What are the laws and regulations on having a Mixed Martial Arts tournament?
I’m wanting to host a Mixed Martial Arts Tournament soon and i wanna know if there is anything legality wise that i have to do or watch out for. Such as if i have to have it in an actual gym or can it be in someones back yard. I plan on it being a big event so help me out here.
I have no idea, man. At a minimum you need the backing of a sanctioning body; an athletic commission or boxing commission.
No offense, but if you need to ask us, you’re nowhere near prepared enough to put on a show.
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8 Responses to “What are the laws and regulations on having a Mixed Martial Arts tournament?”
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doing it in your backyard is a good way to get arrested, or sued. You have to be licensed, sanctioned, have insurance, have certified fighters, and certified referees. I"m sure there is alot more to do than what i’ve listed.
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I have no idea, man. At a minimum you need the backing of a sanctioning body; an athletic commission or boxing commission.
No offense, but if you need to ask us, you’re nowhere near prepared enough to put on a show.
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I am not providing legal advice.
However, martial arts organizations put on tournaments ALL THE TIME without "sanctioning bodies," "certified refs," and the like that others have mentioned.
You’ll probably WANT to have insurance in the event of an injury or suit. But there is nothing wrong with a martial arts organization hosting an amateur tournament and I’ve never heard anything about it requiring special sanctioning or special judges/refs.
Consult your own state’s laws on the matter. A lot of states treat boxing, and now MMA, as a source of tax revenue. The big deal to them is making sure that you pay for all of the licenses, taxes on receipts, etc. Honestly, the usually couldn’t care less as long as they get their cut of whatever action they see going on.
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Check with the state athletic commission of the state that you live in. Most have nipped this in the bud early and are not allowing individuals to put something like this on like tough-man contests were. The fines for some of the violations like putting on a card and not having a promoters license, no insurance, no paramedics or ambulance present, fighters not licensed, etc are in the thousands of dollars and I know of a person that did something not quite legally in their approach and got in trouble and it cost them almost $20K. I think if you do some checking you will find that you probably can’t do it legally without a lot of work, and also incurring some costs way beyond what you are aware of right now.
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I imagine that you could forget about the insurance and all that as long as you have a very specific and airtight contract signed by each and every person competing, stating that you take absolutely no responsibility for injury or death and that each fighter competes at his/her own risk + or any other legality that you can come up with. It should probably also state the conditions of the fight and the rules. Basically just make sure that you are protected from any responsibility whatsoever. Maybe you should also ad that you reserve the right to make changes to the contract at any time without warning and that sort of thing. Make sure spectators are well back from the fight and have no chance of being injured. If this is really going to be a big event with people that you cant say you trust 100% to be cool about things, I would really really consult a lawyer, someone who knows about the law for real. Make sure you have a place to do it either with no one else around who will complain or that you have full consent from your neighbors, again a contract would be good. Anyway have fun if you pull it off.
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Since this is your first event, I would seriously suggest you NOT make it a big event. I would also suggest you speak with the host of other MMA type tournaments and ask them specific questions on organization. and when I say ask a host of MMA type events, I mean you ask one who has organized these events for years, not some idiot who got the same idea as you on a whim. So find an event you believe is well organized and looks like they covered all their bases, and ask the host of that. This will include required legal permits, suggested places to host the tournament, the possible need for an insurance policy for your event, whether registration can be done at the gate or not, and waivers for participants. He could also point you in the direction of certified referees who can keep the situation under control if it does get out of hand, as opposed to a group of your friends who have no experience in stopping a situation when tempers flair up or can even recognize when things are getting out of hand. (They flair up in regular old karate point tournaments, and in soccer events, so don’t think that won’t happen in a full contact no holds barred MMA event.)
One thing is for sure, you can’t put up fliers, have people show and expect everything to run smoothly. You’re going to need some time to carefully organize this, so I also suggest you not make it "soon".
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Try askgarry.com your gonna need a lawyer……..
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That cut was disgusting. Sanchez got a beating.