While legislation to get MMA sanctioned in New York has been put on hold until the beginning of 2009, Tennessee is on the fast track to becoming the 33rd state to sanction the growing sport.

Governor Phil Breseden will put the legislation into effect today that will allow major organizations such as the UFC to hold events in cities such as Nashville and Memphis, home of UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson.

The UFC led by Jackson and Marc Ratner played the biggest role in successfully persuading Tennessee lawmakers into passing the legislation. Both Jackson and Ratner spent time with lawmakers describing the benefits of bringing Mixed Martial Arts to "The Volunteer State".

Here is a piece that Marc Ratner wrote in "The Tennessean".

"Stateside, Tennessee is a hotbed for MMA," Ratner recently wrote in The Tennessean. "’Quinton "Rampage’ Jackson, our light-heavyweight champion and one of the sport’s true superstars, is a proud native of Memphis, and once the new Tennessee Athletic Commission is formed and has all the rules in place, we will be looking at Tennessee as a state to host a fight. We believe that with their beautiful arenas and diehard fan base, Memphis or Nashville would be great hosts for a UFC event."

Sanctioning for Tennessee, which will create a State Athletic Commission to regulate the sport, began last October. Key legislators in the process included State Rep. Curry Todd and Sen. Doug Jackson.

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