Article by Brendhan Conlan - Former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar has experienced a number of highs already in his seventeen-fight career including wins over some of MMA’s top names and a title-run featuring success against BJ Penn and Gray Maynard. However, from the sound of it, none of those victories or even one in his upcoming rematch with Benson Henderson at UFC 150, compare to the possibility of having his hand raised in the Mecca of sporting venues – Madison Square Garden.
“We only have a small window that we can fight here. Your career can be…I believe I’m not gonna miss my boat to be able to fight in (Madison Square Garden) but the way it’s going, I’ve been saying, ‘It’s gonna happen this year. It’s gonna happen this year,’ and it’s been going on for three years now,” admitted a crestfallen Edgar in a video series called 155 Reasons promoting his bout with Henderson. “I think it would be unfortunate if something happens where I don’t get to fight in the Garden. I’d be upset for sure.”
For now Edgar will have to focus on competing at the Pepsi Center in Denver, as he will on August 11 against Henderson for the lightweight belt, but clearly the New Jersey native’s heart is dead-set on future action in his neck of the woods.
Check out Edgar’s thoughts, as well as those of his teammates/trainers including Phil Nurse, Renzo Gracie, and Ricardo Almeida, in the complete clip below:
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I would love to see a fight there!NYC is my favourite place to visit when I go the the states!no matter who’s on the card my flights would be booked!I can’t understand why mma isn’t sanctioned there?anyone know the exact reason?everytime I go there the UFC is always advertised on billboards, so of the city was that against it surely it wouldn’t promote it???
keeps getting shut down in the assembly
On what basis though?
Because there is not enough political support for it in the State Assembly.
It would be interesting to see how a guy like Frankie does in the ring with a real boxer with the rules of boxing. I think someone should put an event together like that. We’ve seen is with football players who thought they could fight, wrestlers. Why not a MMA guy?
But aren’t some of the “old” gaurd in the assembly retiring or stepping down?
Maybe. I don’t know much of anything about New York politics. But until their constituents make it clear that this is something they want, I doubt there will be much traction for a major push.
Also, there was an interesting Siena University poll from April, 2012 that shows that support statewide is at 38% and steady over the last couple/few years, but opposition is up to 52% (margin of error +/- 3.5%). That opposition holds (mostly) racially. That number is consistent over age over 35, but reversed for 18-34. It holds for in the City, outlying counties, upstate, etc. The number across political affiliation are consistent with the overall numbers.
In other words, the UFC marketing push isn’t really getting them anywhere. It likely won’t be until the 18-25 year olds who are vehemently in favor of MMA come of an age where they are becoming policy makers that anything will change, barring something wacky happening.
Hmm dosen’t sound good for mma in New York. At least for the foseable future.