Don’t ban mixed martial arts

The (Schenectady) Daily Gazette: Every year for the last three, the state Senate has passed a bill that would end the ban on mixed martial arts in New York. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has opposed the measure on the grounds that MMA is too violent, and has kept it from coming to a vote in his chamber. It’s time he gave up the fight.

MMA, also known as “ultimate fighting,” is no more violent or dangerous than a handful of other sports that are legal in New York. These include football, hockey and boxing. Yes, there’s a health risk to participants, but no more so than in boxing, where the blows tend to be concentrated on the head. In MMA, they tend to be distributed all about the body. And fighters quickly end up on the ground, grappling like wrestlers. So the risk of head injury from MMA appears to be even be less.

Moreover, MMA rules require that if a fighter gets knocked out, he can’t fight, or even spar, for three months. A football player who suffers a concussion is only out for that game.