Look on the bright side, at least there are other combat sports options in your area. Personally, I would love to not have to go out of state to compete, but in WV, MMA, kickboxing, sanda, pretty much everything except boxing is not legal. The reason why is simple greed from the boxing comission, they don't want any hands in their cookie jar. Kickboxing and MMA are illegal, yet Toughman Contests are held in every city where any out of shape, untrained slob can show up that night and fight. Sucks but it is what it is.
"The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero projects his fear onto his opponent while the coward runs. 'Fear'. It's the same thing, but it's what you do with it that matters". -Cus D'Amato