The UFC spent nine years and $2,000,000 dollars trying to get legislators in NY’s capitol Albany to regulate mixed martial arts. Five times it passed the Senate but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver refused to bring it to a vote, reportedly under pressure from a Nevada union upset over a hotel and casino chain also owned by the UFC’s then owners.

Thus New York remained the only state or province in North America where MMA was prohibited. But amateur MMA contests were taking place, often without blood tests. Fighters with Hepatitis and even HIV were competing in New York; without regulation, nothing stopped them.

Then Silver was arrested and convicted on corruption charges. New Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is a supporter of the MMA, and in April, New York finally came around.

Now the state athletic commission has published a draft of rules for pro mixed martial arts.

The law mandates an insurance benefit of $1,000,000 to cover medical costs associated with treating life-threatening brain injuries for fighters. However, as Jim Genia noted, critically, the brain injury has to be diagnosed within 48 hours. This means fighters suffering from the effects of a lifetime of combat sports cannot under the law demand compensation from the promoter, based on a fight or fights in New York.

There is an innovative requirement that any fighter losing three fights in a row via T/KO or losing six fights in a row received an automatic suspension. Reinstatement takes place after the AC reviews medical records. A T/KO resulting in head trauma reasonably received a mandatory 30-day medical suspension.

The UFC will hold its first event in New York since 1995 at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden on November 12.

This draft of the regulations is subject to a 45-day public comment period.