There’s a good chance we may see Mixed Martial Arts events in Pennsylvania next year, said Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.
The commission approved the sport in February; what’s next is finalizing rules and regulations, he said this week.
“We have a meeting on Monday, where we will hopefully adopt the rules and regulations,” he said.
If that happens, there will be a “regulatory phase,” where state politicians and attorneys get to examine them.
“It could take up to six or seven months,” Sirb said.
The good news is the demand for MMA in Pa. is through the roof.
“I get e-mails constantly,” he said. “I think it’s going to be big in Pennsylvania. ... There’s more and more gyms popping up.”
He recently went out to Pittsburgh, where MMA gyms are exploding.
“I was shocked at how many there were,” he said.
Sirb, 40, says he knows what he’s talking about when it concerns MMA. In the early 1980s, he wrestled for nationally-ranked Edinboro University, where UFC fighter Josh Koscheck wrestled, and has also trained in boxing and kick boxing.
As part of his research, Sirb attended MMA shows in Ohio, California and New Jersey, he said.
When asked what led to the ban on MMA being lifted, Sirb said, “It was more or less seeing it. I like some of the rule changes over the years. There’s a better class of athletes (now).”
As for those who can’t wait to see an MMA event in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, or even York, Sirb said, “We’re trying to get through (the process) as fast as we can. We just want to make sure we dot all our ‘I’s and cross all out ‘T’s.”
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