The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s maiden voyage to Boston is now more than just a hope, as the Massachusetts governor has signed legislation regulating the sport on Dana White’s former stomping rounds.
The UFC is planning to stage a pay-per-view card at the TD Garden -- formerly The Boston Garden -- in July or August, said Marc Ratner, the UFC’s vice president of regulatory affairs.
“We have a call already into the Garden and we’ve been looking at a couple of different dates,” Ratner said. “Now we’ll narrow it down and see what’s best for them and the company. (Massachusetts) was one of the premier destination states that we’ve been looking at for the last three years. It’s been a long pregnancy, is what I call it.”
Governor Deval Patrick signed MMA regulations into law Monday. Sen. James Timilty, whose district includes
Kenny Florian’s hometown, first proposed the legislation last year as a budget amendment, but it did not pass before the end of the session. It sailed through the state house of representatives and senate this year, and came out of a conference committee faster than expected.
In a unique provision, local cities and towns will have the option to deny an application to hold an MMA card in their community. Timilty said the provision is not likely to present an issue.
“I don’t think a promoter or any entity that is legitimate or professional would want to force an event into a community that didn’t want it,” he said.
The three-member state boxing commission will become the state athletic commission with two new members, including one with an extensive MMA background. The commission will begin discussing their internal regulations this week. The law does not take effect for 90 days, during which time local MMA promoters will be allowed to put on shows without complying with new requirements like paying a gate tax and licensing fighters.
“There’s going to be very little start-up time that they need to be ready,” Timilty said of the athletic commission. “We worked very hard on the drafting and it appears they’re ready to go.”
Ratner said the UFC is looking at smaller venues like the DCU Center in Worcester for “Fight Night” or World Extreme Cagefighting events, as well as Fenway Park. White sparked a lot of buzz earlier this year when he suggested the venerable home of the Red Sox was a possibility for a UFC card.
Ratner said there have been conversations about holding a UFC event at Fenway, but no plans to do so in the next year.
“Fenway is certainly a possibility, but the first show will be in the Garden,” Ratner said.
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