The UFC believed that it had the 76 votes needed from the members of the New York state assembly that would get to legalize professional mixed martial arts in the state. The only problem was that after the bill was passed in the Senate for the sixth straight year (and twice this year), it wasn't brought to the assembly floor for a vote.

As noted by MMA Weekly, the New York State Assembly is currently in overtime trying to deal with a litany of important bills.

"My big challenge today is that a number of members who are counted as supporters were just unavailable today because of the scheduling, that we weren't expected to be here this long," Joseph Morelle the Assembly majority leader, and MMA bill sponsor told Gannett's Albany Bureau.

"And it's really complicated efforts to get to 76. I think it's looking less likely as the day wears on," Morelle said Tuesday.

Of the 150 state assembly members, 76 is the number of required democratic votes the bill needs to pass. MMA Weekly points out that before the end of the regular session, Morelle believed that he had the necessary votes for passage, by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie didn't get the bill on the agenda.

"The corruption in NY politics is DISGUSTING!!!!" UFC president Dana White tweeted.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports points out that the battle between UFC co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and the powerful Las Vegas Culinary Union has played a big part in leaving New York as the only state in the country where professional MMA is illegal.

The Fertitta brothers operate a number of non-union casinos, and the Culinary Union has in turn battled the brothers at every turn, reaching their other businesses like the UFC.

The UFC had been hoping to hold an event at Madison Square Garden this December.