New York Senate approves MMA regulation, but sport not yet legal in the Empire State

Mixed martial arts is now one step closer to regulation in New York.

Of course, the sport has been here before, so there is still some work to be done.

Nevertheless, the New York Senate today voted 42-18 in favor of Bill S1707A. It's a small victory for MMA fans in the Empire State, and the effort to legalize the sport will now shift to the New York State Assembly.

Assembly bill A04146, the New York State Assembly's version of the legislature that was passed in today's vote, was referred to the committee of tourism, parks, arts and sports development in February and has remained inactive since. A vote on the bill has not yet been scheduled, but interested observers can track the progress of the process here.

Several Senators today took the floor to speak in favor of the sport, including Senator Kevin Parker, who cited the safety record of MMA in comparison to other sports, while also clarifying that much of the brutality described by those against regulation in New York date back to a time before the institution of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.

Parker also explained that approving regulation would actually allow the government to add in additional safeguards should it be so inclined. And of course, the financial benefit of regulation was also addressed, and Parker alerted this fellow Senators to the millions of dollars in tax revenue being lost to nearby markets for a sport that New Yorkers can quite easily view on cable TV and pay-per-view.

It should be noted that today's vote is no guarantee the sport will be heading to Madison Square Garden anytime soon. In June 2010, the New York State Senate voted 32-26 to approve bill A02009 – that year's MMA bill – but it stalled in the Ways and Means committee. The previous year's bill also met the same fate.

New York state has long been one of the holy grails in the movement to legalize MMA across the country. UFC president Dana White is encouraging New York residents to contact their Assembly member to voice support of regulation in the state.

"It's time to bring the fastest growing sport in the world to New York," UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta stated in an official release. "With every passing month, our sport gets more and more popular around the country and in New York. We want to thank the State Senate, and we’re confident that when Assembly members take an objective look at our safety record, our popularity with their constituents, and the economic benefits and jobs we would bring to the State, they will take the same action and UFC fans will finally be able to see live UFC events in their home state."