ZUFFA-Complaint-11-15-2011

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORKJon Jones, Gina Carano, Frankie Edgar, Matt Hamill,Brian Stann, Zuffa, LLC d/b/a Ultimate FightingChampionship, Danielle Hobeika, Beth Hurrle,Donna Hurrle, Steve Kardian, Joseph Lozito,Erik Owings, Chris Reitz, and Jennifer Santiago,Plaintiffs,-against-Eric T. Schneiderman, in his official capacity asAttorney General of the State of New York, andCyrus R. Vance, Jr., in his official capacity asDistrict Attorney for the County of New York,Defendants.No. 11 Civ. _______ ( )( )

COMPLAINT

Plaintiffs, on knowledge with respect to their own acts, and on information and belief with respect to all other matters, challenge the constitutionality of New York’s ban on theperformance of professional mixed martial arts before live audiences, and allege as follows.

I.INTRODUCTION

1.

Mixed martial arts (“MMA”) is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in theUnited States. Professional MMA involves bouts between highly trained athletes skilled invarious martial and combat arts, including karate, jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, grappling, judo,Muay Thai, and freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. MMA matches promoted by the UltimateFighting Championship

®

(“UFC”), the world’s largest professional MMA promoter, regularly fillthe nation’s—and indeed, the world’s—largest arenas. The viewership of MMA on network andpay-per-view (“PPV”) television now far outstrips that of professional boxing and wrestling.Professional MMA made its debut on primetime network television in 2008, with CBS’s live

2broadcast of fight cards by MMA promotion EliteXC. Live UFC bouts can now be seenregularly on network television alongside professional baseball, basketball, and football, as aresult of a multiyear deal reached between the UFC and FOX Broadcasting Company. UFCreaches half a billion homes worldwide and can be seen on some form of television in 155countries and territories in 22 different languages.2.

Originally sensationalized in the early 1990s as a “no holds barred” fightingspectacle, MMA has evolved into one of the most highly regulated and controlled professionalsports. This, in turn, has fueled MMA’s meteoric rise in popularity: MMA fighters grace thecovers of mainstream magazines and star in popular home video workout programs, and the UFCis sponsored by the likes of the United States Marine Corps, Harley-Davidson, and Dodge.MMA appeals to fans of nearly every age and demographic, and its influence is widespread.Professional athletes in other sports incorporate MMA into their training regimens, citing thephysical benefits but also the mental toughness that MMA builds. MMA techniques and trainingare taught to members of our nation’s military and law enforcement officers. MMA programshave sprung up to help stop bullying against students and instill confidence in them, and to steerkids away from gangs and other at-risk behavior.3.

Despite the huge popularity of MMA across this country and throughout theworld, live professional MMA matches remain illegal in the State of New York.

See

N.Y.Unconsol. Law § 8905-a(2) (the “Live Professional MMA Ban” or the “Ban”). New York’sextraordinarily broad Live Professional MMA Ban even prohibits speech or activity that in anyway “advances” or leads one to “profit[] from” professional MMA.

Id

. Within its broad net, theLive Professional MMA Ban potentially ensnares many existing New York businesses such asMMA gyms and vendors of MMA equipment and related merchandise. Read literally, the Ban

3applies to numerous acts of protected speech including media broadcasts and coverage of professional MMA.4.

New York’s Live Professional MMA Ban violates numerous provisions of theUnited States Constitution, including the First Amendment, Equal Protection Clause, DueProcess Clause, and Commerce Clause. The Live Professional MMA Ban limits the liberty of those who would, but for the Ban, attend live professional MMA events, as well as those whotrain in MMA and want to exhibit their skills as professionals before a live crowd. Indeed, forthe many New Yorkers who devote endless hours to training in MMA and who cannot afford todisplace their homes and families to fight elsewhere, New York’s Live Professional MMA Banpresents a serious infringement of their rights.5.

New York’s Live Professional MMA Ban was adopted in 1997, at a time whenMMA was in its infancy, had few rules, and was prohibited in many other states. Today,professional MMA operates under a unified set of rules and is permitted in virtually all of theUnited States, as well as in numerous countries worldwide. Medical experts concur—based onstudies and data—that professional MMA is as safe as or safer than many sports that are legal inNew York and, in some cases, wholly unregulated. These include football, ice hockey, downhillskiing, rodeo competitions, equestrian sports, and boxing. Most of the individual martial artsthat comprise MMA are legal and performed live regularly in New York. Paradoxically, it isonly their combination that is banned.6.

Former critics of MMA have changed their views in light of the realities of present-day MMA. There is great enthusiasm for MMA throughout New York—frompoliticians, public figures, business owners, venues like Madison Square Garden, and membersof the public. Yet, despite repeated passage of a repeal by the New York Senate and the express