UFC eye New York after MMA ban lifted despite 'drug use, child molestation, gay porn, and domestic violence' accusation

New Yorn became the last US state to lift the ban on mixed martial arts, with the UFC tipped to hold a show at Madison Square Garden in November

Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz compete at UFC 196 (Getty Images)

After over twenty years of resistance, the sport of mixed martial arts finally became legalised in the state of New York, the last North American state where the sport remained illegal. The change in the law came when the MMA bill was finally read by the New York State Assembly and was passed after it had been through the Democratic Conference and then a floor vote.

This however, occurred after one of the most bizarre assembly debates in New York's history, where some members spoke in favour of the bill while others who opposed legalising the sport went to the extremes of linking it to organised crime, drug use, child molestation, gay porn, and domestic violence.

The bill was passed by a majority of 113 'Yes' votes to just 25 'No' votes.

The leading organisation in the sport, the UFC, have spearheaded the campaign for MMA to become legalised in New York for over two decades but had met resistance from one man - Sheldon Silver.

Silver was appointed as Speaker in 1994 and was openly opposed to the sport being legalised in the state throughout his tenure. While he was in that position, it looked almost impossible for the sport to be legalised in the state. However, the situation changed when Silver was arrested on January 30th, 2015 on federal corruption charges and he was then forced to step down from his position as Speaker just eight days later.

Silver stepping down opened up the possibility for the UFC to get their foot firmly in the door of the Assembly and have the bill be debated and voted upon for the first time.

How the law was changed:

• On Monday morning, the bill needed to pass through three committees: Ways and Means, Codes and Tourism, and Parks Arts and Sports Development, which it did.
• The vote then went to the floor of the assembly where it was debated on for over four hours with several members coming forward and explaining why they thought the bill should or shouldn't be passed.
• The bill required 76 votes from the assembly members in order for it to be legalised and to the delight of all those in favour of the bill, 113 Democrats within the assembly voted in favour of legalising the sport, thus passing the bill and legalising the sport within the state of New York.

The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) now have 120 days to establish their state rules and regulations for the staging of professional MMA in the state of New York.


 Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones could attract the New York audience
 (Getty Images)

The passing of the bill comes after years of hard campaigning by several MMA advocates both inside and outside of the UFC. In recent weeks, there has been support from the likes of Chris Weidman, Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones who have spoken of their desire to compete in the State and have been seen speaking at several different venues around the state about why the sport should be legalised.

Even before the turn of events, it was already heavily rumoured that the UFC have already pencilled in a date in November for their first ever show at Madison Square Garden. Should it go ahead, the UFC will have no shortage of East Coast fighters they can put on the historic card with the likes of Jones, Frankie Edgar, Weidman and Al Iaquinta just some of the organisation's star names either based in New York itself or the neighbouring New Jersey.