Combat Sports Law

This month the UFC’s new anti-doping policy has come into force. One area worth paying attention to is how new or returning athletes that admit to, or were known to be doping are treated under the policy. And whether overseeing Athletic Commissions treat them differently as the UFC’s in house anti-doping provisions are not binding on … More Let’s Talk Admitted Doping for New or Returning Athletes to the UFC

Update December 6, 2023 – California is considering using their ‘exhibition’ regulation which allows alternate rulesets to usher in this potential event. The relevant section reads as follows: “Recognizing that different forms of martial arts exist, notwithstanding any rule in this division to the contrary, the commission may, in its discretion, authorize alternate rules or … More Does the California Athletic Commission Have Jurisdiction To Approve Slap Fighting?

In 2021 a teenage boxer died following a bout in Montreal. The boxer, Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, competed in Quebec just a few months after suffering a TKO loss in Mexico. In the Quebec bout she was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital where she died 5 days later. A coroner’s report, published this week, speculated … More Quebec Coroner Calls For Neuropsychological Testing For Fighters After Teenage Boxer Killed in Bout

This week the Nevada Athletic Commission voted to loosen anti doping thresholds for several banned substances. These include SARM’s, GW1516, DHCMT, Clomiphene and Epitrenbolone. In short they shifted these prohibited substances into the ‘threshold’ category meaning that testing positive for these substances in and of itself is not an anti doping failure so long as … More Nevada Loosens Anti Doping Thresholds