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Ohio Athletic Commission bans certain types of shorts for MMA fights
By Zach Arnold | November 30, 2009

Ohio Athletic Commission Bernie Profato
242 Federal Plaza West Suite 405 Executive Director
Youngstown, OH 44503
http://www.aco.ohio.gov
Office: 330-797-2556
Fax: 330-797-2559
State of Ohio
OHIO ATHLETIC COMMISSION
Reference Shorts for Mixed martial Arts Events
Flexible lightweight, non-abrasive, high-tech polymer fused to the inseam of the fight shorts creates ‘Grip-Zones’ to help secure finishing holds and counter the slippery effects of sweat.
NO SLIP PREVENTION OR GRIPPING MATERIAL ON ANY PORTION OF THE FIGHTER’S SHORTS IS PERMITTED.
PDF of example of Sprawl MMA shorts that are now illegal in Ohio
Jordan Breen has some thoughts on the matter.
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The press release looks like a Nigerian scam email
I wonder if the Ohio commission will actually enforce these rules for all MMA shows in Ohio, or only for non-Zuffa shows in Ohio. I say that because the Ohio commission doesn’t even enforce its own rules regarding same-day weigh-in re-checks when it comes to Zuffa-promoted events.
I find it funny that the commission went out of their way to make this into law. It’s like, there was some precedent incident previously that prompted someone to get this on the commission’s and actually address it. I mean, I can still see how it makes sense having a consistent, uniform fabric material all over the entire pair of shorts required. But, still.
“I wonder if the Ohio commission will actually enforce these rules for all MMA shows in Ohio, or only for non-Zuffa shows in Ohio. I say that because the Ohio commission doesn’t even enforce its own rules regarding same-day weigh-in re-checks when it comes to Zuffa-promoted events.”
A big gate which creates revenues for a city in both taxes/fees and local businesses can often times let small rules be “bent”. I’m not justifying it, but that is the reality of it.
Nevada banned the shorts two years ago. I think it was Sylvia that wore them against Monson. It makes a fighter’s guard almost impassable. Also helps unfairly in armbars and triangles because it allows for unnatural grip.
These Twitter links are totally useless Zach. I can’t identify any comment on that page that is remotely relevant to the topic at hand. Any way to post a permalink or something instead (do they even exist on that site?)
“I say that because the Ohio commission doesn’t even enforce its own rules regarding same-day weigh-in re-checks when it comes to Zuffa-promoted events.”
That USED to be true. However, I have heard that a big part of the reason the Cerrone-Henderson WEC show was moved out of Ohio was because they were going to enforce that rule. Add that to the UFC skipping the Arnold Classic in 2010, and I think it is pretty clear that OSAC and Zuffa are not seeing eye-to-eye any more.