Heavyweight Boxer Ardi Ndembo Dies Following Brain Injury in Team Combat League Event

April 26, 2024

Team Combat League is a relatively new venture where boxers compete in teams. The teams face each other with boxers fighting in one round bouts. Some are scheduled to have more than one such bout in a single day. Today it is reported that Heavyweight Ardi Ndembo died after suffering a knockout loss in a … More Heavyweight Boxer Ardi Ndembo Dies Following Brain Injury in Team Combat League Event

Study – CTE Linked With Repeated Brain Rattling, Not Individual Brain Injuries

April 18, 2024

The latest study shedding light on CTE causation was published this week in the Journal of Neurotrauma. In short the study suggests CTE is caused by repeted brain rattling activities and not individual concussions or even individual moderate to severe brain injuries. In the study, titled Lack of Association of Informant-Reported Traumatic Brain Injury and … More Study – CTE Linked With Repeated Brain Rattling, Not Individual Brain Injuries

Texas Proposes to Approve Slap Fighting

April 15, 2024

Update April 16, 2024 – Texas has already given Powerslap a promoters licence. Even though slap fighting is not yet approved. I reached out to the TDLR who provided the following explanation on this sequence of events “promoters are not licensed by fighting discipline; there is no boxing promoter or MMA promoter license, for example. … More Texas Proposes to Approve Slap Fighting

Fighters Call for CTE and Concussion Warnings on Gloves and Headgear

April 10, 2024

Concussion and CTE are serious occupational risks of combat sports. Despite these risks many have a false sense of belief in the ‘protection’ offered by gloves and headgear. According to the Association of Ringside Physicians “Headguards should not be relied upon to reduce the risk of concussion or other traumatic brain injury. They have not … More Fighters Call for CTE and Concussion Warnings on Gloves and Headgear

BC Overhauls Combat Sports Regulation

April 8, 2024

In Canada the Criminal Code makes all ‘prize fights’ (a broadly defined term that can even capture light contact and grappling events) illegal by default except amateur combat sports that are “on the programme of the International Olympic Committee or the International Paralympic Committee“ The Criminal Code then gives individual Provinces the ability to change … More BC Overhauls Combat Sports Regulation

Colorado Looking At Expanded Fighter Appeal Rights

April 5, 2024

There is room for improvement when it comes to appeal rights in combat sports. In most jurisdictions fighters can only successfully appeal a bout result if they could prove there was collusion (ie crooked officiating), the scorekeeper made a mathematical error in adding up the judges scores, or there was an error in interpreting the … More Colorado Looking At Expanded Fighter Appeal Rights

Declining Postural Balance “Significantly Associated” With Suspected CTE in Fighters

March 1, 2024

Presently CTE can only be diagnosed after death. But there are criteria for diagnosing suspected CTE in the living which is useful for research and other purposes. It is called Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome “TES”. A recent study was published researching athletes with and without TES and seeing how they performed on double leg balance testing. … More Declining Postural Balance “Significantly Associated” With Suspected CTE in Fighters

Zero Eligible UFC Fighters Asked To Opt Out of Class Action Lawsuit

February 6, 2024

In a court filing this week in the UFC antitrust lawsuit it was revealed that not a single eligible fighter asked to be removed from the lawsuit. By way of context several fighters started a proposed class action against the UFC arguing they are operating an unlawful monopsony which economically exploits fighters. The lawsuit was certified … More Zero Eligible UFC Fighters Asked To Opt Out of Class Action Lawsuit

MMA Rules Committee Votes to Remove 12-6 Elbow As Foul and Redefine “Grounded” Fighters

January 31, 2024

Yesterday the ABC’s MMA Rules Committee met and voted to address two controversial aspects of the Unified Rules of MMA. The 12-6 elbow foul and the definition of grounded fighter. The straight up to down elbow is a longstanding foul since the initial creation of the unified rules in New Jersey over 20 years ago. Recently … More MMA Rules Committee Votes to Remove 12-6 Elbow As Foul and Redefine “Grounded” Fighters