UFC Cashes Out in NY
Jake Rossen Oct 5, 2010
According to Monday’s edition of The New York Post -- picked up by
FightOpinion’s Zach Arnold -- the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, has
dumped nearly $75,000 into the campaign of governor’s office
candidate Andrew Cuomo. You do not need a flow chart to understand
that Zuffa would like Cuomo to be their state muscle when
legislation for legalizing MMA comes up again. (It was shot down
earlier this year by the Assembly; New York remains one of only two
states with specific laws prohibiting MMA.)
Cuomo, the state’s current Attorney General, is the Democratic nominee; his rival, Republican Carl Paladino, has been under media scrutiny for making unfounded accusations about Cuomo’s fidelity during a prior marriage. As usual, politics make MMA seem tame in comparison.
Is this the final furlough in what’s amounted to a 13-year struggle to get the sport recognized in one of the most economically viable states in the nation? Cuomo hasn’t issued a statement one way or the other, and Paladino is said to have “reservations” about MMA. Funding politicians is no guarantee they’ll be sympathetic to your cause. Polls show Cuomo may have as much as a double-digit lead over Paladino.
Either man would have to navigate around the efforts of Bob Reilly, a state Assemblyman who holds some influence over the Assembly and has a Draconian view of combat sports fed by a child’s understanding of the activity. Reilly’s “Chicken Little” act will eventually be tossed, though the state’s MMA fans might have to wait until he retires or moves to a new career. Someone has to keep that Elvis off of TV.
Cuomo, the state’s current Attorney General, is the Democratic nominee; his rival, Republican Carl Paladino, has been under media scrutiny for making unfounded accusations about Cuomo’s fidelity during a prior marriage. As usual, politics make MMA seem tame in comparison.
Is this the final furlough in what’s amounted to a 13-year struggle to get the sport recognized in one of the most economically viable states in the nation? Cuomo hasn’t issued a statement one way or the other, and Paladino is said to have “reservations” about MMA. Funding politicians is no guarantee they’ll be sympathetic to your cause. Polls show Cuomo may have as much as a double-digit lead over Paladino.
Either man would have to navigate around the efforts of Bob Reilly, a state Assemblyman who holds some influence over the Assembly and has a Draconian view of combat sports fed by a child’s understanding of the activity. Reilly’s “Chicken Little” act will eventually be tossed, though the state’s MMA fans might have to wait until he retires or moves to a new career. Someone has to keep that Elvis off of TV.
