HARTFORD — The Connecticut legislature is getting ready to rumble.
A bill that would sanction and regulate mixed martial arts fights in the state is coming up for a public hearing next week, and supporters are ready and waiting at the ropes for the change.
“Our mantra is, ‘we run to regulation,’†said Mark Ratner, vice president of regulatory and governmental affairs for UFC, the nation’s largest mixed martial arts promoters.
Ratner also is the former head of Nevada’s state Athletic Commission, which sanctions and regulates boxing, and said he would like to see the doctors, medical insurance and management that sport boasts become available to mixed martial arts fighters in Connecticut.
Currently, six states do not sanction mixed martial arts bouts: Wyoming, Alaska and Montana do not have state-wide athletic regulatory agencies, and so do not sanction or regulate fights. Vermont, New York and Massachusetts have athletic regulatory bodies but, at least until now, have not allowed mixed martial arts fights.
In states without regulatory agencies, mixed martial arts fights take place, but “underground,†Ratner said. In Connecticut, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun hold mixed marital arts fights, as they are both sovereign nations with their own regulatory systems, but there also are unregulated fights taking place between local martial arts schools.
“They’re called ‘smoker matches,’†said Dan Semeraro, owner of Thunder MMA in Watertown.
“Smoker matches†are not the bloody, bare-knuckle bouts one might envision, according to Semeraro. There are “a lot more rules,†bigger gloves and more mutual respect.
“I don’t want to say it’s underground,†he said. “It’s more different schools getting together. More of a sparring session than a real fight.â€
Keith Sheldon, director of business operations for AEG, which operates Hartford’s XL Center, said he’ll be testifying next week before the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Security with the message mixed martial arts will be good for his venue, and good for Connecticut. Sheldon anticipates the first mixed martial arts fight would “absolutely sell out,†bringing in an anticipated $2 million, gross, 10 percent of which would go to the state for admissions tax.
“It will be one of our highest-grossing events ever, if not the highest-grossing event ever,†he said.
Mixed martial arts is not without its detractors. A 2006 study by John Hopkins Medical University looked at 171 mixed martial arts matches, finding “40.3 percent of fights ended with at least one injured fighter.†According to the study, the most common injuries were facial laceration, hand injury, nose injury and eye injury.
The issue, according to Semeraro, is one of perception.
“It’s not the barbaric sport its gets portrayed as sometimes,†he said, calling it an “old stereotype.â€
“There’s some people who just don’t like seeing people get punched in the face,†said Ralph Purificato, who runs the blog CTMMAnews.com.
Ratner, too, said the common perception is very often wrong. The Johns Hopkins study, as well, concluded the sport has seen changes.
“Mixed martial arts competitions have changed dramatically since the first Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993,†the study says. “The overall injury rate in MMA competitions is now similar to other combat sports, including boxing.â€
“Some people believe it’s still 1993, no-holds-barred and no rules,†Ratner said. “That’s not the sport we’re bringing.â€
Ratner will head to Albany to lobby for the sport, before heading to Connecticut next week. He said he expects Vermont to sanction mixed martial arts this year, as well as New York. He doesn’t see a problem in this state, either.
