In 2021 a teenage boxer died following a bout in Montreal. The boxer, Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, competed in Quebec just a few months after suffering a TKO loss in Mexico. In the Quebec bout she was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital where she died 5 days later. A coroner’s report, published this week, speculated … More Quebec Coroner Calls For Neuropsychological Testing For Fighters After Teenage Boxer Killed in Bout

This week the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to loosen anti doping thresholds for several banned substances. These include SARM’s, GW1516, DHCMT, Clomiphene and Epitrenbolone. In short they shifted these prohibited substances into the ‘threshold’ category meaning that testing positive for these substances in and of itself is not an anti doping failure so long as … More Nevada Loosens Anti Doping Thresholds

Last week the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission was asked to give One Championship a promoters licence and to grant them 10 rule variations so they can host an event in the State using their ‘global’ ruleset. Today a local official familiar with the matter confirmed to me that Georgia has approved these requests and … More Georgia Approves ONE Championship Ruleset

Today it was revealed that the UFC and their anti doping partner USADA are splitting ways as of the new year. I am unaware of any public comment by the UFC about this development but MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter published the following press release from USADA stating their relationship “became untenable” –

Today reasons dismissing Mark Hunt’s doping lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar were published (HT MMAJunkie). The suit stemmed from Hunt’s bout against Lesnar in 2016 at UFC 200. Lesnar tested positive for a banned substance which led Hunt to sue the various parties. The lawsuit was dismissed previously but on appeal … More Mark Hunt UFC Doping Lawsuit Dismissed

Last week I had the pleasure to appear on MyMMANews and had a great chat with James Lynch about the UFC antitrust lawsuit, its certification, and its potential impact on the landscape. Here it is in full.

Earlier this year One Championship held an event in Colorado under their ‘global’ ruleset. The main difference with these compared to the “unified” rules is allowing knees to the head of grounded opponents. Colorado cleared the way for the use of alternate MMA rulesets in 2021. I obtained a full copy of the approved rules … More ABC Leans On Colorado To Disavow ONE’s “Global” MMA Ruleset

CTE is caused by repeated brain rattling. Data shows that the ‘dosage’ of cumulative brain rattling is tied to causation and severity of the disease. This week data was published highlighting confirmed CTE in young athletes. In a word it is sobering. The study, titled Neuropathologic and Clinical Findings in Young Contact Sport Athletes Exposed … More Confirmed CTE In Young Athletes

Last week in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (“ABC”) annual conference, regulators brought in three new procedural changes to the official Unified Rules of MMA. These ‘procedural changes’ are simply codifications of best practices in several situations that often come up during a bout. In short these note … More MMA’s 3 New Unified Rule Clarifications