There Is Hope for MMA to Find Acceptance in New York

Although I have never been a big fan of boxing, a sport which I (don't faint) , feel is barbaric, I am now a fan of New York's newly appointed State Athletic Commision's chairwoman Melvina Lattham, who was a former boxing judge for twenty years.

UFC Vice President of Governing and Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner has found a confederate in Ms. Lattham, who will hopefully help to persuade the board to sanction both boxing and MMA in the state.

Other members of the board, like Bob Reilly, are hoping this alliance will fail.

Mr Reilly a former coach of cross country at Siena College believes that promoting MMA "hurts the effort to eradicate violence throughout the community."

"You cannot subject children and other people to this type of violence and tell them that other types of violence are not acceptable." stated Reilly.

Ms. Latham also states that this would be her biggest fear as well.

Until 1976 I had never considered going to New York. 

As a Midwesterner I was fearful of a state I actually knew nothing about outside of the movies. 

Since I have never been fond of the mob, guns, gangster, crime in the streets and violence, I had crossed New York off of my "states I would like to visit" list.

But, as luck would have it, a young and very dear friend of ours Ted Allegri (a Canadian boy transplanted to our area when his father took a job at Caterpillar), entered "The Great American Horse Race" which began at Herkimer County, New York, and travelled to California to celebrate the United States Bicentennial.

Rather than finding a bunch of thugs carrying guns and knives, we found the most lovely, warm and welcoming people we had met outside of our community.

The countryside was pastoral and a stream we waded in was pure enough to drink from; much cleaner than the creek running through our property in Peoria, Illinois.

The beauty of the state and the normal atmosphere was not what we expected at all, although the race was started with the firing of a gun.

Now, if New York did sanction MMA, I would not hesitate to send my family there to watch an event, especially if my favorite New York fighter Matt Serra would be there, which I would expect he would as he has been lobbying for his state to accept the sport. 

My goodness, how can he fight Georges St. Pierre in his backyard, as Georges promised he would after the fight in Montreal, if MMA isn't approved by the commission?

And since my new heroine Melvina Latham became hooked on MMA after watching Royce Gracie perform with speed, grace, using skillful and intelligent maneuvers "like a ballerina on stage", I can't wait to hear what she thinks after seeing Georges St. Pierre fight Matt Serra in Madison Square Gardens "up close and personal."

So to Marc Ratner and Melvina Latham, good luck and my prayers are with you!