New York's MMA ban a boon for Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

(This story appears in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

For years, the UFC has been trying to break into the state of New York, where professional mixed martial arts events still are not legally regulated, only to have its extensive lobbying efforts and public campaigns come up short.

It’s a source of ongoing frustration for UFC executives, but a welcome boon for at least one other party.

“The only thing I can tell you is that all those responsible in New York will get a nice Christmas gift from me this year, and for years to come,” said Scott O’Neil, CEO of the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., which plays host to UFC 169 on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET, pay-per-view). The arena is just minutes away from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where Super Bowl XLVIII will take place the next day.

This will mark the fifth UFC event that the Prudential Center will host since the building opened in 2007, and while it will be the first under O’Neil’s tenure as CEO, it won’t be the first one he’s attended there.

Although he served as president of New York City’s Madison Square Garden from 2008-2012, he said, that state’s stance on MMA regulation forced him to travel elsewhere to get his fight fix. He went to two UFC events at the rival Prudential Center “just as a fan,” he said.

“The energy and electricity you find for a UFC title fight is like a heavyweight championship [in boxing] times 10,” O’Neil said. “There’s almost nothing like the feel of one of those live events. It’s a tremendous sport that’s heavily regulated, but we appreciate the gift from the state of New York.”

And for the Prudential Center and the city of Newark, it has been a gift, O’Neil said. The UFC has long touted the economic boost that UFC and other MMA events could provide the state of New York if lawmakers would only pass a bill regulating the sport. According to a report from HR&A Advisors commissioned by the UFC, the state could generate an eventual $135 million annually in economic activity simply by allowing the sport within its borders.

As long as New York remains closed to the UFC, however, O’Neil is happy to have fans from New York crossing the Hudson River to see events, just as he once did. Ultimately, he said, he aims to use the opportunity to build Newark’s Prudential Center into a home away from home for the Las Vegas-based UFC.

“It’s a little aspirational,” O’Neil admitted. “But on our end, we’ve got a head start on New York. I hope it takes it five years [for New York to regulate MMA]. But if it takes two years or one year or one day, we like the past UFC shows we’ve had and after a while we’re hoping that this does become the home for the UFC on the East Coast. They’ve given us tremendous fight cards here, and it does make a difference.”

For the latest on UFC 169, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.