Down goes Mixed Martial Arts, again

edgomesWith new faces representing Bridgeport in the state Senate, there has been a sea change in the chances of Mixed Martial Arts coming to the XL Center in Hartford and Bridgeport’s Webster Arena. Legislation sponsored by then-Sen. Andres Ayala (now DMV commissioner) and signed into law several years back to allow the no-holds barred matches that are popular with a certain strata of young male, actually had major weaknesses over liability and health-coverage issues. So the bill to repair the MMA issue has annually languished, then died at the end of the legislative session. The current edition of the proposal was “recommitted” to committee earlier this week, pushing it off the end of the General Assembly’s flat earth yet again, allowing the Indian casinos to continue as the sole MMA venues for the state.

Both Sen. Ed Gomes, nor Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport,marilyn said they don’t like the spectacle. “I just think that of all the things we need to bring into Bridgeport, Mixed Martial Arts, I think is just too violent,” Moore said this afternoon. She said that figures provided to her indicating that one night of fighting would bring $125,000 to the city, were optimistically trumped up. “I have talked to the restaurateurs down in Bridgeport and their general feeling is for the most part there are a couple restaurants that get the business in Bridgeport. The people come in for the entertainment and leave. It’s a violent sport and I’m not for it.”

“I admire sports and I’m not squeamish about somebody hitting somebody, but the thing of it is, boxing, to me, is a sport,” Gomes said. “When you sit on somebody’s chest and beat his face in, it’s not a sport, it’s a fight. I’ve seen fights in the street and I’ve been in fights in the streets, but I don’t count that as a sport. I’m not going to vote for it.”