ABC, revising what is considered a ‘Downed Opponent’
by Dann Stupp |source: MMAJunkie.com revising opponent
The concept of what constitutes a downed fighter could change following this week’s meeting of the Association of Boxing Commissions, which oversees MMA’s regulatory bodies.
Commission representatives Nick Lembo (New Jersey), Bernie Profato (Ohio) and Keith Kizer (Nevada), who represent some of MMA’s busiest and most prominent regulatory bodies, will present their plan at Wednesday’s ABC meeting in San Antonio.
Lembo will argue their case, in which the regulators want referees to instruct fighters that placing a finger tip on the canvas won’t necessarily make them a downed fighter.In recent years, many standing fighters have taken advantage of the current language used in the Unified Rules of MMA. That helps them avoid knees or kicks to the head, or possibly put their opponent in danger of a warning or point deduction. The commissions hope to eliminate such gaming of the system.