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Leagues and Governing Bodies

UFC Schedules '16 Event At MSG, Files Lawsuit To Overturn New York State's MMA Ban

UFC will "move ahead with plans" for an April 23 event at MSG, despite the state of New York's "ban on professional MMA fights," according to Casey Seiler of the Albany TIMES UNION. The promotion yesterday "filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the 1997 state law banning pro MMA events is unconstitutional because of vague language that allows regulators 'to pick and choose arbitrarily what events they will permit.'" The suit also "contends that today's MMA fighting is safer and far more regulated [than] the slugfests of almost two decades ago." New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and two top officials at the State Liquor Authority, which "currently prohibits venues with liquor licenses ... from hosting pro MMA bouts," are "named as defendants in the action." UFC said that it will "ask for a preliminary injunction to block state officials from enforcing the ban" (Albany TIMES UNION, 9/29). On Long Island, John Riley notes MMA events are "allowed in the other 49 states." The UFC said that its televised events "reach a half-billion homes worldwide" and that the promotion is "featured in major films and has mainstream sponsors such as Anheuser-Busch, and that it will lose millions in revenue" if the event at MSG has to be canceled (NEWSDAY, 9/29). ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto noted this is "not the first time the UFC has announced a reserved date" at MSG. UFC President Dana White publicly stated earlier this year that the promotion had reserved Dec. 5 at MSG, "but those plans were nixed when legislation again failed to legalize the sport at the conclusion of a summer session in June" (ESPN.com, 9/28).

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