MMA Ban Remains in N.Y., Despite Risks to Amateurs

The sport of Mixed Martial Arts remains controversial. Once the province of bare-knuckled underground fights, MMA has evolved into a lucrative and increasingly mainstream sport.

Except in New York. In New York, MMA has been banned since 1997, and is remains the only state in the country to do so. Two decades ago, MMA was a different sport -- with more blood and fewer safeguards. The ban, however, does not encompass amateur MMA, and bouts are regularly held throughout the state with scant oversight or protection for fighters (or spectators). An amateur MMA fighter can enter the ring without being examined or tested for illnesses (including blood-borne illnesses such as hepatitis C or HIV) or for recent concussion injuries. A fighter may be injured in New York and then travel to another state and fight without a record of the nature or extent of the injuries sustained in New York. This is particularly alarming given what we now know about concussions and the potentially dire consequences of successive trauma. These risks have been allowed to fester for years because of a gap in the law. The risk does not stop at the doorstep of New York: an amateur MMA fighter who is injured or exposed to an illness in New York may be putting others at risk by traveling to another state.

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