Nevada State Athletic Commission names former FBI agent Robert Bennett as new executive director

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has named Robert Bennett as the new executive director after Keith Kizer stepped down from the position several months back.

Bennett, a former FBI agent, was selected from a group of finalists and unanimously chosen for the position. He is also an active boxing judge, and has already judged bouts in two separate events this month, including one between Joe McCreedy and Sean Monaghan last weekend at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Bennett, who promised to improve the state of combat sports in Nevada, was quoted saying, “I see myself as someone who is proactive rather than reactive. I would have active dialogue with the five commissioners and work together with them.”

Keith Keizer’s era as executive director, which began in 2006, was met with a significant amount of scrutiny, as UFC President Dana White had long been campaigning against the way he ran the commission, with an emphasis on referee and judging troubles as well as issues with TRT exemptions.

Bennett’s start date is yet to be determined.

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About the author

Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.