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Originally Posted by Schiznick

Do we know what this is yet? Dana White was supposed to be making this mind blowing announcemnt yesterday, but I didnt hear of anything... was it the tyhing they announced on Wed about the UFC products being marketed? Thats great and all, but I couild give a shit.. I was looking for something huge like a free TV show or something...

UFC’s Big Announcement Spilled - Shooting For Sanctioning In New York ...

A number of parties have leaked the big news that is allegedly the UFC’s “huge” announcement, which has been rumored ever since Dana White discussed the matter to ESPN last week. Apparently, the announcement was to be that the UFC was able to get mixed martial arts sanctioned in the state of New York. The problem? Things didn’t exactly go according to plan, and so a whole new batch of drama can now begin. Sam Caplan breaks it down with the scoop:

“Fiveouncespain was informed by an anonymous source earlier this afternoon that the committee for Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development of New York held a vote on Wednesday to decide whether the state should regulate Mixed Martial Arts. According to the source, the bill was voted down in overwhelming fashion.

This web site has also learned that the possible legalization of Mixed Martial Arts in the state of New York was the planned announcement that UFC president Dana White had hinted at during an interview that was published on ESPN.com last week.”

The article adds that the bill in question still has a chance of being passed, keeping Dana Whites delayed mega-announcement a possibility:

“The bill was not passed in large part because of opposition from both sides. However, according to our source, a republican committee member “picked up the bill” and applied pressure after the session to have the vote passed. In another unusual development, several committee members, primarily republican but also a few democrat, attempted to change their vote.

Because of the attempt to change votes, it was decided that the bill will be placed on the agenda again early next week. Such a decision to put a bill back on the agenda so quickly after it had been voted down was described as “highly irregular.” As it stands, it’s still possible that White will be able to make his huge announcement as planned on Tuesday as there has been a major swing in support for the bill.”

Assuming all of this information is accurate, I cannot help but feel as if the news is a bit underwhelming. I hate to undersell the achievement because obtaining MMA sanctioning in New York opens up a lot of doors and is indeed great news for any mixed martial arts organization, but the now leaked announcement cannot even hold a candle to the the amount of hype which has been stirred up over the last week. One also has to wonder what Dana White will cook up in the event that the bill does not pass the second time around. Does he have a back up announcement in his pocket? Or will it just be a giant “sorry, we got ahead of ourselves” from the UFC’s favorite talking head. Only time will tell…