Yesterday I had the pleasure of being a guest on UFC Central Radio with Showdown Joe Ferraro. For those of you visiting this site for the first time welcome! If you missed the interview you can listen to it here, my segment starts at the 17:00 mark. A quick shout out to Joe for having … More Welcome UFC Central Radio Listeners
As predicted earlier this month, Saskatchewan has now legalized amateur MMA. The Provincial Government passed Order in Council 479/2013 which orders that the Saskatchewan Martial Arts Association is specified as the body responsible for the sanctioning and oversight of amateur combative sports, including mixed martial arts, kickboxing, modified muay thai, and full contact karate. A summary of … More Saskatchewan Legalizes Amateur MMA, Law To Legalize Pro MMA To Be Introduced in the Fall
Professional and amateur MMA can now be legally hosted in Canada so long as appropriate local laws are passed. To this end other Canadian jurisdictions can take a page from British Columbia when it comes to regulating combat sports in the post Bill S-209 world. BC now has the clearest Province wide legal framework for … More BC Sets the Canadian Standard For Legal Pro/Am MMA Events
(Image via Wikimedia) The BC Athletic Commissioner has now set out the rules for Amateur Muay Thai contests in British Columbia. Further to the powers given to the Commissioner via section 2(2) of Order in Council 2013-342, the Commissioner has adopted, on a provisional basis, the Association of Boxing Commissions Unified Rules and Guidelines for … More BC Athletic Commission Sets Rules For Amateur Muay Thai; Kickboxing Rules Still in Progress
Oh the multi-jurisdictional legal joys that the UFC gets to struggle with! Not only did the UFC run into issues with Massachusetts requiring foreign combatants to have Social Security Numbers for their upcoming show in Boston, the latest issue that has cropped up involves licencing combatants who have been convicted or charged with certain criminal … More Crimes of Moral Turpitude and Combat Sports in Massachusetts
Yesterday it was announced that BC has legalized amateur MMA in addition to a host of other amateur combat sports. As the legality of combat sports vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in Canada there is, at this stage, no set of unified rules in place for the sport. I have been in touch with … More BC Provisionally Adopts ABC’s Rules For Amateur MMA
The BC Government has just passed Order in Council 2013-342 which expands the BC Athletic Commissioner’s powers to regulate all amateur MMA, kickboxing, pankration and Muay Thai events. In addition to the BCAC’s powers to regulate pro boxing and MMA, they will apparently now also regulate “any amateur boxing that occurs at a professional boxing or … More BC Legalizes Amateur MMA and Other Non-IOC Combat Sports
Earlier this year I dissected some comments made by Mark Pavelich who proclaimed that he “is never going to put female MMA in my organization.” The outspoken CEO of Canada’s longest running MMA promotion, the MFC, justified his stance on the basis that “I just don’t like to see females hitting each other.” Interestingly enough, Mark … More The MFC Does An About Face On Reason Behind No Women Allowed Policy
Update August 14, 2013 – the plans discussed below have gone through and will apparently also include pro MMA. You can click here for details ______________________________________________________________________ As previously discussed, Canadian federal law designates amateur combat sports ”in the programme of the International Olympic Committee” legal by default. These include Boxing, Wrestling, Judo and Tae Kwon Do. … More Saskatchewan To Legalize Amateur MMA and Other Combat Sports?
Earlier this month I discussed the combat sports athletic commission rumored to be coming to Weyburn, Sakatchewan concluding that if Cities in Saskatchewan have the authority to regulate MMA under the Cities Act and there is “no interference from the Provincial legislature” then the path may be clear for municipal commissions. I have just been … More Saskatchewan Plays the Trump Card over Municipal MMA Regulation
Combat Sports Law 