As a long time fan of MMA and other combat sports I feel past, current and future athletes are owed a fair and sober discussion of the realities of traumatic brain injury. Yes a bit of common sense tells us these sports have inherent dangers and yes being hit in the head is not good … More Guy Mezger Shares the Legacy of “17 Years of Being Hit in the Head”
If you’ve ever attended to or listened to a live athletic commission administrative hearing you will note a lot of factual statements are provided without deep scrutiny (how did those steroids end up in your system? Uhhh, I think I took some bad supplements..). We now have a perfect litmus test to see how much … More Jon Jones Deceives Nevada State Athletic Commission? Will There Be Fallout?
Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, finding that a fee charging martial arts school is no different than any other business and is required to purchase a business licence. In today’s case (City of Burnaby v. Gildemeester dba Master Gee’s Black Belt Academy) the Respondent failed to pay … More Yes Martial Arts Schools, You Need to Buy a Business Licence too
BloodyElbow has provided coverage of the UFC Anti Trust lawsuit that is second to none. In their ongoing coverage economist Paul Gift, who is experienced as an expert witness in anti trust lawsuits, dissected the claims and provided a unique breakdown. One point Gift addressed was the fighters challenge to UFC’s exclusivity requirement in their … More Exclusive Contracts and UFC Fighter Career Length
Earlier this week I had the pleasure to appear on The Fight Network’s MMA Meltdown radio with the always entertaining Gabriel Morency. We covered many of the current legal headlines in MMA including the UFC Anti Trust Class Action lawsuit, the recent Quinton Jackson legal tug of war and the possibility of concussion lawsuits hitting the … More Welcome MMA Meltdown Radio Listeners
Recently the Journal of Athletic Enhancement released a first of its kind study examining the cognitive performance on neuropsychological testing of MMA athletes. The study, authored by Christopher Heath and Jennifer Callahan, conducted a series of cognitive performance tests on 28 MMA athletes and a control group of 28 non MMA athletes. The MMA athletes … More Recent Developments in Combat Sports Brain Injury Studies
Update December 23, 2014 – Yesterday a second lawsuit has now been filed making similar allegations against Zuffa. The second lawsuit was filed by Luis Vazquez and Dennis Hallman and also seeks class action status. The Court filing can be found here: Vazquez and Hallman v. Zuffa Complaint Update December 24, 2014 – Today Brandon Vera … More An Overview and Analysis of the UFC Anti Trust Lawsuit
In 2012 the US Federal Trade Commission closed their investigation into the UFC for alleged anti competitive practices. The investigation ended with the vagueness that only the executive branch of government can give noting “This action is not to be construed as a determination that a violation may not have occurred, just as the pendency … More Anti Trust Class Action Lawsuit Against UFC Rumoured to Be “Imminent”
This week the UFC announced a 6 year deal designating Reebok as “the exclusive outfitter and apparel provider” for the UFC. The deal requires Reebok apparel to be worn and prohibits athletes from having “outside sponsor logos on athletic apparel during UFC fight week official events, including fight night, UFC-produced content or other official UFC events. … More UFC Reebok Uniforms and Zuffa Fighter Contracts
Adding to this site’s archived caselaw summaries of combat sports PPV piracy prosecutions, two decisions were released this month by the US Federal Courts granting default judgement in cases of alleged cable and satellite theft. In the first case (Joe Hand Promotions Inc. v SlackTV) the Plaintiff obtained default judgement against the Defendant for alleged … More Latest Piracy Prosecutions Result in Hefty Default Judgements
Combat Sports Law 