Alabama Nudges Closer to MMA
Jake Rossen Feb 16, 2010
As a state that once hosted congenital amputee Kyle
Maynard, Alabama has remained one of the surviving Wild West
occupations of amateur mixed martial arts in the country. Legality
is tenuous, but if you have a “sanctioning body” that approves your
event, you can get away with some alarming concepts.
That’s about to change: according to Vice Chair of the Athletic Commission Casey Sears, Alabama will put to vote in the House this week Bill HB457, which would give the newly-created boxing board authority over professional mixed-fight competition. If it passes, it will go to the State Senate for approval. According to Sears, few obstacles are expected: the language has the support of the UFC, which has hired a lobbyist in the state to escort it through.
The lone concern, he says, is the current sniping over whether the state should allow gambling. “It has really log-jammed everything. The reality may be that if they take so much time hammering that out and then get to necessary budget items, all secondary stuff seemingly less important overall may get pushed back. It wouldn’t be specific to MMA. It might be tons of bills. But if it’s just up or down vote, it should be easy to maneuver it through because it has so much support.”
The bill would give Sears and the board a greater degree of control over amateur events: any sanctioning bodies will have to be approved by Alabama before they can regulate any bouts. It would also leave only New York, West Virginia, and Connecticut as the lone holdouts. There was once a time when the sport would have been fortunate to have three states sanctioning it -- or at least not running it out of town. This is a satisfying contrast.
That’s about to change: according to Vice Chair of the Athletic Commission Casey Sears, Alabama will put to vote in the House this week Bill HB457, which would give the newly-created boxing board authority over professional mixed-fight competition. If it passes, it will go to the State Senate for approval. According to Sears, few obstacles are expected: the language has the support of the UFC, which has hired a lobbyist in the state to escort it through.
The lone concern, he says, is the current sniping over whether the state should allow gambling. “It has really log-jammed everything. The reality may be that if they take so much time hammering that out and then get to necessary budget items, all secondary stuff seemingly less important overall may get pushed back. It wouldn’t be specific to MMA. It might be tons of bills. But if it’s just up or down vote, it should be easy to maneuver it through because it has so much support.”
The bill would give Sears and the board a greater degree of control over amateur events: any sanctioning bodies will have to be approved by Alabama before they can regulate any bouts. It would also leave only New York, West Virginia, and Connecticut as the lone holdouts. There was once a time when the sport would have been fortunate to have three states sanctioning it -- or at least not running it out of town. This is a satisfying contrast.
