NY federal judge denies UFC move to allow Madison Square Garden event

Chris Weidman

A federal judge today denied UFC parent company Zuffa a preliminary injunction that would have allowed the promotion to hold an April 23 event at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

That nixes UFC 198, which the UFC announced in hopes of pushing its way into the state after years of legislative maneuvers were unsuccessful. An email requesting comment from the UFC was not immediately returned.

According to an order issued today by New York district court judge Kimba M. Wood, the federal court must first rule on Zuffa’s appeal on New York’s MMA ban and won’t interfere with the enforcement of state law.

Judge’s ruling

Zuffa wanted to prevent New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from legally enforcing the ban on MMA while it attempted to overturn a 1997 law it argues is unconstitutionally vague. The state’s assembly has struck down MMA bills for the past seven years without a vote, prompting the fight promoter to take legal action.

“We are disappointed by the District Court’s denial of our motion for a preliminary injunction and its effort to redirect the litigation to the state courts,” UFC COO Lawrence Epstein said in a statement provided to MMAjunkie. “One thing, and one thing only, prevents Madison Square Garden and other New York venues from hosting UFC events that are allowed in the other 49 States in the Union — that is the New York law that we believe violates the federal Constitution. Today’s decision, while disappointing, only underscores the importance of UFC’s pending appeal to the Second Circuit. UFC will evaluate this decision with an eye to pursuing every effective avenue to bring New Yorkers the same live events available to spectators throughout the United States.”

Epstein added: “We are very hopeful that the New York State legislature, either through a stand alone bill or via the Governor’s budget, will approve MMA in NY as soon as possible.”

Today’s ruling means the UFC will need to find another location and start promoting the event – soon – as April approaches. A light heavyweight title fight between champ Daniel Cormier (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and deposed kingpin Jon Jones (21-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) had been talked about as a possible headliner, as well as a middleweight title rematch between champ Luke Rockhold (15-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and New York native Chris Weidman (13-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC).

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.