UFC’s Marc Ratner on MMA in New York: ‘We’re not going to get it done this year’

UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner spoke with MMAJunkie radio about the legalization of professional MMA in New York

“It’s never made it to the floor; I would say it will not make it to the floor again (this year),”

“I’m always cautiously optimistic,” he said “But right now, I feel like the handwriting is in big block letters on the wall and we’re not going to get it done this year.”

“I say not only is this un-American, this whole situation, (but) it circumvents the democratic process,” Ratner said. “All we’re saying is give us a vote. If we lose, then we need more education. But to never get a vote and have the votes is very frustrating.

By not legalizing professional MMA, New York is missing out on an estimated $135 million in revenue, however that doesn’t mean they’re willing to cave just yet, Nor does the fact that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo supports MMA. A total of 76 out of 101 votes is needed just to get the bill to Cuomo’s desk, something they don’t have yet according to Ratner.

“We have 60 sponsors,” he said. “You would think that’s pretty good; we just need another 15, 16 votes. But the powers that be have not let us be on there. It’s really wrong, and I’m frustrated.

“Mixed martial arts is a very small thing when you really look overall in the state of New York, (which is) billions of dollars in debt. We would bring in money, no doubt about it. But they have other things this happens to. Maybe this happens more around the country. I don’t know why they’d be afraid to bring it to the floor. But there’s some underlying reason, and so far, we’ve never been there.”