By Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Madison Square Garden is ready to go another round on behalf of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's battle to bring mixed martial arts bouts to New York.
Promoters for the UFC, the organization behind the biggest MMA matches, joined the head of MSG Sports on Thursday, to try, once again, to convince lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lift the ban on the sport in New York State, according to reports.
UFC released a study showing that sanctioning the fights would make millions for New York especially as the state struggles to close its $10 billion budget gap, the New York Post reported.
"We've talked about the economic impact, that's a real thing," UFC Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta said during the press conference, according to ESPN.
Holding two major fights, one at the Garden and another in Buffalo “would bring $23 million on an annual basis and create over 200 jobs, just by doing two shows in New York," Fertitta said.
MSG Sports President Scott O’Neil is in UFC’s corner and said he would travel to Albany to persuade lawmakers to sanction the sport, the Post reported.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to host one hell of an event," he said.
New York was the first state to ban MMA in 1997 but the sport is sanctioned in 44 other states, including New Jersey.
MMA matches pit different fighting techniques — boxing, wrestling, judo, krav maga, jiu-jitsu and kick-boxing, among others — against each other in frequently bloody matches.
During his tenure, Gov. David Paterson supported sanctioning MMA as a way to generate millions in tax revenue for the state but a proposal to legalize it didn’t get past the Assembly in 2010 despite being approved by the Senate.
Opponents of the sport say it’s too violent and liken the matches to “humans fighting each other like murderous dogs.”
But supporters argue the bouts are strictly regulated, like boxing matches.
Gov. Cuomo has not yet decided where he stands on the issue a spokesman told the Post.
