Iowa Athletic Commission Shuts Down MMA Event
Earlier this month I blogged that a promoter should "never EVER ignore the Athletic Commission." The folks at the Midwest Fighting Championship apparently do not read this blog.
The Midwest Fighting Championship (not to be confused with the Midwest Cage Championship, also based in Iowa) was scheduled to host an event in Bloomfield, Iowa, on August 20. Unfortunately, as of August 19, they had not yet submitted the necessary paperwork to the Iowa Athletic Commission. The required paperwork includes blood test results for the fighters and proof of medical insurance purchased by the promotion. As a result, the head of the Iowa Athletic Commission enlisted the local sheriff to serve a cease and desist letter and call off the event.
After getting the news, Midwest Fighting Championship's Facebook page said (in all caps and without any punctuation):
Yes, fights are off. If anyone thinks they can run a better show go ahead. Can't do anything when the state shuts you down.
The latter sentence is certainly true. You CAN'T do anything when the state shuts you down. You can, however, follow the rules and PREVENT the state from shutting you down. The regulations at issue here are quite clear. Indeed, in a June 27 post on that same Facebook page, MFC announced the release of the proposed regulations governing amateur mixed martial arts saying: "Basically the main changes for amateur fighters are they will need blood work for hiv, hep b, and hep c and will have to provide proof that they are 18 or older."
Iowa Administrative Code Section 875-177.5(11) requires that the blood work for each fighter be submitted to the state at least one week in advance of the event. Here, it appears that the Athletic Commission gave the promoters extra time to comply, but eventually had to pull the plug.
While the comments on the MFC Facebook page predictably call Iowa's officials nasty names for canceling the show, I find it awfully hard to fault them for doing their jobs and protecting the fighters. But, at the end of the day, whether a promoter ignores my view is not the point. The point is: never EVER ignore the Athletic Commission.
