There were many lingering questions in the wake of the Association of Boxing Commissions letter sent to all it’s member commissions asking that mixed martial artists from Michigan not be granted a license. The motivation for the ABC’s stance was Michigan’s continued failure to report injuries, medical suspensions and failure to uphold the suspensions handed to fighters from other states.
Chief among the concerns was which member commissions would uphold the ban on Michigan fighters. Speaking to two reputable commissions early in the day yesterday both gave the impression that most, but not necessarily all state commissions would respect the ABC’s request. With Michigan fighter Daron Cruickshank set to compete on the upcoming Ultimate Fighter 15 season, it led to some questions of if Nevada would allow him to participate or if he just lost out on a huge moment in his career.
I spoke to Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, yesterday evening and he informed me that Nevada does not have any plans to ban all Michigan fighters and that Cruickshank will experience no difficulties in his TUF participation.
Related: Association of Boxing Commissions Tells Members Not To License Michigan Fighters
“The request by the ABC is well intended in trying to look out for the health and safety of fighters, but it is a bit too far reaching to ban all fighters from a state from being granted a license” Kizer told Bloody Elbow. When speaking about the problems with results and suspensions not being reported by the state, Kizer explained “All fighters have an obligation, under penalty of perjury, to give us a detailed recent history.”
Kizer also explained that he has no problem looking fighters up on Google to see if they have recent history (through results posts, YouTube videos, etc.) that they are not making the commission aware of.
So, very good news for Michigan fighters from the biggest commission in the game. Given that Nevada is the real trendsetter for the other commissions, this may be the push that some who were on the fence needed to make the decision to not deny these fighters a license.