The state of New York continues to fight against the tide that is the expansion of mixed martial arts. Today it was announced that information to legalize the sport within New York was absent from 2011-2012 budget created by newly elected governor Andrew Como.
This comes a few weeks after the UFC held a large press conference within Madison Square Garden to present research findings that stated how well the legalization of MMA would bring funding into the state. The research found that yearly events within the Empire State could bring an additional $23 million dollars in funding. Even with the release of that information, the sport was still left off the coming year’s budget which puts a serious cramp in the push to bring MMA to New York.
Mixed martial arts is technically banned in the state due to legalization from 1997 which was in answer to a proposed UFC event to be held in New York. Since that time, the UFC has led a charge to change the perception of the sport through the use of various rules and safety precautions. Currently, New York is one of only six states that still do not allow the presence of the sport.
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