Court Denies Alvarez's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction

Here is a copy of the decision.  No April UFC for Eddie Alvarez.

Alvarez PI decision by

Association of Boxing Commissions Letter to Governor Cuomo et al.

Here is a letter we wrote on behalf of the ABC to Governor Cuomo and other government officials concerning the statute purportedly banning mixed martial arts in New York. 

Jim Genia has, as always, done a nice job summarizing here. 

Fight Lawyer

Letter to Governor Cuomo et al. from ABC by   

Muay Thai Returns to The Theater at Madison Square Garden Tomorrow Night -- Weigh-In Tonight

Looking forward to another great night of Muay Thai at The Theater at MSG tomorrow night.  Official Weigh-in is tonight at the Theater Lobby at MSG.

The first event at MSG, promoted by TaKe On Productions, was awesome and filled up the Theater.  Look forward to seeing you there.  Tickets are still available and start at $35 and can be purchased at www.THEATERATMSG.com, all Ticketmaster locations, the Garden box office, and at Muay Thai and MMA gyms throughout NY, NJ, and PA. TaKe On VIP ticket packages will also be available via www.TakeOnProductions.com, along with the full fight card, fighter information, and other exciting content.


 Here is the press release with the full fight card:

“MUAY THAI AT THE MECCA 2”

OFFICIAL WEIGH-IN

TODAY – November 9 at 7:00 P.M. ET

The Theater Lobby at Madison Square Garden

All fighters participating in “Muay Thai at the Mecca 2” will step on the scale for their Official Weigh-In Tomorrow – November 9 in the Theater Lobby at Madison Square Garden. TaKe On Productions in association with MSG Sports present “Muay Thai at the Mecca 2”, a professional and amateur Muay Thai kickboxing event set for Saturday, November 10 from The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Tickets start at just $35 and can be purchased at www.THEATERATMSG.com , all Ticketmaster locations, the Garden box office, and at Muay Thai and MMA gyms throughout NY, NJ, and PA. TaKe On VIP ticket packages will also be available via www.TakeOnProductions.com, along with the full fight card, fighter information, and other exciting content.

“Muay Thai at the Mecca 2”, will feature an explosive thirteen bout card including a main event featuring #1 ranked U.S. fighter and WBC Champion Chike Lindsay (15-4 [Bangkok Boxing, GA]) will face Cyrus “Black Dynamite” Washington (50 wins, 48 KO’s), arguably North America’s most exciting Muay Thai fighter. Washington, now fighting out of Long Island’s Militia Fight Academy, spent years as a professional fighter living and training in Thailand. He has defeated many international superstars, and is looking to build his fame on his native land. Lindsay looks to stay on the winning path after an impressive win over Thailand's Malaipet Sasiprapa, which elevated his ranking from #3 to #1.

In the Co-Main Event of the evening, Knockout Artist/Arab Boxing World Champion Eddie Martinez (27-4-1 [Sitan Gym CT]) will face internationally ranked Italian fighter Angelo Campoli (22-7 [Milan Italy]). Martinez recently won a world title at the Arab Boxing World Championship in Dubai with a seventh-round knockout of Russia's Illman Arskahanov, and he also holds the TaKe-On record for most Knockouts via head-kick. Campoli recently fought on the Yokkao Extreme event in Milan, Italy against Thai sensation Imwiset Pornnarai where he took a narrow decision loss.

The first-ever “K-1 Rules” fight in TaKe-On history will be a highly anticipated rematch between UFC Veteran Ryan "The Lion' Madigan (27-6-1 [Evolve MMA Ohio]) and Tarek "The Tiger" Rached (26-3{AFC Kickboxing]). Tarek scored a close victory the first time the two met, and Ryan is coming off an impressive TKO victory over Rigel Balsamico in the Main Event of the inaugural "Muay Thai at the Mecca".

WHAT: OFFICIAL WEIGH-IN FOR “MUAY THAI AT THE MECCA 2”

WHO: ALL PARTICIPANTS ON THE CARD

WHEN: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9 – 7:00 P.M.

WHERE: THEATER LOBBY AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

(Enter through Theater doors at 7th Avenue and 32nd Street)

Take-On Productions, in association with MSG Sports, presents

“Muay Thai at the Mecca 2”

The Theater at Madison Square Garden

Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 7:30PM

Blue Corner WT Weigh In Red Corner WT

1 P 5X3 Cyrus Washington [50-20 48KO] 155 vs. Chike Lindsay [15-4] 155
(Militia Fight Academy, Long Island) (Bangkok Boxing, Atlanta GA) #1 in US

2 P 3X3 Ryan Madigan [27-6-1] 175 vs. Tarek Rached [26-3] 175
(Evolve MMA, Ohio) (AFC Kickboxing, Long Island)

3 P 3X3 Nick Vaughan [14-1] 155 vs. Phillip LeGrand [11-1] 155
(The Wat, NYC) (Fit For Life-Brooklyn, NYC)

4 P 5X3 Jay Matias [16-6 11KO] 132 vs. Cody Moberly [ - ] 132
(Sitan Gym NY) (Janjira Muay Thai, Kansas)

5 P 5X3 Eddie Martinez [20-8] 147 vs. Angelo Campoli [21-7] 147
(Sitan Gym CT) (Milan, Italy)

6 A 3X2 Chantal Perry [2-2] 140 Vs. Irina Khouade [2-0] 140
(Renzo Gracie NYC) (5 Points Academy)

7 A 3X2 Elijah Clarke [12-4] 155 Vs. Angel Flores [6-3] 155
(Renzo Gracie NYC) (Team Kamikaze, NYC)

8 A 3X2 Henry Lee [1-0] 147 Vs. Sokun Kit [3-1] 147
(Class One MMA-BK) (Militia Fight Academy LI)

9 A 3X2 Jess NG [7-1] 105 Vs. Melanie Odria [4-2] 105
(Sitan Gym NYC) 3rd – 105 (Seapanong Muay Thai, VA)

10 A 5X2 Joey Hernandez [6-3] 145 Vs. Sean Fagan [10-3] 145
(Mushin MMA NYC) (Westchester Fight Academy)

11 A 3x2 Ariel Abreu [6-0] 185 Vs. Steve Hernandez [5-1] 185
(Camp Undefeated NYC) (PinPoint Muay Thai, LI)

12 A 3X2 Jeff Hobbs [3-0] 147 Vs Manny Casais [4-1] 147
(Militia Fight Academy, LI) (Coban NYC)

13 A 3X2 Pawel Zawistowski [6-0 6KO] 160 Vs Jovan Davis [6-3]) 160
(New York Jiu Jitsu NYC) (Seapanong Muay Thai, VA)


Fight Lawyer 

Muay Thai at the Mecca 2

Looking forward to the return of full contact Muay Thai Kickboxing to The Theater at Madison
Square Garden in "Muay Thai at the Mecca 2” on Saturday, November 10, 2012.  The first event at MSG was awesome and a great night of fights and this should be too with a solid fight card.  Here is a link to the press release. Fight Lawyer

Court GRANTS New York Attorney General and District Attorney's Motion to Dismiss Counts IV and V of Zuffa et al.'s Complaint Challenging Constitutionality of Ban on Mixed Martial Arts in New York

As you may recall from my post here, the New York Attorney General and District Attorney for New York County were invited by Judge Kimba Wood to move to dismiss as an initial matter Zuffa et al.'s due process and equal protection challenges to the law banning mixed martial arts in New York. 

Specifically, as set forth in my earlier post:

"'Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Kimba M. Wood: Status Conference held on 1/5/2012. Defendants will submit a limited motion to dismiss addressing only the issue of whether due process and equal protection analysis requires the Court to determine whether there was a rational basis for the law at issue only at the time it was passed, or whether the Court must determine whether there is a rational basis for the law at present (in other words, whether the Court should take into account a change in factual circumstances that makes the law no longer rational, even if it had a rational basis at the time of passage). Defendants' motion is due 1/27/12. Plaintiffs' reply is due 2/17/12.Defendants' response is due 3/2/12. (js) Modified on 1/9/2012 (tro). (Entered: 01/06/2012)'

'Essentially, as predicted, the New York AG and New York County DA's offices will be submitting a motion to dismiss. Having said that, I was surprised that the motion is so limited.

Specifically, the minute entry focuses only on the due process claim and the equal protection claim, i.e. whether those claims survive rational basis analysis--the lowest level of scrutiny the Court will pass on the law. The Minute Entry makes no mention of the First Amendment claim. The narrow issue the parties will brief involves whether the Court should determine whether the law is rational now given the current state of the sport or if the court should focus on whether the law was rational as of 1997 when the ban was implemented.'

In subsequent posts, I provided the briefs filed by the parties in connection with the motion.

Yesterday, Judge Wood issued her Opinion and Order GRANTING the AG and DA's motion.
Specifically, she held, in relevant part, as follows:

This Court need not decide whether changed circumstances are relevant: even assuming that the Court could consider the evolution of MMA’s rules and safety record, the ban would satisfy rational basis scrutiny. As described herein, the Court finds that: (1) the law had a rational basis when passed in 1997, and (2) even if developments in MMA are relevant, the law continues to have a rational basis today.

I am not surprised by the decision because rational basis is highly deferential to the legislature.

Notably, the Judge has not yet addressed the First Amendment challenge, i.e. the "expressive conduct" component, to Zuffa et al.'s complaint.  During an earlier conference, however, Judge Wood seemed to think that Zuffa's primary (perhaps better) argument was on the due process and equal protection challenges. 

I encourage you to read the decision that I am posting below.

Fight Lawyer

Order on Mtd Zuffa