Over the past several months the City of Vernon, BC had debated banning Mixed Martial Arts. Today the City followed through with their plans and passed Bylaw 5505-2014 which prohibits professional MMA events in the City. Below is the Bylaw in full which is the first of its kind in the Province banning the sport … More Vernon BC Bans Professional MMA
Update January 31, 2015 – this week the Court dismissed a Plaintiff motion to alter the below judgement. The Plaintiff argued that there was a convention that ‘five figure judgements’ were appropriate in piracy cases. The Court disagreed noting that absent evidence of ‘anything extraordinary’ the more modest judgement was appropriate. The reasons can be … More Minimum Statutory Damages Awarded After UFC 155 Piracy
Reasons for judgement were released this week by the United States District Court, S.C. California, upholding a modest damage assessment in a case of piracy of a PPV product. In this week’s case (Joe Hand Promotions v. Khan) the Defendant operated a commercial establishment and was sued for airing a PPV program without paying … More $1,750 Pay Per View Piracy Judgement Survives Motion to Alter
I have finally had a chance to read Is this Legal, a book written by UFC co-founder Art Davie. The book accounts “how Davie started the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and launched mixed martial arts” in the US. The 260 page book is a great read for any fan of combat sports. I was 16 when UFC 1 … More Is This Legal? A Quick Review
Update November 10, 2014 – the second decision discussed below, Joe Hand Promotions v. Lorenzana, survived a motion to alter the judgement amount. Joe Hand argued that the damages were too low and would not serve the goals of deterrence. Judge Davila disagreed and found a penalty twice the amount of the PPV licence was … More The Latest UFC PPV Piracy Prosecutions Result in Modest Damages
Last week a British Columbia jury awarded former UFC fighter Jason Day approximately $340,000 following what turned out to be a career ending motor vehicle collision. Day was struck on his bicycle by an SUV and sustained chronic soft tissue injuries to his knees and ankles. While the injuries did not prevent him from pursuing … More Former UFC Fighter Jason Day Awarded $340K Following Career Ending Collision
Update – August, 6, 2014 – Bleacher Report, who initially broke this story, has obtained correspondence between Sonnen’s lawyers and the Nevada Commission. The legal arguments advanced largely mirror the below arguments and additionally point to recorded comments of NSAC Chairman Francisco Aguilar, where he agreed that Metamoris “is not subject” to the ban imposed on … More Empty Threats? – The NSAC’s Weak Position To Impose Fines on Sonnen
Included in the 2014 Association of Boxing Commission Annual Conference Documents were lists setting out the volume of sanctioned amateur and professional events by various State, Tribal, Provincial and Municipal Athletic Commissions in the US and Canada. The busiest commission one again is California overseeing 163 events in 2013. Second is Texas with 94 and … More Reported 2009-2013 MMA Event Volume By Commission
In my effort to create a database of Combat Sports prosecutions pursuant to Canada’s Criminal Code, I have obtained the full transcript of the sentencing proceedings from Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice in the case of HMTQ v. Crowthers and Daku. By way of backgound, Patrick Crowthers and Derek Daku of Saskatchewan’s Prestige Fight Club have … More Reasons For Judgement in Canada’s First “Modern” Prizefighting Prosecution
The UFC’s Matt Brown failed to make weight today ahead of UFC on Fox 12. He weighed in at 172.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds above the welterweight limit. Under California rules Brown was allowed a further hour to try and shed the weight, however, due to a reported ‘miscommunication’ this did not happen. The details of … More CSAC Reportedly Ignores Physician Advice During Rapid Extreme Weight Cut
Combat Sports Law 