A paper was published in the latest edition of the journal The Physician and Sportsmedicine discussing recommended blood pressure thresholds for clearing combat sports athletes for competition. The full article, titled Pre-bout hypertension in the combat sports athlete: clearance recommendations, can be found here. After discussing the risks of athletes competing with elevated blood pressure … More Ringside Physicians Discuss Safe Pre Bout Blood Pressure Metrics for Fighters

The marathon Covid-19 pandemic has seen no shortage of government orders intruding on the liberties of normal life. The vast majority of these are lawful and within the power of government. That said governments can go too far and recent arbitrary rules for which athletes can and cannot go to the gym in Ontario may … More “Arbitrary” Ontario Gym Closures Vulnerable to Legal Challenge?

Reasons for judgement were recently published by the United States District Court in Nevada ordering Mark Hunt to pay the UFC $388,235 in attorney fees and costs in his ongoing doping lawsuit against the UFC. (note – the reasons were signed March 25, 2021. Since that time Hunt partially succeeded in reviving two of his … More Mark Hunt Ordered to Pay UFC $388,235 in Legal Costs

Several studies have previously been published detailing the effect that rapid extremes weight cuts (which are common in mixed martial arts and to a lesser extent boxing) can have on athletic performance. Over and above the many injuries and even deaths linked to these practices athletic commissions often hope to persuade athletes to avoided rapid … More Study – Fighter Who Gains Most Weight “Significantly Predicts” Bout Winner in MMA

News of a tragic amateur boxing death is making headlines this week. Nathan Valencia, UNLV student, succumbed to injuries and passed away after participating in a frat house run “fight night”. NBC News reports that “the Clark County coroner confirmed Tuesday that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and classified … More “You Don’t Play Boxing” – Frat House Boxing Homicide Leads to Questions

MMAJunkie’s Nolan King did a good job documenting the recent suspension of 20 bare knuckle boxers by the Association of Boxing Commissions (“ABC”). The fighters competed on a card called BKFC Fight Night Montana. The State does not have a ABC member boxing commission. The promoter, BKFC, apparently reached out to State authorities and were … More ABC Suspends 20 Bare Knuckle Fighters in Legally Murky Circumstances

A recent decision of interest was published earlier this month by the US National Labor Relations Board. It involved soccer referees but has valuable lessons for UFC fighters as well. In the recent case the Professional Soccer Referees Association petitioned to represent certain lower league officials, basically those from feeder leagues, into Major League Soccer. … More Soccer Referee Union Ruling Has Valuable Lessons for UFC Fighters Considering Organizing

In recent years the Kansas Athletic Commission took the lead and approved open scoring in combat sports. Following this they compiled data dispelling many myths raised by opponents of the transparent system. Today the Colorado Office of Combative Sports passed a policy proposal bringing open scoring to the State. I reached out to Tony Cummings, … More Colorado Approves Open Scoring in Combat Sports

Update October 5, 2021 – Today the ABC Medical Committee released the below critical comments on the quality of regulation in BKB in the United States ABC MEDICAL COMMITTEE Statement Regarding BARE KNUCKLE BOXING DEATHUncasville, CT – Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKB) has been gaining in popularity across parts of the United States. Since 2018, early … More Bare Knuckle Boxing Has First Reported Death in the Sport’s Regulated Era