In 2016 the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) revealed, through publicly disclosed lobbying reports, that they had spent an estimated $420,000 dollars to lobby H.R. 44 aka The Muhammad Ali Expansion Act. Through the first three quarters of 2017, the UFC has disclosed a further $210,000 in lobbying expenses, bringing their total amount spent in relation to the Ali Act up to $630,000.
H.R. 44 was introduced by Representative Markwayne Mullin [R OK-2], a former MMA fighter, to the 115th US Congress on January 3rd, 2017. He had introduced an identical version of the bill last year, but that bill was null and void once that session of congress ended on December 31st, 2016.