This week a bout occurred in California (amateur bout overseen by CAMO) where an opponent lost and then won. Caught in a Von Flue choke, tapped out, went out. The referee somehow missed this and the bout continued. The fighter then went on to score a KO victory.
The footage speaks for itself.
CAMO, like many athletic commission, has limited rights of appeal. Under CAMO regulations a losing fighter only has the right of appeal in the below circumstnaces.
- There was collusion affecting the result of any contest;
- The compilation of the scorecard of the judges, and the referee when used as a judge, shows an error
which would mean that the decision was given to the wrong contestant; or - There was a violation of the laws or rules and regulations governing MMA which affected the result of
any contest.
The only chance of success is proving number three is triggered. That missing a tap and a nap is a ‘violation of the laws or rules and regulations’.
Here the best remedy would be for the referee to admit the error. It is the right thing to do and it is the best avenue to giving the appeal a chance to right the wrong outcome.
Barring that better appeal rights should be considered.
Improved appeal rights for fighters is a widely supported idea. Where a bout result is clearly wrong a meaningful remedy should exist. The regulatory community should strive to introduce proper unified MMA appeal rights to address cases such as this.
Combat Sports Law 