A quick roundup of recent regulatory punishments of note this week in the world of MMA. Following a 30% purse withholding due to Battlegrounds ONE tournament winner Roan Carneiro showing up late to a pre bout medical meeting, the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission reduced the fine to $100 (down from $15,000 being 30% of the … More MMA Regulatory Roundup
Following Bellator 127 the California State Athletic Commission tested all 22 fighters on the card. This widespread testing apparently caught many of the fighters off guard and according to one source, “people back stage were freaking out.“. The results are now in and, as reported by Sherdog, 4 of the 22 fighters tested positive for … More 18% Of Bellator 127 Card Reportedly Fails Post Fight Drug Tests
Update January 20, 2015 – Two more former WWE wrestlers have filed a separate proposed class action against the WWE with similar arguments to the below litigation. ___________________________ Following a series of high profile brain injury lawsuits hitting professional sports, the world of Combat Sports has now been brought into this unwelcome club. William Haynes aka … More Brain Injury Lawsuit Comes to Combat Sports
Adding to this site’s archived judgments of lawsuits addressing UFC piracy claims, reasons for judgement were recently released by the US District Court, W.D. Louisiana, Lafayette Division, ordering double the cost of licencing as fair damages following commercial piracy. In the recent case (Joe Hand Promotions Inc v. Guillory) the Defendant Rival Sports Grill, LLC … More Double The Price of Pay Per View Fair Punishment for UFC Piracy
Andy Foster, the current Executive Director at the California State Athletic Commission, recently interviewed with Joe Ferraro where Foster revealed that he is spearheading regulatory change to bring reform to the dangerous Rapid Extreme Weight Loss practices prevalent in MMA and Boxing. You can listen to the full interview here starting at the 13 minute … More Andy Foster – Rapid Extreme Weight Loss Reform Coming to California
Since last year I have been pressing Ontario for answers about if or when they will exercise their section 83 Criminal Code powers to legalize amateur MMA and other non-Olympic combat sports. Ontario has finally provided a substantive reply and the Province advises that they plan on legalizing amateur MMA along with many other combat sports. … More Breaking News – Ontario Proposes to Legalize Amateur MMA
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
Combat Sports Law 