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UFC's Lorenzo Fertitta issued the following letter to fans who have supported the movement to get MMA legalized in the State of New York, the final remaining hold-out:
As I’m sure you know by now, last week the State Assembly again failed to act on the bill to legalize and regulate MMA in New York – despite the State Senate having passed a bill to do so seven times in the last six years. I expressed bitter disappointment. Dana and some of our athletes, as well as many fans, went even further than that in denouncing the Assembly’s lack of action.
While our disappointment cannot be overstated, our commitment to seeing New York legalize the fastest growing sport in the nation and the world is intact and undeterred. We continue to strongly believe that legalizing and regulating MMA in New York is the right thing for the state economically, the right thing for the millions of fans in New York and most importantly, the right thing for the safety and benefit of the thousands of professional and amateur MMA athletes across the state. Of course, there is also the fact that New York is still the only place in North America where professional MMA is illegal.
I cannot thank you enough. You were an invaluable part of the grassroots lobbying effort that led to the bill having more sponsors and more supporters in the Assembly than ever before. It’s hard to believe that a bill with 74 sponsors in the 150-member State Assembly was not brought to a vote. We know that if it was, it would have easily passed, with overwhelming support from both Assembly Democrats and Republicans, just as it has passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the State Senate for the last six years.
We will stay in touch with you over the coming months as we continue to build support for passing the bill in 2016. You can continue to help by urging your family, friends, neighbors, fellow MMA fans to sign up on the website www.ufc.com/ny as you did. We will continue to push in Albany but I truly believe that the most important thing that will finally help push us over the top is the groundswell from New York’s MMA fans who demand that their Assemblymember support the bill and push the Assembly Speaker to allow a vote on the bill.
Again, thank you for your support. I truly hope that we see you in the Empire State in 2016!
Sincerely,
Lorenzo Fertitta
Chairman & CEO
