Mixed martial arts is now one step closer to regulation in New York.

Of course, the sport has been here before, so there is still some work to be done.

Nevertheless, the New York Senate today voted 42-18 in favor of Bill S1707A. It's a small victory for MMA fans in the Empire State, and the effort to legalize the sport will now shift to the New York State Assembly.

Assembly bill A04146, the New York State Assembly's version of the legislature that was passed in today's vote, was referred to the committee of tourism, parks, arts and sports development in February and has remained inactive since. A vote on the bill has not yet been scheduled, but interested observers can track the progress of the process here.

Several Senators today took the floor to speak in favor of the sport, including Senator Kevin Parker, who cited the safety record of MMA in comparison to other sports, while also clarifying that much of the brutality described by those against regulation in New York date back to a time before the institution of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.

Parker also explained that approving regulation would actually allow the government to add in additional safeguards should it be so inclined. And of course, the financial benefit of regulation was also addressed, and Parker alerted this fellow Senators to the millions of dollars in tax revenue being lost to nearby markets for a sport that New Yorkers can quite easily view on cable TV and pay-per-view.

It should be noted that today's vote is no guarantee the sport will be heading to Madison Square Garden anytime soon. In June 2010, the New York State Senate voted 32-26 to approve bill A02009 – that year's MMA bill – but it stalled in the Ways and Means committee. The previous year's bill also met the same fate.

New York state has long been one of the holy grails in the movement to legalize MMA across the country.

Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/23701/new-york-senate-approves-mma-regulation-but-sport-not-yet-legal-in-the-empire-state.mma

Promising news! Cool

The first UFC at Madison Square Garden better be epic!

when are we gonna stop listening to old people...?
their opinions on most things should be given no credit at all...
they come from a different time and a different way of thinking...
they had their time and got to make the world the way they want it...
now step aside with your fucked up outdated views on absolutely everything and let the current generation decide what we want...
i cant believe we let people who should already be dead (or soon will be!) influence decisions that effect the whole community...
in case you havent noticed these people cant really be considered part of the community and will be dead soon anyway...
its this way on most subjects... not just mma... think about it (this example is in regards to USA only)...

gay marriage... old people against it... young people dont care...
gun control... old people want their guns... young people wanna go to school without the risk of getting shot...
abortion... old people think its life... young people realise that shit and or mistakes do happen!
stem cells... old people dont understand it... young people realise it could cure anything and everything...
technology... most old people dont get it or keep up... most young people do...

hate on me all you want and i know its a bit off topic but its just an opinion guys...
if you dont agree with me then its all good... we all think differently!

i just think it sucks that most governments are made up of old people and that they get to determine what we should or shouldnt do...

Old people are every bit a part of our society as you youngsters. They're opinions are irrelevant?

i know people wont agree and its cool if you feel differently...
but yes that is the gist of what i said... wisdom is overrated!
theyre entitled to their opinions but not if they are gonna try and force it on the rest of us...
i guess my problem is more that we should have young people making the decisions rather than old people...
then old people can have all the opinions they want as long as they cant stop the rest of us from enjoying life...

and before you go getting offended i am anti-everything that sucks...
religion, marriage, monogamy, sobriety, kids, work, people living past 60 etc... im against all of it...
i do however support legalisation of marajuana worldwide, population control and anarchy!
so just realise i am crazy and dont waste time replying to me...

Happy birthday SyMBi0TiK