The BC Athletic Commission was provided with regulatory powers to oversee amateur kickboxing events via Order in Council 2013-342. The Office now has a set of interim rules for this sport which have been provided to me. These can be accessed here: BCAC Interim Amateur Kickboxing Rules I understand these will be modified … More BC Athletic Commission Releases Interim Amateur Kickboxing Rules
Reasons for judgement were released this week by the US District Court, S.D. California, discussing if Zuffa was a necessary party to copyright litigation brought by their commercial distributor. In short the answer was no. In this week’s case (Joe Hand Promotions v. Bragg) the Defendants operated Henry’s Doghouse Bar and Grill in San Diego. … More Zuffa is not an “Indispensable Party” To UFC Copyright Lawsuit
__________________________________ Following his recent controversial split decision loss to Diego Sanchez at UFC Fight Night, Ross Pearson is appealing the result to New Mexico’s Athletic Commission. Despite popular opinion that the decision was simply wrong, the reality is that the NMAC is unlikely to overturn the result even if … More New Mexico Athletic Commission’s Test for Overturning the Pearson/Sanchez Decision
I had the privilege of attending John McCarthy’s and Jerin Valel’s COMMAND MMA Judge training course this weekend in Richmond, BC. The experience is invaluable in providing insight into the complexity of judging an MMA bout with integrity. Whether you aspire to become an MMA judge or are … More A Simple Change to MMA’s Unified Rules Can Go a Long Way
In my ongoing efforts to highlight legal action taken against those accused of unlawful use of MMA Pay Per View products, reasons for judgement were released last week by the United States District Court, E.D. California, addressing an application for enforcement of a default judgement. In last week’s case (Joe Hand Promotions v. Sorondo) the Plaintiff … More Joe Hand Promotions Pursue Collections Remedies Years After the Fact
(Update – July 11, 2014 – The BCAC has changed their position and did indeed implement an out of competition test prior to UFC 174 on Bagautinov) _____________________________________________________ UFC 174 will be the promotion’s first event regulated under the newly formed Office of the British Columbia Athletic Commissioner. With the big show coming to town … More No Out of Competition Drug Tests For UFC 174 According to BCAC
While British Columbia has a Province wide Athletic Commission with monopoly powers to oversee and regulate MMA, BC’s legal framework gives individual cities a choice allowing them to outright ban certain combat sports. Specifically, section 59(f)(1) of BC’s Community Charter allows the passage of City bylaws that “prohibit professional boxing, professional wrestling and other professional athletic … More City of Vernon, BC Looking to Ban Mixed Martial Arts
Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by The Lawyer’s Weekly to discuss New Brunswick’s Bill 72 which set out a legal framework for the regulation of Combat Sports in the Province. If you are visiting this site for the first time after reading the article, welcome! At the time of the interview Bill … More Welcome Lawyer’s Weekly Readers
Two more Provinces now have professional MMA and other combat sports officially legalized. Saskatchewan’s Athletic’s Commission Act and New Brunswick’s Combat Sport Act have now both received Royal Assent with Saskatchewan’s law coming into force on May 1, 2014 and New Brunswick’s law coming into force on May 21, 2014. You can click here for … More Saskatchewan and New Brunswick Combat Sport Laws Now in Force
Adding to this site’s archived medical literature addressing safety issues in combat sports, an important study was published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association addressing objective brain changes in college football players. The study compared three groups: 1. College football players with no concussion history 2. College football players with a … More More Medical Evidence on the Toll of Sub Concussive Trauma in Combat Sports
Combat Sports Law 