Royce Gracie goes to bat to bring MMA to NY

TFK · Jan 25, 2009

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions...bring_mma_to_ny__legend_is_ready_to_brin.html

Bring MMA to N.Y. â€“ Legend is ready to bring the fight to Albany to get sanctioned bouts here

By Royce Gracie
Sunday, January 25th 2009, 4:00 AM

Mixed martial arts is currently banned in New York, but a big fight is planned for Albany. That's where lobbyists and industry executives will go head to head with state lawmakers to persuade them to legalize MMA here.

Thirty-seven states have already done just that, and it's time for New York to get onboard.

When I started fighting, it was not MMA. It was No-Holds-Barred (or Vale Tudo, which translates into Anything Goes), a match with very little rules, no weight limits, no time limits, no gloves. It was a concept that my family brought over from Brazil, where my father Helio Gracie would challenge fighters from other disciplines to bare-knuckle fights. My brother Rorion brought that concept to America, and together with Art Davie and Bob Meyrowitz, Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, was born. It was very successful, and UFC was doing great PPV numbers at a time when only select households had PPV. Still, the sport had its critics.

Those critics should look back at the start of what today is the NFL, to see that early football uniforms had very little padding and players wore lightweight leather helmets. There was very little body protection. Guys weighing 250 pounds were running at full speed and slamming into each other. That, too, could be considered violent. Look at a retired NFL lineman - not an old-timer, but a player leaving the game today - and look at me. Battered and broken, NFL players struggle with their health. At 39, I am fit and healthy and ready to have matches with men much younger than I am.

The sport has gone through major innovations since I first entered the octagon. Over the past 15 years, what started out as Vale Tudo has grown into what we know today as the sport of MMA.

And MMA is, indeed, a sport, with rules and state regulations, weight limits, time limits and drug testing. The sport has gone through a transformation as any legitimate sport does. We are now light-years beyond leather helmets.

I have always been the kind of guy who says, "If you don't like what you hear or what you see, that's okay." When I came from Brazil to the United States, that's what I loved about this country - having choices is what makes America great. If you don't like something, you don't have to watch it, read it or listen to it. MMA promoters are not asking to hold free public events, where someone who does not like MMA may be exposed to it without their knowledge. MMA events take place inside a big venue and you have to buy a ticket.

It's wrong for people who want to see the event to be denied that just because some people, usually who know nothing about the sport and have never seen it, don't want it around. I have this to say to those people: If you are not interested in MMA, don't buy a ticket, don't order PPV. It's un-American to deny me and other MMA fans the fun and entertainment that a live event would bring just because you don't like it.

I can go on about the financial impact that legalizing MMA will have on the economy in New York, but I will let the guys who crunch the numbers do that. It's a no-brainer. The sport will bring in big bucks, so don't get in its way. Instead, embrace it, enjoy it, go see a live event, feel the energy.
And to the critics, I have just one thing to say: turn the channel.

Gracie is still active in the MMA fight world. He holds the record for the longest MMA fight in history - a 90-minute bout against Kazushi Sakuraba of Japan.
Click to expand...

TFK

Beyond the Grave · Jan 25, 2009

I think Ken Shamrock should get in on this too.He's always been a great rep for MMA.

whiskey · Jan 25, 2009

"It's wrong for people who want to see the event to be denied that just because some people, usually who know nothing about the sport and have never seen it, don't want it around. I have this to say to those people: If you are not interested in MMA, don't buy a ticket, don't order PPV."

Exactly, however there are always assholes who like to tell other people what they should or shouldn't be allowed to watch.

You shouldn't even have to have what amounts to diplomats in these situations, but that's the way it has become. Because i don't like something i should have the right to prevent my neighbor from seeing it. :boohoo:

Explosivo · Jan 26, 2009

:bears::bears:

Makes me sick to my stomach.

Some of the very same people who try to keep fans from watching this...are some of the very same people who whack off to beastiality, kiddie porn and other fucked up shit on the internet:notallthere:.

And they think it would be better for us not to watch mix martial arts competition?

atomicdOGg34 · Jan 26, 2009

shit, i may have to go, i live about 45 mins- 1 hour from albany

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Royce Gracie goes to bat to bring MMA to NY

TFK WBC Silver Diamond Emeritus Champ

Beyond the Grave Undisputed Champion

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Explosivo Undisputed Champion

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Royce Gracie goes to bat to bring MMA to NY

TFK WBC Silver Diamond Emeritus Champ

Beyond the Grave Undisputed Champion

whiskey Czarcasm

Explosivo Undisputed Champion

atomicdOGg34 "Twinkle Toes" McJack

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