ABC creates new rules committe
ABC president Mike Mazzulli, has appointed Sean Wheelock as the chairman of a new MMA rules & regulations committee, to look at things like the 12-6 elbow rule.
The new president of the Association of Boxing Commissions, Mike Mazzulli, has appointed Sean Wheelock as the chairman of a brand new MMA rules & regulations committee, to look at things like the 12-6 elbow rule. Wheelock is an ABC-certified judge and referee trainer, a commissioner on the Kansas Athletic Commission, and did play-by-play for Bellator.
Marc Raimondi has the story for MMA Fighting.
It is Wheelock’s goal to pattern the committee after the NFL’s competition committee, which has been instrumental in making changes to league rules over the years. MMA is still a young sport and Wheelock firmly believes it needs to continue to evolve and improve.
“Every year the competition committee asks themselves two questions: How do we make the NFL safer and how do we make the NFL better?” Wheelock said. “They study, they debate.”
Wheelock will be holding monthly conference calls with the committee, a powerhouse group of names he handpicked: Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, John McCarthy, Jeremy Horn, referee Rob Hinds, referee Kevin MacDonald, ringside physician Dr. David Watson, Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission director Matt Woodruff and Brian Dunn, the head of the Nebraska Athletic Commission.
“It only makes sense to have the fighters involved,” Mazzulli said. “That’s where Jeremy Horn comes in and Couture and Hughes. Sean is the perfect voice. He’s very articulate and he’s going to do a great job. I think it’s going to be very interesting.”
First on the agenda will be the aforementioned 12-to-6 elbows as well as the rule prohibiting heel strikes to the kidneys; a clearer outline of what constitutes a 10-8 round; and the definition of a grounded fighter.
If the committee comes to a consensus, a recommendation will be made to the ABC board of directors, who will then bring the potential rule change to the entire ABC body on a yearly basis. Any change, of course, will still come down to the specific athletic commission. Mazzulli has also started a rules committee for boxing led by Arizona Boxing & MMA commission executive director Matthew Valenzuela.
“I think the recommendations made to the ABC, I think the ABC membership are smart enough to realize if it’s something that’s best for the sport and more safe for the fighters, I think the ABC will look at that in a very positive light,” Mazzulli said.
In the interest of transparency, Wheelock has started a committee e-mail account to take suggestions from fighters, fans or anyone else who has ideas. The address is MMARulesAndRegs@yahoo.com.
“I want people to be able to email me with ideas and let me know what they think,” Wheelock said. “It’s possible that the next great idea is not going to come from the 10 of us, it’s going to come from a fan or it’s gonna come from a fighter or a gym owner or a trainer or a manager or a club owner.”