State Assembly Will Not Legalize Mixed Martial Arts, Speaker Says ALBANY - Mixed martial arts will not become legal in New York this year after the State Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, said on Monday that a bill to allow it would not come to the floor for a vote. Mr. Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, made the decision after meeting on Monday with other Democrats in the Assembly to discuss the proposal to legalize mixed martial arts, commonly referred to as ultimate fighting. "The speaker has indicated there is no clear sense of the conference, and the issue is evolving," Michael Whyland, a spokesman for Mr. Silver, wrote in an e-mail. Therefore, it will not come to the floor for a vote this year. This was the second blow in a week for mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is the largest organizer of the sport. Last week, the leaders of the Connecticut Legislature also said they were not ready to approve the sport. New York and Connecticut are the only remaining states without laws legalizing the sport, said Marc Ratner, the senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs for the U.F.C. "All I want is a vote on the Assembly floor," Mr. Ratner said. If it doesn't pass, it doesn't pass. Not to get a vote by the full Assembly, to me, is un-American. Mr. Ratner maintained that one of the biggest roadblocks for the bill was opposition by the hotel workers union in New York, which, out of solidarity with its counterpart in Las Vegas, has lobbied against legalization. The Las Vegas counterpart, the Culinary Workers Union, has criticized the owners of the U.F.C., the Fertitta brothers, for running a chain of non-unionized hotels in Nevada. The Republican-controlled State Senate passed a bill last month to legalize the sport, for the third consecutive year. But the Assembly has blocked the legislation each year. On Monday, Mr. Silver took an informal show of hands at the Democratic conference. An assemblyman who requested anonymity to describe private discussions said it appeared that there were more members in favor of legalizing mixed martial arts than against it. But not all members were present for the discussion. Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, a Rochester Democrat who is the chief sponsor of the legalization bill, said he, too, believed that the number in favor was greater than the number opposed. But Assemblyman Bob Reilly, a Democrat from the capital region who is one of the fiercest opponents of legalizing mixed martial arts, said he thought that more members were against legalizing it than in favor. Mr. Reilly said he believed the sport was too violent. "People have said, "Well, it's inevitable because of the money involved,"" Mr. Reilly said. People have been telling me that for six or seven years. It is, for me, a victory of principle over money.