Getting in on the act

Timilty seeking Mass. legislation

State Senator James E. Timilty is a fan of mixed martial arts and watches the Ultimate Fighting Championship on TV fairly regularly.

So it proved disappointing for Timilty when legislation he introduced to regulate the sport in Massachusetts under the auspices of the State Boxing Commission was left out of the 2009 state budget proposal sent to Governor Deval Patrick.

Timilty's chief of staff, Matthew Moran, said not only does the Walpole Democrat support the sport in the Bay State, he believes UFC events would bring in serious revenue to the Massachusetts coffers.

But the legislative session ends tomorrow.

Moran said the problem wasn't that there was opposition, it was simply a matter of time.

"The senator was able to include the regulation language in the Senate's version of the budget," said Moran.

"We ran up against sort of a rush to the finish with our budget deliberations, and unfortunately, it was not included in the conference report. So the final budget version did not have our MMA language. So we unfortunately have to look to next session."

The next opportunity will be in December, when Moran said Timilty will put forth a stand-alone piece of legislation that addresses the sport.

"The senator is going to move on it as one of his first orders of business," said Moran. "Unfortunately, we didn't get it made in the budget, but what we have is sort of a great first step with the bill, given that the Senate has already passed it and the Senate Ways and Means has already signed off on the language. So it should move very quickly. With the senator being chairman of public safety and homeland security, the bill would likely come to our committee, which means hearing and favorable release would be pretty easily obtained."

Moran said the measure was included as an amendment to the budget because that seemed the more expedient way to handle it.

"We put it in the budget thinking we could get it done quickly," said Moran. "That sort of hamstrings the conference committee with a limited time to get a timely budget to the governor, I think sort of a hurry-up-and-finish order. He just had this taken off the table as conferees ironed out the final budget. So I think it's not an opposition of the issue or the language, it's what we put the language in.

"The vehicle we put the language in, we ran out of time with."

The original language would have established a state athletic commission, mirroring those in Nevada and New Jersey, but Moran said it will be written that MMA will come under the State Boxing Commission instead, which is true in many states.

"Folks were a little concerned that [although] the boxing commission would be maintained, there was a presumption that it would be eliminated, or at least appear so," said Moran. "So as a means of practical application, we simply moved any regulatory authority under the boxing commission, which was currently in place."

Moran said that simplified the process. He believes the future of the sport in the state is very bright and that it behooves legislators to invite it in with open arms.

"It's one of the fastest-growing sports and there are revenue implications for major, major events coming into town," he said. "It's just incredible. Right now it's unregulated; they self-police. Promoters hire their own physicians, referees, judges, etc. Others, such as UFC, won't put on an event in major areas without regulations in place."