The State of New York must really be hard up for cash -- so much so that they've even decided to revisit the frequently-stalled introduction of statewide legislation for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Apparently, all that moolah that Philly made last August (and that Boston will make in August 2010) has humbled a few of the blowhards in office who can't answer to the public as to why the state has plummeted to a staggering $9 billion deficit.

Bill A.2009-B, created with the intention to legalize and regulate MMA in the state of New York, passed 14-6 in the Assembly's Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports last June and (surprise) hasn't been heard from since.

MMA is currently unregulated in New York, and appeared to be on the verge of being sanctioned in 2008, but some eleventh-hour concerns from uneducated members of the Committee scuttled its passage.

I don't want to call it a filibuster but if Yugi Shimada was in the house there would be more than a few yellow cards being handed out.

UFC Vice President for Government and Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner and president of the company Dana White have been ratcheting up the economic rhetoric and financial success of its mixed martial events in hopes of using the economic benefits of live shows to influence voters who may be on the fence.

Money talks … and the UFC has the numbers to back it up. An independent economic impact study indicated that the promotion would generate about $11.5 million for the "Big Apple."

Still, it will have an uphill battle so long as detractors like Democratic Assemblyman Bob Reilly, who referred to the sport of MMA as a "glorification of brutality and violence," have their say in the vote.

Stay tuned.