Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The overseeing body for UFC Fight Night 168 lacks many pre-fight medical checks that seem like they should be standard for any major MMA event.
The UFC is in Auckland, New Zealand for this weekend‘s UFC Fight Night 168 fight card. The New Zealand Mixed Martial Arts Federation (NZMMAF) will oversee the event. A review of the NAMMAF rules for MMA brings up some concerns when it comes to pre-fight medical requirements.
According to Section 5 of the rules, “Medial Examination and Contest Physician,” the only pre-fight medical requirements for mixed martial artists are the following blood tests and recommended pregnancy tests for women.
Contestants are required to provide certificates for Hepatitis B (HBsAg), Hepatitis C (HCVsAb) and HIV tests. These certificates cannot be older than 1 year. Failure to provide Bloods will result in the contest not going ahead.
Women are not allowed to compete pregnant and pregnancy tests should be administered as part of the medical examination. (bold mine)
The NZMMAF does require a fight day physical performed by a physician/medic. That fight day physical will check:
heart, blood pressure, pulse, lungs, hearing, teeth, evidence of a hernia, musculature, skin, negative Hepatitis B (HBsAg), Hepatitis C(HCVsAb) and HIV tests.
When compared to an overseeing body like the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), that series of tests falls far short when it comes to assuring a fighter is healthy enough to square off in an MMA contest.
The CSAC does require blood work pre-fight, but those tests need to be performed within one month of the date listed on the fight application.
Many other items are missing from the NZMMAF list that are required by the CSAC. Those items are:
Physical: Must be administered and signed by a licensed M.D. or D.O. The exam is valid for the one-year licensing period.
Eye Exam: An eye exam administered by either a licensed ophthalmologist or licensed optometrist is required. Eye exam is valid for the one-year licensing period.
EKG: Must be administered by a licensed M.D. or D.O. The EKG is valid indefinitely, unless the commission requires a new one on a case-by-case basis.
Radiological Exams: MRI of the brain without contrast and the GRE Technique must also be included. The MRI scan is to be performed on a 1.5 Tesla MR Machine with capabilities including fast spin echo and FLAIR imaging. Image sequences should include axial T1, T2, and FLAIR images; coronal images should be performed as a T2 coronal; and a single sagittal T1 sequence. MRI is valid for 5 years.
Neurological Exam: A Neurological exam is required and is valid for 15 months.
While it’s true that some of these items will be performed during the fight-day physical in New Zealand, that’s less than ideal and could put the NZMMAF under unwanted pressure from the UFC and its fans.
Imagine a worst-case scenario where several fighters fail their fight-day physicals. There’s no way the UFC wants to present a card where potentially high profile bouts are scrapped on fight day due to medical issues that could have been caught with a more robust list of pre-fight checks.
Would the UFC potentially convince the commission to let fighters compete despite potential medical problems? Would the commission itself gloss over any medical problems to avoid last minute cancellations? Their lack of thorough preparation has the potential to create a climate that could put fighters at risk for the sake of maintaining events. Something that could be a cause for concern, not only for fighters, but for the UFC as well.
Bloody Elbow will continue to review athletic commissions and overseeing bodies when applicable before fight cards.