Regulation of combat sports in North America is something of a patchwork, with professional mixed martial arts regulated with sometimes significantly differing interpretations of the rules; amateur MMA is far less uniformly regulated. Some commissions regulate amateur MMA, which is, in fact, larger than pro in terms of fighting, while others require that an independent sanctioning body or sanctioning bodies handle the responsibility.
And kickboxing is far, far, far less regulated still. The rules vary so much you can argue that kickboxng is not even a real sport. However, there is great news out of Missouri. On Friday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) signed bill HB1388 into law, regulating both amateur MMA and kickboxing at the state level.
“Today is a great day for the sport of amateur mixed martial arts and kickboxing in Missouri,” announced Executive Director Tim Lueckenhoff on his social network. “The state of Missouri will start regulating the sport and for the first time no matter where you fight in the state or which promoter promotes the show EVERYONE will fight under the same rules. Fighters will be protected because results and injuries will no longer be hidden. Fighters will have an official record and everyone will be able to see their accomplishments.
“I cannot thank Representative David Gregory enough for carrying this bill after recognizing the need for regulation. I also want to thank those people who came to Jefferson City to testify on behalf of the bill to ensure our legislature was being given the truth about what was really happening at events where lax sanctioning was taking place those people include Jesse Finney, Kevin Engel, and Ryan Sutton. Also Derrick Spicer and myself made several trips to run down Senators and Representatives to make sure all their questions were answered and to assure them the sport needed this legislation.
“I look forward to making Missouri an even more premier state for combative sports promotions.”
Jesse Finney, the highly respected owner and president at Shamrock FC also deserves recognition for HB1388, which has been years in the making.
