MMA HQ – Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

Wisconsin yesterday became the 43rd state in the United States to regulate the growing sport of mixed martial arts.

Senate Bill 290 was first proposed in September, and was signed by Gov. Jim Doyle in early February.

“Duke and I are both very pleased to have been involved in the process of regulating the safety of athletes involved in the sport (of MMA) in Wisconsin,” said Scott Joffe, WFC officer and Roufusport MMA academy partner, in a statement to CONCEDE.  “Everyone involved with the process should be proud of this historic day.”

MMA events have taken place in Wisconsin, but have never been regulated and overseen by an athletic commission.  Wisconsin lawmakers expedited the process faster than MMA fans realized, helping start dialogue between the two sides.

“This process actually went really quick,” said Mark Ratner, UFC Regulatory Affairs VP, in a statement.  “I was very impressed with everyone involved.  We had a wonderful lobbyist and I am very pleased with the entire process here in Wisconsin.”

The MMA legislation was heavily based on boxing rules already in place, with several new additions:

Each promoter must be licensed through the state to hold sanctioned events; promoters will have to pay an annual fee that takes city size and ticket cost into consideration; all fighters, physicians, referees, managers, and matchmakers have to be licensed through the state; and a Wisconsin inspector will be at each regulated show.

As expected, fighters must pass a physical and blood work before receiving a license to fight in the state.

Furthermore, a doctor and EMTs must be available at the event for the duration, the new MMA regulation notes.

The UFC could now plan an event in Milwaukee, as the the No. 1 MMA organization in the world continues to host shows across the United States.

UFC officials previously said Wisconsin provides good pay-per-view buy rate along with UFC and WEC events aired on Spike TV and Versus.

The UFC and WEC visited the midwest a number of times in 2008, but has mainly focused on other markets outside of Las Vegas in 2009 and 2010.  I think it’s more plausible for the UFC to bring its Fight Night events to the larger cities in the state.

I’d honestly like to see a Strikeforce Challengers card take place in Wisconsin sometime in the future.  Strikeforce benefits by  sticking to San Jose and other select locations, but there are plenty of rising midwest MMA talent that could greatly benefit from Strikeforce making an appearance in Milwaukee.

A leading reason as to why the bill passed so quickly stemmed from the grassroots effort from the MMA community in Wisconsin.  The state of New York has attempted to regulate MMA for several years now — and still has been unable to do so — as many lawmakers still consider MMA a barbaric sport.