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Case 1:11-cv-08215-KMW Document 34 Filed 09/24/12 Page 1 of 178 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Jon Jones, Gina Carano, Frankie Edgar, Matt Hamill, Brian Stann, Zuffa, LLC d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship, Don Lilly, Shannon Miller, Danielle Hobeika, Beth Hurrle, Donna Hurrle, Steve Kardian, Joseph Lozito, Erik Owings, Chris Reitz, and Jennifer Santiago, Plaintiffs, No. 11 Civ. 8215 (KMW)(GWG) -against- FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT Eric T. Schneiderman, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of New York, Defendant. 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 law regarding the performance of “combative sport” and allege as follows. I. INTRODUCTION 1. Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the United States. Mixed martial arts involves bouts between highly trained athletes skilled in various martial and combat arts, including karate, jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, grappling, judo, Muay Thai, and freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. Mixed martial arts matches promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (“UFC”), the world’s largest professional mixed martial arts promoter, regularly fill the nation’s—and indeed, the world’s—largest arenas. The viewership of mixed martial arts on network and pay-per-view (“PPV”) television now far outstrips that of professional boxing and wrestling. Professional mixed martial arts made its debut on prime time ny-1059083 Case 1:11-cv-08215-KMW Document 34 Filed 09/24/12 Page 2 of 178 network television in 2008, with CBS’s live broadcast of fight cards by mixed martial arts promotion EliteXC. Live UFC bouts can now be seen regularly on network television alongside professional baseball, basketball, and football, as a result of a multiyear deal reached between the UFC and FOX Broadcasting Company. UFC reaches half a billion homes worldwide and can be seen on some form of television in 155 countries and territories in 22 different languages. 2. Originally sensationalized in the early 1990s as a “no holds barred” fighting spectacle, mixed martial arts has evolved into one of the most highly regulated and controlled professional sports. Mixed martial arts events promoted by the UFC adhere to a set of rules utilized and enforced by most states in the country (and many countries in the world)—the “Unified MMA Rules.” Mixed martial arts performed under the Unified MMA Rules, or similar rules, whether the fighters are compensated or not, are referred to in this Complaint as “Unified Rules MMA,” or simply “MMA.” “Professional Unified Rules MMA” or simply “Professional MMA” refers more specifically to those MMA fights between fighters who are compensated for their matches. 3. Professional MMA has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity. Professional MMA fighters grace the covers of mainstream magazines and star in popular home video workout programs. Mixed martial arts is the subject of major motion pictures such as Warrior and the upcoming Here Comes the Boom. The UFC is sponsored by the likes of the United States Marine Corps, Harley-Davidson, and Dodge. Mixed martial arts appeals to fans of nearly every age and demographic, and its influence is widespread. Professional athletes in other sports incorporate mixed martial arts into their training regimens, citing the physical benefits but also the mental toughness that mixed martial arts builds. Mixed martial arts techniques and training are taught to members of our nation’s military and law enforcement officers. Mixed martial arts 2 ny-1059083 Case 1:11-cv-08215-KMW Document 34 Filed 09/24/12 Page 3 of 178 programs have sprung up to help stop bullying against students and instill confidence in them and to steer kids away from gangs and other at-risk behavior. 4. Despite the huge popularity of mixed martial arts across this country and throughout the world, Professional MMA matches have long been believed to be illegal in the State of New York under New York’s ban on certain “combative sport.” See N.Y. Unconsol. Law § 8905-a(2) (the “Professional Combative Sport Ban” or the “Ban”). Plaintiffs call the Ban the “Professional” Combative Sport Ban because by its terms the Ban applies only to “professional” matches or exhibitions. Plaintiffs say “have long been believed” because—as detailed below—events occurring since the filing of the original complaint in this case (the “Original Complaint”) call into question the scope of the Ban, that is, to what it applies and how it works. This lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the Professional Combative Sport Ban to the extent it prohibits MMA, including Professional MMA, or activities taken to support or promote MMA. 5. New York’s Professional Combative Sport Ban was adopted in 1997, at a time when mixed martial arts was in its infancy, had few rules, and was prohibited in many other states. Today, MMA, including Professional MMA, is common and lawful in virtually all of the United States, as well as in numerous countries worldwide. Medical experts concur—based on studies and data—that MMA is as safe as or safer than many sports that are not only legal in New York, but are wholly unregulated and often actively promoted by the State. (Infra §5.) These include football, ice hockey, downhill skiing, rodeo competitions, and equestrian sports. In addition, New York actively promotes its successful boxing industry, and regulates it, although regulated boxing is less safe than MMA. Indeed, the individual martial arts that 3 ny-1059083 Case 1:11-cv-08215-KMW Document 34 Filed 09/24/12 Page 4 of 178 comprise MMA are apparently legal and performed regularly in New York. Paradoxically, it is only their combination that is banned (and, apparently, only sometimes). 6. Former critics of mixed martial arts have changed their views in light of the realities of present-day MMA. There is great enthusiasm for Professional MMA throughout New York—from politicians, public figures, business owners, venues like Madison Square Garden, and members of the public. Yet, despite repeated passage of a repeal by the New York Senate and broad support in the State Assembly, attempts to overturn the Ban cannot make it to the floor of the State Assembly for a vote. 7. Not only does the Professional Combative Sport Ban put New York at odds with almost every other state in the country, it is incongruous even within the State. Professional MMA is widely available throughout the State on television, and countless New Yorkers of all ages watch it. It is only “live” Professional MMA (and, as discussed below, various activities associated with “live” Professional MMA) that appears to be banned in New York. Tens of thousands of children and adults train at New York’s many mixed martial arts gyms and schools. Leading fighters train here. The plain language of the Ban appears to permit non-“professional” mixed martial arts matches (whether they follow the Unified MMA Rules or no rules at all), and such matches have occurred and are occurring in New York, sometimes with careful attention to the safety of the participants and sometimes with little regard at all. And “professional” “combative sport” matches occur in New York, including some that involve the mixing of martial arts. 8. New York’s extraordinarily broad Professional Combative Sport Ban applies not only to live matches and exhibitions, but it also bans any speech or activity that in any way “advances” or leads one to “profit[] from” “combative sport.” N.Y. Unconsol. Law § 8905-a(3). 4 ny-1059083 Case 1:11-cv-08215-KMW Document 34 Filed 09/24/12 Page 5 of 178 Within its broad net, the Professional Combative Sport Ban potentially ensnares many existing New York businesses such as mixed martial arts gyms and vendors of mixed martial arts equipment and related merchandise. Read literally, the Ban applies to numerous acts of protected speech including media broadcasts and coverage of Professional MMA. 9. When the Ban went into effect in New York, it was aimed at mixed martial arts as it then existed, and it was justified based on antipathy to the supposedly “violent” message of mixed martial arts. The legislative history and debate surrounding the Ban are replete with condemnation of the “bad” message sent by mixed martial arts. 10. Even if violence were the message of mixed martial arts, the Supreme Court has made clear that banning MMA, or anything that promotes it, for that reason is a patent violation of the First Amendment. See Brown v. Entm’t Merchants Ass’n, __U.S.__, 131 S. Ct. 2729 (2011). But as its professional participants and millions of fans would explain, this justification for the Ban misconceives the message of mixed martial arts entirely. While there surely are spectators who watch solely because of what they perceive as “violence,” countless fans watch Professional MMA because of its excitement as entertainment and because of the variety of positive messages conveyed. MMA is part sport and part theater. (Infra § VII(B).) When asked why they watch Professional MMA, viewers commonly point to the technical skill and artistry of the fighters, the excitement of the competition, the respect between opponents, and the courage and determination to win that fighters display. (Infra § VII(C).) It is unfathomable that in a world drenched in violence—from first-person shooter video games, to violent movies, to violent lyrics in pop music, to graphic network news—the New York legislature singled out professional combative sport—most notably Professional MMA—as the one thing it believes sends an impermissible message.