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Michigan State House passes MMA legislation bill

By Zach Arnold | July 26, 2007

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By Zach Arnold

Here’s the PDF of the bill that allows the newly-named Oregon State Athletic Commission to regulate MMA.

I’m calling out all the Michigan MMA writers here (Aaron Crossen, Royal Burnell, etc.) to spend a half-hour and look over today’s legislative material. There’s a lot of detailed information in the documents and it needs to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb.

Update: Jordan Breen and Tomer Chen review the Michigan MMA legislation.

The sponsor of this bill is Rep. Barbara Farrah (D – Southgate). Her e-mail is here. Her web site is here. Her office FAX number is 517-373-5926. Her office phone number is 517-373-0845.

Now, onto the legislation at hand. It’s a two-pronged bill set (HB 4869 & HB 4870). Files related to the bills:

  1. Three-page HFA legislative analysis of the two bills
  2. HB4869 – 22 page bill as passed by the Michigan State House
  3. HB4870 – amendment and attachment to HB4869

There’s a lot of material to absorb in the PDF files, but I recommend every reader look at the files and comment both here and to Barbara Farrah about the legislation.

Some notes that caught my eyes about the bill can be seen in full-page mode.

  1. On page four, I thought it was interesting that the bill does not apply to amateur MMA.
  2. The bill states that a new boxing/MMA athletic commission will consist of an 11-person committee (4 for MMA, 4 for boxing, and 3 independent).
  3. There is going to be both pre- and post-fight drug testing. The question is whether or not it will involve random drug testing or if it’s a test-one, test-all policy.
  4. On page eight, the bill states that the new commission will allow for reciprocity agreements with other athletic commissions.
  5. The first eye-opener for me starts with discussion of someone applying for a promoter’s license. It states in the bill that the applicant must “demonstrate good moral character.” Well, where are the standards for determining this in the bill? Not until pages 13 and 14 is there any sort of indication of what the benchmarks will be for what constitutes as ‘good moral character.’ It sounds to me as if this is a cheap way out for the new commission to choose who or who they don’t want to selectively have as event promoters. I’m not a fan of this – so far. Unless this is unofficially perhaps an “Art Dore” clause.
  6. On page 10, it states that the event promoter must have a bond of $20,000 USD with the commission to cover administrative costs per event. It’s the same figure as California, but double Nevada’s $10,000 bond cost.
  7. On page 11, it states that the Michigan commission will collect 3% of the gate revenue. In comparison, the other major combat states (NJ, CA, NV, etc.) collect 5%. There’s also a provision stating that a promoter must produce a TV contract with an estimated amount of how much money will be made from TV or video rights before a certain amount of days of a show.
  8. The second red alert to me in the legislation is a provision in the bill stating that promoter contracts will be excempt from FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) disclosures. Now, this is interesting in light of what happened in Texas at UFC 69. The TDLR (Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation) refused to give out the fighter salaries of competitors at the UFC event. Will we encounter the same thing with Michigan in regards to both fighter salaries and drug testing results?
  9. Page 15 goes into some of the basic language about what fighters are not allowed to do during a fight. It reads a lot like California’s standards.
  10. On page 18, it states that the promoters are responsible for paying for the drug tests. On page 20, it states that each fighter must have an insurance policy worth $50,000.

Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

6 Responses to “Michigan State House passes MMA legislation bill”

  1. Jason Gatties says:

    Well first let me state that I’m from Michigan and I’ve been working on my state rep for some time to try to get some regulation done (I’ve known him for years, he use to be my neighbor). So any legalized MMA in Michigan to me would be a positive. Right now King of the Cage runs shows at the Soaring Eagle Casino, which is a Native American Casino and not real easy to get to.

    When you mentioned the “Art Dore Clause” I thought the same thing when I was sent an email last night.

    Its not perfect at all but its better than nothing in my opinion. I also hope they consider regulating Pro Wrestling in the future as well.

  2. Section 12 on page 4 is a huge, glaring red light of death. Toughman has been hosting “MMA” in Michigan for years under the guise of amateur martial arts and amateur MMA, which the bill explicitly states the commission will not regulate. The bill needs to be impervious to legal challenges, so the state needs to be able to designate what is professional MMA and amateur MMA, if not for the safety of the fighters, then for record-keeping purposes. It needs to be part of the bill proper before it gets to the Senate.

    Of course, Section 47 on page 14 is aimed squarely at Dore.

    In Michigan, the Toughman problem has never been one of legislation or law as much as one of enforcement. Dore and his ilk continue to get away with hosting illegal MMA events in Michigan because law enforcement agencies are totally anathema to putting a stop to them. In Bay City, for example, there is an illegal Toughman or other event every few months, and in Flint, more often.

    I will e-mail Farrah now.

  3. Amy Robinson says:

    Next up, PA! We’re half way there we just gotta get the final qinks worked out and we’re set!

  4. AJAX says:

    Until the rules are changed to resemble what Pride’s used to be(where we actually know who’s a better overall fighter), I’m not paying to see it. I can wait.

  5. David says:

    I am all for it! Let me know how I can help!

  6. Royal B. says:

    Aaron is right.

    When the last events happened, the cops treated it like pro wrestling and wondered why they were there. Last winter at the Westtown, the owner treated it like PW.

    We need to educate popular businesses and policia about the sport as to take it seriously.

    Also, there ain’t no way startups are growing anywhere near Michigan. you need too much money to throw around.

    I don’t see much money being spent either. With Amature being exempt, you’re rookie fighter is pretty much a gladiator. Might as well move to Ohio to make pay.

    Also the conceilment of information is run of the mill crap from DLEG. Something the old fuddys put in for some obsolete reason.

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