NJ to institute instant replay in MMA on Saturday
Larry Hazzard: “The hope is other commissions start to follow our lead but as of right now it’s only New Jersey that will be implementing the instant replay.”
When mixed martial arts was born in 1993, it was a spectacle, not a sport. The event slogan was “there are no rules.” And its predecessor in Brazil, was actually called “Vale Tudo” or anything goes, meaning no rules. Rules were gradually added piecemeal:
1993 – Doctors at ringside and medical examinations
1994 – Referee can stop fight
1994 – Groin strikes forbidden
1995 – Gloves
1995 – Time limits
1995 – Multiple judges if the fight goes the distance
1997 – Weight classes
1999 – Multiple rounds
However, these prohibitions and additions did not constitute an actual sport. A sport needs rules, and mixed martial arts did not have a set of Unified Rules until 3 April 2001.
On that day NJ State Athletic Control Board Commissioner Larry Hazzard, Sr. set up a meeting in Trenton, NJ, in an attempt to unify the myriad of rules and regulations, which have been utilized by the different mixed martial arts organizations.
At the conclusion of the three-hour meeting, a set of unified rules to govern the sport of mixed martial arts was agreed upon by the SACB, several other regulatory bodies, numerous promoters of mixed martial arts events, and other interested parties in attendance.
Several other states, including Nevada, then begun to sanction mixed martial arts events based upon the SACB’s regulatory framework, which arose at the conclusion of the April meeting.
The rest is our history.
Now, after a seven-year hiatus, Hazzard is back as commissioner in New Jersey, and is about to institute a needed addition to mixed martial arts and boxing – instant replay.
Victor Salazar has the story for Tha Boxing Voice.
Now true to his vision, he looks to continue progression in the sport as New Jersey is going to utilize instant replay if the promoter of the event chooses to pay for it. The debut of instant replay in New Jersey begins this weekend in a mixed martial arts event in Atlantic City. A week after in the same city, instant replay will make its debut in the biggest fight of 2014 in New Jersey in a unification bout between the 49-year-old Bernard Hopkins and big puncher Sergey Kovalev.
The hope is other commissions start to follow our lead but as of right now it’s only New Jersey that will be implementing the instant replay, said Hazzard. Any element that will impact the outcome of the event will be reviewed. For example if a referee makes a mistake with a knockdown and we can conclude there was an error, then it will be overturned because it can cause a fighter to lose the a point. There will be a monitor at our disposal that we will be viewing the contest as its taking place and corrections will be made round by round and not at the end of the fight. When the bell rings to end the round, we will go immediately to the monitor to review the area that we’re looking at and if its conclusive, then it will be corrected.