UFC Lawsuit Against New York MMA Ban Dismissed, Appeal Considered

A judge has dismissed claims surrounding the ambiguity of laws banning professional MMA in the state of New York amid suggestions the rules are too vague.

Speaking at a ruling in the U.S. district court in New York, the judge, Kimba Wood, tossed out claims in a federal lawsuit filed by the UFC four years ago alleging the laws were indefinite. However, she revealed the brand “may consider filing new vagueness claims based on events that occurred after this lawsuit commenced,” per Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie.

As noted by the piece, the UFC released the following statement in which the law is later referred to as “poorly written”:

UFC and the plaintiffs 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.

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.

As noted by Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting, Zuffa—the UFC’s parent company—filed the lawsuit back in 2011.

Various aspects of the case had been dismissed, but the court had failed to rule out the claims of vagueness. However, with that facet of the suit now dismissed too, a solution via the courts has been rendered unreachable.

While an appeal seems inevitable, it’ll be intriguing to see which direction the UFC takes in its attempts to legalise MMA in the state.

Indeed, some of the biggest names in the sport have been doing their utmost to help change the ruling currently in place, per UFC Tonight:

As noted by MMAWeekly.com, the state’s laws to ban the sport have been in place since 1997, but since then, there have been various enhancements made to the MMA landscape, most notably when it comes to safety protocols. It also means iconic UFC events can’t be held at illustrious venues like Madison Square Garden.

New York remains the only state in the United States in which such legislation remains in place. The law seems to leave MMA unregulated, with martial arts disciplines like kickboxing and muay thai, which combine various styles, otherwise permitted.