New York’s most vocal politician against the regulation of mixed martial arts in New York state recently spoke in depth about why he is against MMA.
In the first part of a two part interview that will appear on today’s installment of “Inside MMA” on HD Net, Reilly articulated his opposition to regulating MMA in New York.
Via Cage Potato:
“What attracts people to Ultimate Fighting unfortunately is the violence and violence is not good for our society,” Reilly says. “The difference between mixed martial arts and every other sport is that in mixed martial arts the purpose is to damage your opponent.”
Payout Perspective:
Reilly’s voice matters as he sits on the Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development Committee. An admitted fan of boxing and football, Reilly’s opposition appears to be premised on the depictions of violence, the rules of mixed martial arts and a notion that it promotes violence in society. “Damage” as defined by Reilly seems to characterize MMA fighters as bloodthirsty bonebreakers. But, how many times have you seen an MMA fighter immediately release a submission hold once there is a tap or the referee instructs them to release the hold. You also see instances of remorse if a fighter causes a real injury to another opponent. Even after a fight, there is sportsmanship as the fighters, most of the time, shake hands or hug. Perhaps Reilly should look at this as helpful for society.
Also, what are the consequences in the UFC if you act outside the rules and attempt to hurt your opponent. (see, e.g. Paul Daley, Babalu, Palhares). I do not agree how Reilly attempts to differentiate the violence of boxing with that of MMA. In boxing, there are many times when a boxer is “out on his feet” and is not knocked down.
The Reilly interview will be interesting to watch and dissect his arguments. MMA in New York faces tough opposition for regulation.
Ah, New York… Where are term limits when we need them?
It’s become obvious to anyone paying attention, that, Bob Reilly is the sole voice leading the charge against MMA. I wonder, if we search deep enough, if there is any money changing hands between boxing promoters and Reilly. I cant wrap my mind around this sort of stubborn, backwards, uninformed and potentially damaging position. Im sure, the lobbying group funded by Zuffa have pointed out the safety of MMA in comparision to both Boxing and Football. Im interested in hearing more about why Reilly thinks what he does. It’s a shame, to me, that people use a political platform to impose their morality on a majority of people. This is what appears to be the case. Zuffa have their work and capital hard at work to get the State of New York to adopt the Unified Rulles of MMA. If, people that visit this site, have any issues with how Zuffa runs their business, just look no further then the uphill and almost endless investment of capital in the sanctioning of New York State. Where is Strikeforce?
The only logical explanation anyone has ever came up with is that one of the big labor unions in NYC is blocking MMA regulation because Station Casinos is an open shop.
There is a flaw in Bob Reilly’s thinking. Reilly says that MMA promotes violence in society. There are many other violent sports but I won’t get into that. I feel that in society there are those that have their violent side. MMA gives some of these people an outlet for their violent agressions. There are many martial arts and clubs around the world, all teaching “violence”, but they also teach respect above all. So all the Karate, Tae kwon do, wrestling, boxing clubs, etc. can exist but just not all together in one fighter! This rational doesn’t make any sense. If MMA is banned than all the other fighting sports have to be banned. Violence will exist in society whether we have MMA or not but with MMA perhaps more of it will be in the ring rather than on the streets.
Adam, I hear you loud a clear. The thing Zuffa and all other promotions need to know, if they want to do business in New York State is that unions have a strong hold in the state. The unions want to have certain assurances that Zuffa/MMA promoters will use union labor. There is nothing wrong with that, it happens everyday. The problem isn’t unions, it’s Bob Reilly. Reilly believes MMA is violent, so, regardless if a union likes it or not, he is against it.