New York Assembly's Tourism Committee to hold public hearing on injuries in combat sports
Holly Holm strikes defending champion Ronda Rousey (left) in the Women's Bantamweight Bout during UFC 193 at Etihad stadium in Melbourne, Australia on Nov. 15, 2015. Credit: EPA / Joe Castro
A New York State Assembly committee will hold a public hearing next month to examine the potential injuries associated with combat sports including boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts, a source said.
The Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development seeks to hear testimony about the nature and frequency of injuries suffered by professional boxers, wrestlers, MMA fighters and athletes in other combative sports. The hearing also could serve as a way to review the current safety protocols for these sports.
The meeting is scheduled for Dec. 11 at the Assembly Hearing Room at 250 Broadway in Manhattan.
The Assembly's tourism committee, chaired by Assemb. Margaret Markey (D-Queens), is where the bill to legalize MMA in New York originates. Markey has said in the past that she is against legalizing MMA in New York based on health and safety issues.
A call to Markey's media representative was not immediately returned.
New York remains the only state and the only place in North America with a ban on professional MMA. Amateur MMA events are legal in New York, but are not sanctioned by the New York State Athletic Commission.
NYSAC would be the sanctioning body if and when the sport is legalized.
Legalizing MMA in New York has been a political battle over the years. It has passed through the State Senate for six consecutive years, but the bill has stalled in the Assembly each year. The 2015 legislative session that ended in July brought the bill as close as it ever has come to making it out of the Democratic conference and onto the Assembly floor for a full vote.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, the leading MMA promotion in the world, announced in September that it would put on a fight card at Madison Square Garden on April 23, 2015. That is pending legalization of the sport. UFC also filed suit in federal court in Manhattan in September to try to have the state's ban declared unconstitutional. A hearing is expected later this year or early next year.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
