The source said after eight people had spoken in favor of legalizing MMA and eight against, Silver called on members who don’t support the bill to raise their hands. About 25 members did.
Then he asked for a show of hands of those who support it before saying that it looked even, the source said.
An upstate member who supports the measure complained it didn’t look even to her, the source said. When Silver asked what she wanted, a city Democrat joked, a “slow roll call.”
The speaker took another informal vote, with 25 again raising their hands against. The “ayes” seemingly had more than 60, the source said.
Silver then said others had expressed opposition privately and that the votes weren’t there to move the bill.
A “very, very disappointed” Marc Ratner, vice president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, said he was looking for was an up-or-down vote.
“I feel 150% if we had a vote on the floor of the Assembly we would win,” Ratner said. “Not to get a vote is un-American.”