In a Facebook post published earlier this week former UFC fighter Matt Hamill suggests that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission has denied him licencing due to age.
Hamill posted the following:
Hamill, born in 1976, is 41 years old.
Pennsylvania’s Boxing Act (which covers MMA as the term Boxing is defined to include “all variations of the sport permitting or using other parts of the human body, including, but not limited to the foot, knee, leg, elbow or head“) does not set a maximum age for fighting. Instead the laws only set a minimum age for fighting of 18 with section 702(a) of the State’s Boxing Act stating “No person under 18 years of age shall be a participant in any contest or exhibition“.
Interestingly, the State’s stand alone regulations for actual boxing, do set a maximum age of 36 with s. 21.8 stating “The Commission will not license as a professional boxer an applicant over 36 years of age except by special action by the Commission.” The section goes on to impose stricter medical requirements for older boxers.
The State’s regulations for MMA, however, do not repeat this maximum age. Also of note the State does have a documented history of licencing MMA fighters over the age of 36.
Accordingly there is some confusion about whether the State enjoy’s the ability to turn down a fighter older than 36 based on age alone for the sport of MMA.
I have reached out to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission for comment on whether they have an age ceiling for licencing MMA fighters and if so the details surrounding the policy. If and when they provide a reply I will update this article.
Combat Sports Law 