How a Bill Becomes a... Mixed Martial Arts Regulation

Posted on August 22, 2010 by David Nelmark

Whenever a new state passes legislation to regulate mixed martial arts, fans in that state (and around the country) rejoice, and Dana White heads to his Twitter account.  Unfortunately, the excitement (while warranted) is often premature. Consider Alabama for example.

On May 21, 2009, Alabama Governor Bob Riley signed into law Senate Bill 98 which created the Alabama Boxing Commission.   Less than a year later on March 22, 2010, the Governor signed Senate Bill 327 which renamed the Commission the "Alabama Athletic Commission" and provided for the regulation of mixed martial arts. 

What many people may not realize, however, is that passing a law to regulate MMA isn't the same thing as actually regulating MMA.   A "mixed martial arts law" typically provides that the Athletic Commission shall create the rules and regulations governing the sport. That can take a while.

In March, a member of the Alabama Athletic Commission opined that creating the regulations in that state could take up to eight months. Thus far, that process has not been completed. In fact, the regulations aren't yet even in place to govern boxing in Alabama. 

Although things sometimes move significantly faster (like in Iowa) it is important to remember that even when a bill switches from being "just a bill" to being a law, it's still not the end of the road in MMA.

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Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts Revised

Posted on August 10, 2009 by David Nelmark

As reported in an excellent piece by MMAJunkie.com, the Association of Boxing Commissions has adopted revisions to the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.  The change that has gotten the most press is an amendment to the "no strikes to the back of the head" rule taking some aspects of the "mohawk" rule (no strikes along the center line of the head running towards the spine) and the "headphones" rule (no strikes at any location that would be behind a pair of headphones worn on the head).  The new rule uses the mohawk interpretation towards the top of the head but then widens the prohibited striking area towards the base of the neck. 

Another rule change is the prohibition of "12 to 6" elbow strikes (striking downward with the point of the elbow).  This is a reversal from changes the ABC made to the Uniform Rules of MMA in 2008 when it acted to eliminate the restriction against such a move.

Although ABC's MMA committee hopes that the revisions to the Uniform Rules will be adopted, well, uniformly, state athletic commissions are free to reject any or all of them.  For example, although the ABC changed the breakdown of weight classes in 2008, most commissions (and the UFC) kept the MMA light heavyweight class at the traditional 186 to 205 pounds.  

One thing that makes universal adoption more likely than in the past is that the rules changes were created by  the ABC committee on MMA rather than the ABC itself.   The MMA committee, which was adopted in 2008, largely in response to complaints about the proposed new weight classes, counts as its members the directors of many of the most influential state athletic commissions.

It would greatly benefit the sport of MMA for all states to adopt the modified rules.  Even if a particular commission disagrees with a particular rule change, having a common rule set makes it easier for fans to understand what is happening, it makes it easier for officials to oversee matches, and it makes it safer for the fighters.   

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