Boston City Council Votes to Ban Minors from Future UFC and Other MMA Events

The Boston City Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to pass a measure to ban minors under the age of 16 from attending mixed martial arts events, including the UFC, unless accompanied by an adult.

The Boston City Clerk’s office confirmed the measure’s passage to MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday.

The measure, proposed by City Council President Stephen J. Murphy, had originally sought to ban minors under the age of 18, but was revised to under 16 before passage.

Some of the reasons Murphy cited for barring minors without adult supervision include: fighters bearing “Neo-Nazi messages in their tattoos or on their clothing,” UFC fighters that “have joked about rape or used foul and abusive language that is particularly demeaning to women,” “UFC fighters and company officials that have used homophobic slurs,” and “producers of alcohol products have sponsored cage fighting promoters,” among several others.

The matter was brought up by Murphy prior to last week’s UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen event at the TD Garden in Boston. It was too late for the measure to be considered prior to the Aug. 17 event, but UFC president Dana White didn’t refrain from voicing his disgust that Murphy would even propose such a measure.

White had yet to comment on the measure’s passage or how it would affect his promotion’s plans to return to Boston at the time of publication, but last week made his thoughts clear on both the measure and Council President Murphy.

“Let me tell you this, if they vote that 18 and under shouldn’t be allowed to come here, the people in Boston should go (expletive) crazy,” he declared.

“These kids have parents. Who are you to try and parent these other people’s kids? That’s not what you were elected to do. You weren’t elected to become children’s parents you self-righteous clown.”

Upon passage, the City Council requested that a copy of the resolution be sent to the Boston Police Department and management at the TD Garden, although they made no such official request for the resolution to be sent to the management of any other specific venue in the city.

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