New York strikes down UFC lawsuit; appeal considered

A federal lawsuit filed four years ago by the UFC and industry veterans to break New York’s ban on professional MMA was dismissed today, prompting a terse response from the industry-leader.

In a ruling filed today in U.S. District Court in southern New York, judge Kimba Wood wrote the UFC had failed to meet the legal standard to prove a constitutional argument – one of four not previously dismissed by the court – that the ban’s vagueness had caused the promotion imminent harm.

Because the UFC hadn’t scheduled or planned events in the state prior to the suit, she furthered, the court could not provide a legal remedy to the situation. She offered, however, that the promotion “may consider filing new vagueness claims based on events that occurred after this lawsuit commenced.”

Wood zeroed in on statements made by the state’s attorney general’s office – the defendant in the UFC’s suit – that claimed the MMA ban prohibited sanctioned MMA competitions despite “plain language to the contrary.”

In a prepared statement released shortly after the ruling was reported by Jim Genia, a veteran MMA journalist based in New York, the UFC wrote: “UFC and the plaintiffs” – which include Gina Carano, Jon Jones, and Brian Stann – “are considering all options, including an appeal of the decision and the Court’s suggestion that they file new claims challenging the law.”

“The court’s decision confirms that New York law allows sanctioned professional MMA and that the (New York state attorney general) is wrong in prohibiting it,” read the statement. “UFC is a responsible corporate citizen and has chosen not to act contrary to the (attorney general’s) position, even though that position is legally unsustainable.”

Although the ruling may not end the UFC’s efforts to legalize MMA in New York via the courts, the decision certainly shifts the spotlight to the legislature, where the promotion has been locked in a years-long fight to pass a bill that would regulate the sport and pave the way for UFC events in the state, including the coveted destination of New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Reports indicate the promotion’s outlook has brightened considerably since the resignation of assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, a longtime MMA antagonist. As in several previous legislative sessions, a bill to legalize MMA recently passed the state Senate. Any bill, however, would need to be passed by the Senate and House, where previous bills died without receiving a vote.

“UFC, through the legislative process, has worked for years to have professional MMA legalized in New York, as it is in every other state in the nation,” the UFC’s statement read. “New York’s law was passed in 1997, when MMA was in its infancy and lacked the safety regulations that the UFC has introduced over the last decade.

“The poorly written law, as interpreted by the state athletic commission, prohibits professional MMA, but allows (without state regulation) martial arts events that combine martial arts styles, like K-1 and Muay Thai. Also the law – which the AG conceded in this lawsuit does not prohibit amateur MMA – leaves amateur MMA wholly unregulated, a fact the Association Boxing Commissioners have condemned.”

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