of matchmaking? One possible answer is that a powerful group of trial lawyers has often clashed with UFC’s vision of the sport and has even launched an antitrust suit against it. Rob Maysey is one of the leading attorneys in the lawsuit and at the same time is also a leader of the Mixed Martial Arts Fighting Association (MMAFA), the union that wants to hobble MMA and increase its power over their fighters. Other unions, such as Teamsters Local 986, are big backers of the antitrust lawsuit. Are the five law firms pushing the antitrust lawsuit against UFC the real “payers behind the throne” of the MMAFA?

Why are Republican-led congressional subcommittees taking valuable time promoting what amounts to a partial federal takeover of a thriving industry?

I contacted Representative Mullin’s office about all this, but his press secretary, Amy Lawrence, never got back to me. Mullen himself seems to have made his MMA bill the centerpiece of his congressional efforts, a curious choice given his economically challenged home district in rural Oklahoma.

I also sought comment from the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, which is holding an unusual second hearing on Mullin’s bill this coming Thursday. No one responded. It’s almost as if no one is interested in having anyone probe into the details of the bill or the motivations behind it.

One reason is that several of Mullin’s Republican co-sponsors on the bill might start having second thoughts once they learn of the trial-lawyer and union support behind it. One co-sponsor I did talk with privately told me he had originally backed the bill “only as a favor to a colleague who had been in the sport.” He admitted he hadn’t read more than a summary of the bill and told me he has since been chagrined to learn that the justification for federal regulation of MMA is so flimsy.

Republicans control both house of Congress. President Trump wears his anti-regulatory passion on his sleeve and has promised to repeal two regulations for every new one that is imposed. So why are Republican-led congressional subcommittees taking valuable time promoting what amounts to a partial federal takeover of a thriving industry?

It’s doubtful that the full Mullin bill regulating MMA will ever reach President Trump’s desk for signature. But portions of it could be slipped into other legislation and make its way into a “must-sign” bill.

If Republican members of Congress want to be taken seriously as either the party of small government or a party that tackles serious rather than trivial issues, they should call time-out on Mullin’s grudge match against the promoters of his old sport — they should bench his bill.

"Why are Republican-led congressional subcommittees taking valuable time promoting what amounts to a partial federal takeover of a thriving industry?" Because there's money in it for them. Duh.

[GeneChing]

Federal regulation might need its own indie thread soon...

Congress should focus on cybersecurity, not mess with MMA
by Travis Korson | Mar 4, 2018, 12:01 AM


Given the long list of more pressing issues facing the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, it seems an odd use of members' valuable time and of taxpayer resources to spend two hours exploring the federal regulation of mixed martial arts. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

Cybersecurity is an issue that concerns every American today. As more and more economic activity is conducted online and Americans’ personal information is increasingly subjected to massive data breaches, it is important that proper safeguards are put in place to protect the American consumer from fraud and to secure their personal information.

That was why last year the House Energy and Commerce Committee created a Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection. And its creation could not have come at a more important time. From self-driving cars to the security of the Internet of things, a quick glance of the subcommittee’s hearing schedule makes it clear that its assigned members have their hands full keeping up with the breakneck pace at which technology is evolving.

But curiously tucked into the myriad of other hearings last year was one titled Perspectives on Mixed Martial Arts.

Given the long list of more pressing issues facing the committee, it seems an odd use of members’ valuable time and of taxpayer resources to spend two hours exploring the federal regulation of mixed martial arts, MMA. Especially when one considers the vast network of state-level policies that already govern the sport, the need for additional oversight or regulation appears to be minimal.

The growth of mixed martial arts is an entrepreneurial success story only possible in America. A full contact combat sport that uses a wide range of fighting styles, from boxing to judo, it originated in Asia and made its way to the United States in the early 1980s. By the early 1990s the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, the premier MMA league in the United States, had been created. In 1993 UFC 1 was held, ushering this virtually unknown sport into the American mainstream. MMA is now the fastest growing spectator sport in America and has bootstrapped itself up to reach an audience of over 40 million people.

Despite the fact that state regulators throughout the United States have adopted Unified Rules of MMA that ensure fighter safety and fair contests, some in Washington believe the federal government should step in and shackle the industry with additional regulation. H.R. 44, the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, ALI Act, is a misguided attempt to regulate the sport. The bill would effectively put bureaucrats in the strange position of ranking fighters and conducting matchmaking, a role that is currently handled ably by actors in the private sector. Even more concerning, the bill would supersede the states' current ability to regulate contracts and sporting events, setting up yet another unnecessary regulatory power grab.

Leading the charge in favor of the ALI Act is the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, MMAFA. While the organization has a stated goal of maximizing “the influence and earning capacity of its members in the sport of mixed martial arts” it appears to be nothing more than a front group for trial lawyers looking for a fat payday and unions looking to swell their rolls.

Rob Maysey, one of the leaders of MMAFA, is also a leading attorney in an antitrust lawsuit against UFC. Along with the Teamsters Local 986, which has tried in the past to unionize the UFC, the pair appear to be responsible for much of the support behind the MMAFA. If it seems odd than an industrial union is interested in the well being of athletes, look only to the MMAFA’s attempts to model themselves “after the Major League Baseball Players’ Association and the Screen Actors Guild,” two prominent unions in sports and entertainment.

Surprisingly, a Republican is the lead sponsor of the ALI Act. The special interests supporting this bill have found a champion in Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a former part-time UFC fighter who has taken exception to UFC’s ranking system, presumably after his own experience in the Octagon. While his interest in the issue is clear, what’s less evident is why his Republican colleagues on the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection found the issue pressing enough to hold a hearing given their loose jurisdictional connection and lack of a discernible need for additional MMA regulation.

Given President Trump’s efforts to repeal the regulatory state, it seems counterintuitive that Republicans would want to explore instituting such a large federal power grab, never mind provide an opening the very unions and trial lawyers they say hurt American business. Congress would be wise to kill this bill and give it the knockout it deserves.

Travis Korson is a Senior Fellow with Frontiers of Freedom, a public policy think tank devoted to promoting free markets, individual liberty, and constitutionally limited government. To learn more about Frontiers of Freedom, visit www.ff.org.

[GeneChing]

Anyone active here from Missouri?

Missouri House votes to ban children from mixed martial arts
Thursday, March 15th 2018, 11:23 am PDT
Thursday, March 15th 2018, 11:25 am PDT


The Missouri House has passed a proposal that would ban children 17 and younger from participating in mixed martial arts or professional kickboxing. (Source: Pixabay.com)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri House has passed a proposal that would ban children 17 and younger from participating in mixed martial arts or professional kickboxing.

The bill, approved Thursday in a 112-29 vote, would put amateur kickboxing and both professional and mixed martial arts under state supervision. In an amateur mixed martial arts contest, elbow strikes to the head would no longer be allowed, nor would knee strikes to the head during the first five bouts. However, contestants could agree to allow knee strikes after that.

Proponents say the rules will protect children from potential brain damage.

Opponents say the bill creates unnecessary regulations and infringes on parental rights.

The bill now moves to the Senate.

The bill is HB 1388

Thread: Kids and MMA
Thread: MMA legal in which states now?

[GeneChing]

McCain's opinion on MMA was discussed on this thread previously. Seems like as good a thread as any to post this then.

How John McCain Grew to Tolerate MMA, the Sport he Likened to “Human Cockfighting”
By NICK GREENE
AUG 26, 2018 5:24 PM


John McCain speaks at a press conference to show support for the Cleveland Clinic’s professional fighters study on April 26, 2016.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images

In 1996, John McCain called mixed martial arts “human cockfighting.” It was a good jab (never mind the fact that Arizona, the state McCain represented in Congress for over three decades, didn’t officially ban cockfighting until 1998). The term stuck. Even today, with MMA a popular and relatively main-stream form of entertainment, you’ll occasionally hear its critics use his “cockfighting” line. McCain, who died Saturday at the age of 81, may have wanted to destroy the sport in the 1990s, but he will be remembered by some as the man who helped save it.

McCain was not opposed to combat sports in general. He was a high school wrestler and an amateur boxer at the Naval Academy in the 1950s. McCain regularly attended boxing matches throughout his life and often sat ringside. But when he came across an Ultimate Fighting Championship tape in 1996, he was horrified. It looked nothing like his beloved pugilism. There were choke-holds and kicks, and fighters were permitted to pummel opponents on the ground. “To hit a man when he was down was un-American,” McCain declared.

McCain sent letters to every governor in the country and asked them to ban the “barbaric” enterprise (which he said was “not a sport”). David Plotz wrote about McCain’s war against the UFC for Slate in 1999, and he described the senator’s effective campaign:

Where McCain led, a prudish nation followed. George Will opined against UFC. The American Medical Association recommended a ban. New York state outlawed ultimate fighting, as did other states. The Nevada Athletic Commission refused to sanction UFC bouts, barring the UFC from the lucrative casino market … Lawsuits blocked or delayed UFC events all over the country, forcing the promoters to spend millions in legal fees.

When McCain became chairman of the commerce committee in 1997, he oversaw the cable industry. Looking to maintain influence in Washington, major cable operators shunned the UFC and hamstrung the company’s ability to make money via pay-per-view events. According to Plotz, “the UFC’s ‘addressable audience’—the potential number of PPV subscribers—shrank from 35 million at its peak to 7.5 million [in 1999].” MMA existed in America almost exclusively under the UFC banner, and the sport was down for the count.

It was undoubtedly rich that an avid boxing fan would accuse another sport of being overly dangerous, but this was more or less ignored at the time. In 1995, a year before he began his crusade against the UFC, McCain sat ringside at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and watched Colombian boxer Jimmy Garcia get pummeled through 11 rounds. Garcia was knocked out and stretchered to a hospital, and he died from his injuries 13 days later. When Plotz interviewed McCain in 1999, the senator cut their meeting short after Plotz asked him to explain the moral distinction between the two sports.

“If you can’t see the moral distinction,” McCain said, “then we have nothing to talk about!”

Still, the UFC of the 1990s was much different than today’s telegenic versions of MMA. There were few rules and no weight classes. Mismatched fights often came to unnecessarily gruesome conclusions. It was ugly, and whether it deserved to be called “human cockfighting” depended wholly on your opinions of cockfighting.

While McCain set out to destroy the UFC and MMA, he ironically wound up helping the sport. The bad press and persistent legal battles forced the UFC to work with state athletic commissions. It was a slow march towards legitimization, but the end result was a more modern and accepted iteration of what was once an amateurish celebration of bloody combat. Die-hards will insist that the sport was never overly dangerous to begin with, but few will argue that it hasn’t become more watchable.

McCain’s role in all this has not been forgotten. Dana White became UFC president in 2001 and oversaw the sport’s rebound and precipitous rise in America, but he’s eager to give credit to the Arizona senator. “I consider John McCain the guy who started the UFC,” White told Sports Illustrated in 2008. “If it wasn’t for McCain I wouldn’t be here right now.”

In 2014, then-UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta echoed White’s thoughts. “Without [McCain] doing what he did back in the ’90s to force regulation, this sport would be dead. It wouldn’t exist. Honestly, for all the negatives he caused, he actually allowed the sport to foster and grow.”

As MMA evolved, so did McCain’s opinions of it. “They have cleaned up the sport to the point, at least in my view, where it is not human cockfighting any more,” he said in 2007. Faint praise, perhaps, but it was a start. In 2014, a reporter for Inside MMA asked McCain if he would have tried mixed martial arts had it been around during his youth. “Absolutely. Absolutely,” answered McCain.