Got Five Seconds? Help CagePotato Lift the MMA Ban in New York!
(Madison Square Garden — the Promised Land.)
Hey Potato Nation. As you might be aware, MMA competition has been banned in New York since 1997, during the height of the "human cockfighting" scare. Though 37 states including California, Texas, Florida, and Illinois, have passed laws regulating mixed martial arts, the Empire State is still officially opposed to the sport — and old, crusty, and illogical forces are at work to keep it that way.
But rather than complaining about the situation, we're going to do something about it. That's why we're asking you to take a moment out of your day, go to our online petition, read it (that part's optional), and sign it. The petition is directed at the New York Assembly Committee on Tourism, Arts & Sports Development, who sunk last year's effort to get MMA sanctioned in New York, and will be voting again on the issue in the very near future. Our hope is that opponents of MMA in New York's State Legislature will get a little more education on the issue, and realize that public opinion — which every politician lives and dies by — is firmly on the side of our sport.
We know what kind of emotion-driven, infuriatingly uninformed arguments we're up against. We know that having to compete out-of-state affects Matt Serra's performance. And I think we all agree that MMA should be legal everywhere in the country, particularly in a major city like New York. (I'm just saying, it would be nice to take a subway to a UFC event rather than an airplane.) Please spread the word about our petition to any MMA fans you know, and as always, keep hope alive.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION!
(And if you have a Digg account, please show some love.)
DIGG THIS
Comments
mayhem420 Says:
Signed!!
I just hope that people dont start putting up fake names and stupid comments.
Good work Ben and Ben.... thanks for taking up the cause!!!
Hedgren Says:
I signed the shizniz out of that biatch!
NY 4 MMA 4-EVER [include other acronyms here].
Dmonicideals Says:
I'm on there, and i'm linking the site in the ****dog forums so we can get some serious traffiic on it.
Me Says:
Get on that crap Potato heads! Only 28 when I signed on. GoGoGo!
Kadumel Says:
WAR the NY Petition!! Is the word Sher really censored?
SoCal Says:
Signed and dugg. Guys, be sure you Digg the article as well. This could garner a ton more attention if it gets any love at all on Digg.
Bojangles Says:
Signed! The day MMA is passed in NY is probably going to be better than the birth of my first child whenever that happens. PS, i hate hate kids
Shatski Says:
I hope the FMK poll is down before anybody that the petition would go to would happen to come to this site to get educated about the authors, the fan base, and the sport that want to get taken seriously. It's a good poll idea, just don't want the cause to get hurt.
drummer Says:
Singed, glad to see my fellow canadians helping out to.
Daddyprimetime Says:
A little over 250 when I signed. Keep it going.
mayhem420 Says:
@Dmonicideals:
Good work!! Just checked and it seems to be recived pretty good over at Sherdog.
Lets hope that everyone can keep it serious.
Anonymous Says:
for those concerned about the big fight over the weekend, i just read it on aol fanhouse...
"The one-time admittedly juiced Bash Brother had only warning track power in the ring. He staggered former child star Danny Bonaduce with a couple of big blows in Saturday night's three-round fight, but failed to deliver the knockout punch and the celebrity boxing match ended in a deflating majority draw."
Bonaduce Vs. Conseco ends in a draw... what a shame
mayhem420 Says:
Bonaduce Vs. Conseco ends in a draw???
WTF is that about... I call shenanigans!!!
PaalSunde Says:
Let's do this thing.. 305 when i signed baby! Everybody in my family have signed.. even my little sister, she is 6. Good job Ben and Ben! I love you.
asian fart Says:
Who gives a big fat fried rice asian fart if there's mma in new york. Great state, but who gives a shit. I don't care where fights take place
MMA Wannabe Says:
Because some of us live there and would like to be able to take a cab for 20 minutes to see some fights rather than a flight, Mr. Asian Fart.
Also, Madison Square Garden sure looks like a fucking circle to me!
Signed
dominicanmma Says:
its at around 446 when i signed.
rokabee Says:
Very well put. I will have every1 in my office sign it!
Anonymous Says:
The opportunity to spend $500 a ticket on nose bleed seats in the Garden is going to be hard to pass up. I hope the legislature does the right thing and pushes this through.
But what were you thinking with these first two paragraphs:
“New York has had an active ban on the sport since 1997. At the time, pejorative labels like "human cockfighting" plagued the sport — and they weren't always unwarranted. But MMA in 2009 is a markedly different sport than it was 12 years ago, particularly since the advent of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts in 2001, which outlawed such dangerous techniques as head-butts and kicking the head of a downed opponent. . . . MMA matches are undoubtedly violent affairs which often leave their competitors bloodied, and there's always the possibility of injury. Thankfully, serious injuries remain a rare occurrence in MMA competition, and there's been only one death related to sanctioned competition in the U.S.”
Way to accentuate the positive.
It’s like saying, “Dad, why do you still hate my boyfriend Steve? I know he had some trouble in the past, but he hasn’t used crystal meth or heroin since 2001. Sure we have our fights, but he’s only punched me in the face once since he got sober! . . . Plus, he has Giant’s tickets. You like Giant’s tickets, don’t you?”
Old, Bald and Irish Says:
Signed.
Next petition should be for Pennsylvania.
Barack Obama Says:
#489 anything for mma
C-Bus Allstar Says:
Signed. go MMA!
CWR Says:
just to mention this... I was lucky #69.
Anonymous Says:
Let's see some MMA at MSG and Nassau Coliseum, it's long overdue.
Vince McMahon Says:
Your silly events will never draw a crowd like Wrestlemania does!
pizzabuster Says:
no need to ban mma--- rest of the cities are making big money----let the people choose whats good and not
Portzportsky Says:
I am signing the petition, but I swear to god if you send a hippie with a clipboard to my doorstep for this....I will find you Ben Fowlkes...........
Dose of reality Says:
Hate to rain on everyone's parade--and I'm glad you all want to do something--but a petition, signed by people outside of New York, will mean between little and nothing to these officials. I worked for a Congressman, and let me tell you--their staffers throw away petitions like this without so much as a glance from the rep.
But there is something that can be done...are any of you represented by any of the people on the Committee? If so, I recommend *highly* that you make an appointment to speak with him/her. Visit their office, dress professionally, conduct yourself professionally, and explain why New York would benefit from sanctioning MMA. Mention the economic benefits, downplay the violence (much safer than boxing due to knock-out rules, etc). If you can't get an appointment, call and speak with a staffer (you probably won't get the rep). Say you are a voter, are represented by him/her, and you support MMA being sanctioned in NY.
Mir's Balls Says:
Electronic signatures on an electronic petition are inadmissible in court. The petition carries no weight, I'm all for it, but it carries no weight.
Jay Says:
I signed it cause god knows nothing moves the world like an online petition.
Sneaky Pete Says:
@Dose
Thanks Dose for the heads up; I know a lot of us were thinking that. But a Moral show of support won't necessarily be shrugged of by NY politicians. Despite the fact that many of us are not constituents per se, we may carry some weight as fans and potential buyers of the tickets that they would sell, to say nothing of the PPV revenues that they will no doubt get a percentage. They may be just as likely to hear out those who are potential purchasers of their venues as they are to their own constituency; or at least they should.
bubbafat Says:
I don't know why fighters don't get together on this one. It seems to me that the only ones worth listening to are the participants. As a fan, I'm biased, but if I was an opponent to the sport it would take a fighter or former fighter to convince me otherwise. Hearing the good and the bad from the horses mouth tends to be a little less ignored. Fighters like Rich Franklin, Kenny Florian, and Randy Couture could do their sport good if they were the ones lobbying and not the lobbyists. Who would you rather listen to? A panel of semi- intelligent fighters would go a long way . Who will be the ambassador?
Anonymous Says:
FUND IT
Signed. Almost to 900 guys, keep on keepin on
greenseed Says:
955
keep em coming folks
Billy Bad Ass Says:
I was 972... and 3 more had signed after me.
riverdog Says:
tell your friends, post this link, lets get in NY
Greg Says:
I read that Times blog last week and it just made me sad to see what low-caliber material is now passing muster at NYT. I get that it's only a blog, but at a time when the future of the Paper of Record in this country is in question -and when web innovations like the blog may be the only thing that can save it- would it be too much to ask for the journalists charged with salvaging the paper to dedicate a few moments of their day to responsible reporting?
riverdog Says:
up to 1123 tell a friend
Anonymous Says:
signed!
MMA Wannabe Says:
@ Greg
Yes. It is too much to ask.
nippletwist Says:
sorry, i dont have five seconds
theflyingtsunami Says:
I signed (especially being a New Yorker and all) but would also like to start a petition to fight Bob "asswipe" Reilly once legislation is approved and show him all the secret things you're allowed to do in MMA that we don't tell the public. Hell, even my 92 yr old Grandpa wants to beat his ass for being such a schmuck.
Anonymous Says:
MMA is a sick violent sport and should be banned everywhere.
Anonymous Says:
I was told to sign this
Anonymous Says:
fuck off im an mma fan, i dont know what a petition is
KTFO Says:
CNN transcripts
Now let's see what our Senior Correspondant War Machine has to say on the subject. Machine?
WM: Fuck an MMA ban!
Thank you War, as always that was incredibly insightful, any other thoughts you'd like to share?
WM: Gonareah hurts!
Awesome.