Sometimes all you can do is shake your head.

MMA has finally been legalized in New York and it’s about damn time. I for one have been waiting for this day for a long time and with it’s legalization there’s going to be a major shift in combat sports going forward. The fact that it took so long is pretty ridiculous in and of itself, but like they “better late than never” and despite it’s tardiness, mixed martial artist based in New York will no longer have to travel up and down the eastern coast of the US looking for a fight. Instead, combatants can fight in their backyard for a change which will most certainly bring more eyes on the sport and generate more interest to boot. While all NY based MMA fans can now rejoice at the new legalization, there’s still a point of interest to be discussed, one that is at once absurd and laughable. The vote in the NY Assembly was a resounding 113-25 in support of legalization, yet of those 25 assemblymen who wished to deny passing the bill, there were a few individuals who wished to throw some rather childish barbs. Hon. Daniel J. O’Donnell, brother of entertainer Rosie O’Donnell, made his thoughts on MMA loud and clear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSaFKpwWYtQ The fact that O’Donnell’s tactic of denouncing MMA as an act of homosexual pleasure is idiotic on multiple fronts. Equating the act of grappling to making love is just the kind of rhetoric that an individual with no knowledge of the sport would say. Educating themselves on the subject would have gone a long way to potentially proving a point, but it’s great to see the ignorance on full display. It just highlights the fact that there has been no concrete reasoning to keep MMA out of NY in the first place. The fact that it’s the only ammunition that he had to denounce the sport shows just how foolish this entire ordeal has been. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when it reaches levels of this kind of shocking ignorance you have to wonder just why an individual like O’Donnell is so against the sport in the first place. Even former Middleweight champion Chris Weidman has chimed in stating just how embarrassing the stance of the assemblymen truly were. Hon. Angela Wozniak goes even further to denounce the sport by alleging that coaches take advantage of young children, abusing them sexually. Rather than actually looking at the subject in question, the assembly would rather focus on things that have no tangible proof, choosing to instead demonize the sport rather than look at what it brings to the table. It will create jobs, open up new markets, and potentially raise a tremendous amount of money for not only the citizens looking to participate at all levels of the sport, but for the New York state itself. It’s been a long time coming, but not MMA is finally getting it’s due in NY and not all the ridiculous, unscrupulous, and unfounded allegations in the world is going to stop this plane from taking off. Let the games begin. What are your thoughts on this issue? Follow Generation Iron MMA on Facebook and Twitter. Also, be sure to share, like, and comment to show your support.

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.