A bizarre law on the books in the state of Massachusetts may either force Joe Silva and Sean Shelby to drastically change the card for the first UFC on FS1, or cause Zuffa to move the event to another state entirely. The Boston Herald is reporting that a law instituted when the state legalized MMA pertaining to the status of foreign fighters is causing trouble.
Massachusetts government puts UFC on FS1 1 in jeopardy
“This law has been in existence since we legalized mixed martial arts in the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Terrell Harris, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, which regulates prize fighting.
“It’s been brought to the attention of the UFC more than a few times since we legalized the fighting here. But they’ve chosen basically to ignore the law and hope that they could skirt it somehow,” Harris said.
There are a pair of potential remedies, but one is more likely than the other.
Under federal Social Security Administration rules, a fighter can get a temporary number after a 10-day grace period.
“When they bring in fighters that are not American citizens, there are exceptions that allow them to obtain a Social Security number,” Harris said.
“The Social Security Administration will issue a temporary work visa but it’s up to them to do their due diligence,” he said.
Harris said the UFC has petitioned the state for a one-time exception to allow foreign fighters to square off at the Aug. 17 Garden event — with or without a valid Social Security number. But state law is clear that officials are prohibited from issuing an MMA license to any fighter without proper documentation.
“They’ve approached us and asked us if we could make exceptions to the law for them,” Harris said, “but the law is the law. The law doesn’t allow us to make exceptions.
I find a couple of things to be rather surprising in this situation. The first is that the State of Massachusetts would institute and enforce a law that could potentially cost them millions of dollars in lost economic benefits due to fighters and tourists coming in to spend their hard earned money to watch a major UFC card. That just doesn’t make sense. The second issue is that obtaining a work visa in the United States does not automatically give you a social security number. Obtaining a work visa here in Canada automatically comes with a social insurance number, which is the equivalent of the American social security number. It speaks to both a lack of efficiency within the US immigration system and to a potential federal government cash grab that this is not the case for them.
Still, regardless of any problems, the people of Boston, and indeed all of Massachusetts, will be the only ones hurt if nothing is done about this situation. After all, Connecticut just opened their doors to MMA, whose to say the UFC couldn’t reward them by moving the card to Hartford if the state government of Massachusetts remains steadfast on this ludicrous issue?
UFC on FS1 I is scheduled to go down August 17th at the TD Garden Arena in Boston, MA. The main event is scheduled to be five rounds in the light heavyweight division, pitting Mauricio “Shogun” Rua against Chael Sonnen. Stay tuned to MMASucka.com for more on this and other UFC events!
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