Today Mike Tyson tweeted that his bout with Jake Paul will be a ‘real fight’. I confirmed with the Texas Department of Licencing and Regulation that is has been sanctioned as a professional fight instead of an exhibition. They have, however, modified the rules. The Commission has replied as follows: Hi Erik, We opted to … More Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul Approved as Pro Fight (sort of)
Boxing is a dangerous trade. One in 5,000 professional boxing bouts end in death via brain trauma. This month the sport suffered another one. Heavyweight Ardi Ndembo died after suffering a knockout loss in a bout on April 5, 2024 in Miami. He was unconscious for several minutes following his loss and placed in an induced … More Some Questions Following Ardi Ndembo’s Boxing Death
Team Combat League is a relatively new venture where boxers compete in teams. The teams face each other with boxers fighting in one round bouts. Some are scheduled to have more than one such bout in a single day. Today it is reported that Heavyweight Ardi Ndembo died after suffering a knockout loss in a … More Heavyweight Boxer Ardi Ndembo Dies Following Brain Injury in Team Combat League Event
The latest study shedding light on CTE causation was published this week in the Journal of Neurotrauma. In short the study suggests CTE is caused by repeted brain rattling activities and not individual concussions or even individual moderate to severe brain injuries. In the study, titled Lack of Association of Informant-Reported Traumatic Brain Injury and … More Study – CTE Linked With Repeated Brain Rattling, Not Individual Brain Injuries
Update April 30, 2024 Texas responded to my open records request asking for a copy of all the health and safety records they are reviewing about slap fighting before voting on the ‘sport’. They responded they have none. __________________________________________________________________________ Update April 16, 2024 – Texas has already given Powerslap a promoters licence. Even though slap … More Texas Proposes to Approve Slap Fighting
Concussion and CTE are serious occupational risks of combat sports. Despite these risks many have a false sense of belief in the ‘protection’ offered by gloves and headgear. According to the Association of Ringside Physicians “Headguards should not be relied upon to reduce the risk of concussion or other traumatic brain injury. They have not … More Fighters Call for CTE and Concussion Warnings on Gloves and Headgear
In Canada the Criminal Code makes all ‘prize fights’ (a broadly defined term that can even capture light contact and grappling events) illegal by default except amateur combat sports that are “on the programme of the International Olympic Committee or the International Paralympic Committee“ The Criminal Code then gives individual Provinces the ability to change … More BC Overhauls Combat Sports Regulation
There is room for improvement when it comes to appeal rights in combat sports. In most jurisdictions fighters can only successfully appeal a bout result if they could prove there was collusion (ie crooked officiating), the scorekeeper made a mathematical error in adding up the judges scores, or there was an error in interpreting the … More Colorado Looking At Expanded Fighter Appeal Rights
Litigation has probably been the best tool to shed light on contract terms of various MMA promotions. Recently a PFL contract made its way into the public sphere as a result of this (HT to Elthon Costa for first breaking this news). By way of background a fighter and the promotion were involved in a … More Shedding Light on PFL Contract Terms
Presently CTE can only be diagnosed after death. But there are criteria for diagnosing suspected CTE in the living which is useful for research and other purposes. It is called Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome “TES”. A recent study was published researching athletes with and without TES and seeing how they performed on double leg balance testing. … More Declining Postural Balance “Significantly Associated” With Suspected CTE in Fighters
Combat Sports Law 