Mixed Martial Arts Approved For Connecticut

By Eileen McNamara and Chris Dehnel

State Sen. Tony Guglielmo said he is not quite "hooked" on watching Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts matches, but admits he peeks in from time to time. 

He's old school and he can tell you about the draw boxing had in the old Friday Night Fights Days. But Guglielmo has never been shy about embracing the new, so he said he had no problem supporting a bill legalizing MMA to bring promotions like the UFC to Connecticut. 

Yes, mixed martial arts competitions can come to Connecticut, following the governor's approval this week of a bill allowing the state to regulate the sport. 

MMA is a sport that combines boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and other forms of contact fighting. Promoters have been lobbying in Connecticut and New York, the last holdouts to allow the competitions, to legalize it in their states. 

A bill to do so died in the Connecticut legislature last year following opposition by state unions, which have been involved in a labor dispute with one of the sport's biggest promoters,according to the blog Capitol Watch.

Guglielmo said the legalization was heavily supported by several legislators from urban areas with sports arenas, particularly Bridgeport. 

Lawmakers this year approved the bill in the last hours of the 2013 general assembly session, the blog reports. The measure allows the state to tax and regulate mixed martial arts matches, allows state inspectors into professional venues and to develop rules for competitions.

"It makes sense," Gugliemlo said. "The matches can be staged at the casinos, so why not have them everywhere in the state with a chance to regulate the sport?"

Gugliemlo said MMA is arguably safer. Fights are generally stopped as soon as the referee finds a competitor in serious trouble either from blows or a hold. Fighters finding themselves in a serious hold like a choke or armbar can submit by tapping on their opponents.

"You will not see a boxer tap out," he said. "So a match could go on and on with one fighter absorbing a lot of punishment. You really do not see that in mixed martial arts. Yes, it can be violent, and there is a lot of contact, but the rules can make it generally safer than other combat sports."