Reasons for judgement were recently published by the United States District Court in Nevada ordering Mark Hunt to pay the UFC $388,235 in attorney fees and costs in his ongoing doping lawsuit against the UFC. (note – the reasons were signed March 25, 2021. Since that time Hunt partially succeeded in reviving two of his … More Mark Hunt Ordered to Pay UFC $388,235 in Legal Costs
Fighting is objectively violent. In many ways athletes participating in full contact sports know what they are getting into. But in many other ways they do not as research has recently demonstrated. Some injuries, like concussions and the neurodegenerative disease CTE which is linked to repeated concussive and subconcussive blows, are subtle but could have … More Study – Less Than 6% of Combat Sports Coaches Showed Adequate Concussion Knowledge
CTE is linked to repetitive head hits. Not just concussive hits but routine subconcussive impacts. The brain simply is not designed to be rattled on a repeated basis. If you are a competitive full contact fighter getting hit in the head during a bout is inevitable. Its part of the trade. Sparring is an important … More Study Shows Fighters Taking 10x More Head Impacts in Training vs Competition
Several studies have previously been published detailing the effect that rapid extremes weight cuts (which are common in mixed martial arts and to a lesser extent boxing) can have on athletic performance. Over and above the many injuries and even deaths linked to these practices athletic commissions often hope to persuade athletes to avoided rapid … More Study – Fighter Who Gains Most Weight “Significantly Predicts” Bout Winner in MMA
News of a tragic amateur boxing death is making headlines this week. Nathan Valencia, UNLV student, succumbed to injuries and passed away after participating in a frat house run “fight night”. NBC News reports that “the Clark County coroner confirmed Tuesday that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and classified … More “You Don’t Play Boxing” – Frat House Boxing Homicide Leads to Questions
MMAJunkie’s Nolan King did a good job documenting the recent suspension of 20 bare knuckle boxers by the Association of Boxing Commissions (“ABC”). The fighters competed on a card called BKFC Fight Night Montana. The State does not have a ABC member boxing commission. The promoter, BKFC, apparently reached out to State authorities and were … More ABC Suspends 20 Bare Knuckle Fighters in Legally Murky Circumstances
The Association of Ringside Physicians (“ARP”) recently published a position statement about the use of mouthguards in combat sports. They noted their view that “mouth guards should be used in all high- and intermediate-risk sports, including contact and combat sports, to aid in the prevention of orofacial trauma“. In terms of the type of mouth … More Ringside Doctors Discuss Mouthguards and Concussion Reduction in Combat Sports
A recent decision of interest was published earlier this month by the US National Labor Relations Board. It involved soccer referees but has valuable lessons for UFC fighters as well. In the recent case the Professional Soccer Referees Association petitioned to represent certain lower league officials, basically those from feeder leagues, into Major League Soccer. … More Soccer Referee Union Ruling Has Valuable Lessons for UFC Fighters Considering Organizing
Little argument can be had that combat sports and collision sports bring risk to participants. Leaving aside short term acute injury the most sinister of which is long term brain health harm from concussions, post concussive symptoms and CTE. One theme readers of this site will be familiar with is informed consent. I routinely discuss … More Paper Calls Out “Consensus” Statements on Concussion in Sport as Being Biased and Lacking Candour
In recent years the Kansas Athletic Commission took the lead and approved open scoring in combat sports. Following this they compiled data dispelling many myths raised by opponents of the transparent system. Today the Colorado Office of Combative Sports passed a policy proposal bringing open scoring to the State. I reached out to Tony Cummings, … More Colorado Approves Open Scoring in Combat Sports
Combat Sports Law 