This week Conor McGregor confirmed he is not in USADA’s anti-doping testing pool but that he is in constant communication with USADA and all he has to do is provide two negative samples and he is cleared to return. USADA replied noting they have no meeting scheduled with Conor and generally returning athletes must be … More Conor McGregor UFC Return and USADA Anti-Doping Waivers
An interesting article was published this month in Frontiers of Neuroscience exploring the possible connection between the delayed (and progressive) symptoms of CTE and micro trauma from the normal beating of the heart. There is ample evidence that CTE is caused by repeated brain trauma from external forces (think repeated hits in combat or contact … More Do Years Of Heartbeat “Pulse Trauma” Explain Delayed Onset of CTE Symptoms?
Headgear does not prevent concussions or other brain injuries. Nor does it stop the progressive disease CTE which is linked to repeated concussive and sub concussive impacts. Despite this many athletes don’t understand the limitations of headgear. Because of this some observe that athletes take more hits to the head with headgear on. A recent … More Study – Fighters Take “Statistically Significant” More Head Shots When Wearing Headgear
Update February 28, 2023 – After writing this article I decided to conduct a quick poll to inquire about people’s knowledge about headgear when they first sparred. Although Twitter polls are not scientific this poll largely mirrors my discussion with many combat sports practitioners. The majority mis-understand the safety benefits of headgear. And many wrongly … More Headgear Manufacturers Would Be Wise To Have Concussion Warnings
Today MMAFighting reports that Diego Sanchez is filing a formal appeal with the New Mexico Athletic Commission seeking to overturn the result in his recent loss to Austin Trout in BKFC over allegations of greasing. As with all combat sports appeals the laws of the jurisdiction in question need to be scrutinized and here New … More Liberal New Mexico Greasing Rules And the Diego Sanchez Bare Knuckle Boxing Appeal
Today the WBC Board of Governors released a ruling disposing of a doping charge against Conor Benn, The WBC partner with the Voluntary Anti Doping Association who conduct testing of ranked boxers with the WBC. Benn provided a sample that tested positive for Clomiphene. A substance banned at all times under the program. Benn provided … More WBC Brushes Off Conor Benn Clomiphene Charge Due to “highly-elevated consumption of eggs”
Dana White and those behind his slap fighting venture “PowerSlap” boast about the show’s early success mimicking the early days of the UFC. One of the early stories of the UFC was the sport getting the attention of federal politicians and getting relegated what the owners now refer to as the ‘dark ages’. A chapter … More US Congress Members Blast PowerSlap As Brain Trauma Masquerading as Sport
This week Nevada handed out their first ever doping suspension to a slap fighter for having cocaine in their system in competition. The violation brought a 9 month suspension. At the same time the regulator has apparently expressed some concern about slap fighting (notably and unsurprisingly with brain injury rates higher than boxing and MMA) … More Nevada Suspends Slap Fighter For Cocaine, Florida Asked To Legalize the “Sport”
Last year I was very proud to work with Carla Duran and Rose Gracie to help secure hundreds of fighter signatures to petition the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (“ABC”) to create their first ever official fighters committee. Giving athletes an official channel and a voice with their regulatory parent organization. Today the … More ABC “Athletes Voice” Committee Hits the Ground Running!
Over the past year I’ve been volunteering with the charitable organization Fighting Foundation and one of our goals is bringing better concussion and CTE education to combat sports. A key reason being data showing that better educated fighters get less CTE. I am very proud to announce (thanks largely to the tireless advocacy of Fighting … More Nevada Athletic Commission Adds CTE and Concussion Information to their Website
Combat Sports Law 