Retired boxing world champion and MMA fighter Heather Hardy filed a lawsuit this week against Everlast and several other individuals involved in her career. In short she alleges that after a career in prize fighting and ascending to the very top she was left broke and broken. Hardy summarizes her injuries and current status as … More Heather Hardy Sues Everlast and Others For Chronic Brain Injury
The deceptively named Ali “Revival” Act is actually the Ali Destruction Act. It is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. If passed it harms protections the Ali Act gives professional boxers. Colorado’s Brittany Petterson, the US representative from Colorado’s 7th congressional district recently confirmed this “undermining” aspect of it in response to concerns raised by a … More Representative Petterson – Ali Revival Act “Undermines” Protections of Ali Act
The Texas legislature has just passed a law giving ringside doctors immunity from lawsuits if they are negligent in their duties. Senate Bill 842 updated the State’s Occupation’s Code with the following language: IMMUNITY FOR RINGSIDE PHYSICIANS.(a)Except as otherwise provided by this section, a ringsidephysician is immune from civil liability arising from acts withinthe scope … More Texas Gives Negligent Ringside Doctors Immunity From Lawsuits
This week at the Association of Boxing Commissions 37th Annual Conference changes were made to MMA’s unified rules. Specifically the judging criteria were overhauled to have the language more accurately reflect current practices. The main highlight can be summarized in one word – damage. The old version of the rules shied away from that word … More Damage! Brand New MMA Judging Criteria Approved
This week news broke that the protections professional boxers enjoy in the US under the Ali Act are under serious threat with the introduction of the Ali “Revival” Act. You can click here for some background on this topic. Today Patrick English, a US attorney well versed in the legalities of professional boxing, penned an … More Lawyer Patrick English – Ali Revival Act a “Betrayal”
Critics of open scoring in mixed martial arts often point to the fact fighters that know they are winning will use that knowledge to coast to victory which will lead to boring fights. However data from jurisdictions that use open scoring do not support this view. Further data has now been published in a study … More Study – MMA Fighters Don’t “Coast” To Victory When Knowing They’re Ahead
If you design a “sport” with intentional and undefended blows to the head you are going to get brain injury. Lots of it. A study was recently published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation showing slap fighting results in extraordinary rates of observable signs of suspected concussion and, despite this, that a high percentage … More Study – 52% of Slap Fights Continue Following “Observable Signs of Suspected Concussion”
Update – May 6, 2026 – Today the BC Court of Appeal released reasons for judgement allowing a government appeal on this case finding that SFU’s claims, as plead, do not give rise to a duty of care. However, depending on how the evidence developed, the Court left the door open for SFU to bring … More Negligence Allegations Against BC Athletic Commission Can be Tested in Court
Research was published this week in the journal The Physician and Sports Medicine reviewing the safety of strangulation techniques in MMA. In the paper, titled The vascular neck restraint of mixed martial arts, the authors reviewed all published medical literature to date on the topic. 25 papers in total were reviewed. In short the authors … More Study – Strangulation in MMA has an “Acceptable Safety Profile”
Male boxers suffer KO/TKO stoppages 1.6 times more than their female counterparts. However, when adjusting the bouts for minutes boxed, their KO and TKO rates are almost identical. These findings were revealed in a study published this week in the journal Neurology. In the study, titled Gender Differences of Concussions in Professional Boxing, the authors … More Study – Male and Female Boxers Suffer Almost Identical Concussion Rates
