The office of the British Columbia Athletic Commissioner, who oversee various amateur and professional combat sports in the Province, is looking to overhaul and finalize their rules relating to amateur MMA, Pankration, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and Combat Sports Tournaments (events where athletes participate in more than one match during the event). The BCAC has put … More BC Looks to Overhaul Amateur Combat Sports Rules
Update October 29, 2014 – Kevin Iole reports this matter will not come to a head as the NSAC has apparetly given Belfort their blessing to go to California. Here is the tweet – ________________________ Fightland reports that the UFC middleweight title bout between Vitor Belfort and Chris Weidman which initially … More UFC 184 California Bound? Vitor’s Conditional Licence May Cause Legal Problems
Update October 24, 2014 – This week UFC Executive Lawrence Epstein provided an interview addressing the situation justifying their actions stating “we’re not in the drug testing business“. This quote, if anything, does not help the UFC’s position but in fact highlights the need of why the organization should have received medical advice before going … More Did Zuffa Defame Cung Le and Will There Be Legal Fallout?
When Zuffa or their commercial distributor (Joe Hand Promotions) sue for piracy of UFC Pay Per View products in the US they usually rely on cable and satellite signal theft legislation. These laws often allow them to recover, in addition to damages, their legal fees from the opposing parties. When their lawsuits fall short, however, … More Lawyer Fee Recovery A One Way Street In UFC Piracy Prosecutions
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of making an appearance on UFC Central Radio with Showdown Joe Ferraro along with UFC Bantamweight Mitch Gagnon and Fox Sports MMA writer Marc Raimondi, discussing some of the latest legal topics addressing combat sports. You can listen to the full episode here. I’d like … More Welcome UFC Central Listeners
In the latest UFC Pay Per View prosecution to reach judgement following alleged event piracy by a commercial establishment, $18,900 in damages plus attorney’s fees were awarded by the US District Court, S.D. Texas, Houston Division. In this month’s case (Joe Hand Promotions, Inc. v. Dadson) the Defendant was sued after displaying UFC 124 in … More $18,900 Awarded In Latest UFC PPV Piracy Lawsuit
Update October 12, 2014 – the ECSC has released their official Bout Results and these include an Indefinite Suspension for Ford noting a “fractured right forearm“. Update November 5, 2014 – It is reported that the ECSC has suspended Ford for 6 months due to the below conduct. __________________________________________ Following the World Series of Fighting’s … More What Fallout Will Come From Ryan Ford’s Pre-Bout Broken Arm?
Fighter pay is a frequent discussion in MMA circles with much speculation about what percentage of revenues are shared with athletes. Nova Scotia, who just hosted their first UFC event on October 4, 2014 has a law on their books mandating a minimum split to the fighters in the main event of a fight card. Specifically, … More Did Nova Scotia Enforce Their Fighter Pay Rules at UFC Fight Night Halifax?
Manitoba has become the latest Canadian Province to exercise their powers under s. 83 of the Criminal Code designating a list of amateur combat sports which are legal. Manitoba has passed Order in Council No. 00257 / 2014 which designates amateur Boxing, Karate and TaeKwonDo as legal sports in the Province. I should note that Boxing and … More Manitoba Passes OIC Legalizing/Regulating Amateur Boxing, Karate and TaeKwonDo
Interesting reasons for judgement were released last week by the US District Court, Southern District of New York, discussing contractual liability after a boxing bout was cancelled due to an athlete failing to pass a pre-bout drug test. The full decision can be found here: World of Boxing v. Don King In short Don King was … More Promoter Liable For Contract Breach After Boxer’s Positive PED Test
Combat Sports Law 