An illegal fight club has reportedly moved to Florida to avoid social gathering restrictions.
In November the New York City Sheriff’s Office busted an event called ‘Rumble in the Bronx’ at a Bronx warehouse that was in violation of the city’s COVID-19 regulations. The event was attended by around 200 people, far in excess of the city’s 10 person maximum for indoor gatherings.
That event featured individuals fighting each other in a makeshift ring constructed out of metal guard rails. The fighters wore gloves, but no headgear.
The alleged organizers of that event were charged with unlawful assembly in addition to citations for health and alcohol violations. The alleged organizers were also charged with participating in a prohibited combative sport.
According to The Daily Beast an instagram account that promoted the original Rumble in the Bronx event revealed that the show had moved south. According to that account December 5th saw an event named ‘Rumble in Orlando’ go down in Orlando, Fl.
A poster for that event called the gathering a ‘Fight Party’ with musical guests, ring girls, drinks, food and hookah. The poster also said free masks were available to attendees and that temperature checks would be conducted at the door.
Unlike in New York there is no official restriction on gatherings in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis has said that he recommends against gatherings of more than 10 people, but he has not enacted any kind of legislation to back this up.
The fights on December 5th looked a lot like what went down in the Bronx—sloppy brawls with gloves on taped down mats between guard rails.
According to the Tampa Bay Times Sunday saw Florida surpass 20,000 COVID-19 deaths. Last week the state reported an average of 9,619 cases and 103 deaths per day.