NSAC to vote on rule changes in August; instant replay included on the agenda

[Reavant]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15644/nsac...the-agenda.mma


The Nevada State Athletic Commission will be looking to vote on a handful of proposed regulatory changes when it convenes for a Regulation Hearing on Aug. 19.

And while a number of potential changes will be up for vote at the meeting, perhaps most interesting to MMA fans is the potential institution of limited instant replay.

NSAC executive director recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the proposal will be voted on at the meeting, and a passing vote would result in the immediate implementation of the program.

The proposed language, which can be viewed in its entirety on the NSAC's official website, reads as follows:


Sec. 7. NAC 467.682 is hereby amended to read as follows:

A referee may view a replay, if available, at the conclusion of a contest or exhibition stopped immediately due to an injury to an unarmed combatant pursuant to NAC 467.718 in order to determine whether the injury in question was caused by a legal blow or a foul.

(a) If the determination is made that the injury was the result of a legal blow, the injured unarmed combatant shall be determined to have lost the contest via technical knockout. (b) If the determination is made that the injury was the result of a foul, it must be determined whether the foul was intentional or accidental. (1) If deemed intentional, the outcome of the contest shall be determined in accord with NAC 467.698; or (2) If deemed accidental, the outcome of the contest shall be determined in accord with NAC 467.702 or 467.7966.

As Kizer told MMAjunkie.com Radio in June, he believes the key to successful implementation of the program is to use it in very limited application.

"The problem with instant replay is, of course, even in football once the next play starts you can't go back and review something," Kizer said. "It's the same with boxing or MMA. You can't go back at the end of the round and look at whether something happened, say, one minute into the round. Had the ref called it differently, the rest of the round might have happened differently.

"I've had pretty intelligent boxing people say, 'You could review between rounds whether a knockdown happened.' No, you couldn't, because if Fighter A knocks down Fighter B, but the ref calls it a slip, then at the end of the round you say, 'That was a knockdown,' Fighter B would say, rightly so, 'Wait a second. Had I known that was a knockdown, I would have tried for my own knockdown to try and even out the round. But it was called a slip, so I treated it like a slip.'"

Instead, the proposal allows only for the match referee to determine whether a fight-ending blow was delivered legally or not, a la Kevin Burns vs. Anthony Johnson and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Mostapha Al Turk.

"That's the proposed language of the regulatory changes," Kizer said. "It's all going to be on the agenda Aug. 19. We'll have a public hearing. People can also write in to us beforehand to give us their thoughts."

In addition to the implementation of instant replay, the NSAC will also be seeking closure in the complaints that were brought up regarding the alleged excessive greasing of Georges St. Pierre in his January contest with B.J. Penn.

Sec. 10. NAC 467.7962 is hereby amended to read as follows: 467.7962 The following acts constitute fouls in a contest or exhibition of mixed martial arts: 32. Applying any foreign substance to the hair or body that could result in an advantage.

Kizer said the key language in the new regulation is the elimination of the vague term "excessive" in reference to the application of vaseline or another greasing agent.

Additional changes being addressed include adjusting the age at which fighters are required to receive annual license reviews from 35 years old to 40 years old, the use of additional tape and gauze when wrapping contestant's hands, and the ability for promoters to contest five-round non-title fights without prior approval from the commission for the bout.

Kizer said the NSAC tries not to adjust the rules of mixed martial arts more than necessary, but he feels it's important to make improvements when possible.

"On average it seems like the commission has a regulatory hearing about every 18 months or so to kind of fine-tune things, unless it's something health and safety-wise," Kizer said. "If there's some kind of new and additional information available, we wouldn't wait that long.

"But for the most part about every 18 months seems to be the case. Even then, you don't see a lot of in-cage rule changes. But we're always looking to try and improve the regulation of the sport if we can."

[Funky Fly]

So basically, Cheick Kongo is gonna have to be a little more careful with the knees.

[Funky Fly]

Alistair Overeem.

[Funky Fly]

"No nut shots, nigga"