Safe MMA voted that UCMMA should be temporarily suspended .

Safe MMA voted that UCMMA should be temporarily suspended after holding 3 bouts that had not been medically cleared on UCMMA 35 on 3rd August.

Fighters Przmyslaw Mysiala and Tom Richards flouted their medical obligations to UCMMA as a Safe MMA promotion, yet UCMMA took the decision to allow the fights to go ahead.  Neither fighter was a replacement and both Przmyslaw Mysiala and Tom Richards were listed on the

original UCMMA 35 Fight Card submitted to Safe MMA on 18/06/13. Despite promoter Dave O'Donnell paying for Tom Richard's registration on 9/7/13, Richards failed to provide sufficient blood results and undergo a doctor medical. Mysiala requested 'foreign fighter' status, which requires the submission of bloods only, but supplied blood results that were out-of-date according to Safe MMA stipulations on 2/08/13.  Both fighters are banned from Safe MMA shows for a year, which sets a precedent for fighters failing to compete their professional medical obligations for Safe MMA shows. 

Following communications on 2/08/13, in which UCMMA was informed that Mysiala and Richards were not safe to fight, Dave O'Donnell contacted Safe MMA to say but because of logistics and cost, nothing further could now be done. Instructions were given to UCMMA  regarding how to safe guard the rest of the card on the night.

A third fight that had not been medically approved was also added to the card on the Saturday night between Safe MMA fighter, Jason Radcliffe and another fighter, Marvin Campbell, who Safe MMA had not been notified of and holds no medical records for.

Detailed information was provided by the record keeper at 76 Harley Street and circumstances surrounding the incident have been  discussed in detail by the Safe MMA board. The incident was weighed up against the administrative processes in place, a changeover of systems and staff at 76 Harley Street, the level of support that UCMMA had received and the strong commitment UCMMA has made to Safe MMA over its first 6 months.  Based on clauses in the Safe MMA Agreement  and in the promotions contract outlined below, an anonymous vote was cast over whether UCMMA should receive a warning or a suspension.

The vote was put to the following available people/groups on the board: Dr. Mike Loosemore, Rosi Sexton, Marc Goddard, John Gooden, Dr. Maeve Rogers, Dr. Paul Drake, Quest Fighting (1 vote), Cage Warriors (1 vote), BAMMA (1 vote). The decision to suspend UCMMA was reached by majority decision.

2. The Promotions Agreement states:

 

Obligations

1.    Promotions must adhere to the principles of Safe MMA, and that is to use only fighters that are cleared to fight under the 'green light' system.  Should any promotion be discovered to use a fighter that is not medically cleared to fight, they shall be prohibited from using the SAFE MMA logo and its association.  Furthermore, there will be no refunds on membership and should the promotion desire to reapply, they will be required to submit a membership application and annual fee after a 6 month period has elapsed

2.    Promotions will do everything reasonable to ensure that their organisation and their fighters complies with the code of conduct for SAFE MMA

2. The Safe MMA Agreement document  ( Question 30, page 24) available on 76 Harley Street website states:

30. WHAT HAPPENS IF MEMBERS BREAK THE SAFE MMA AGREEMENT?

SAFE MMA stipulates a code of conduct. It is the responsibility of members to uphold this 

code. Any error or misconduct will go before the Safe MMA board to be reviewed and a 

democratic decision will be made on a case by case basis. The member will be issued with 

one of the following:

•  a notice of poor practice

•   a warning of misconduct

•  a suspension for serious misconduct or to be stuck-off the register - that can be temporary 

or even permanent. 

Every error and its verdict will be publicly available to view. The verdicts will be based on 

how severe the error and how constructive the member is being. These processes are in line 

with the disciplinary proceedings of the General Medical Counsel of Great Britain. 

Medically Safe MMA will be unable to support a promotion if something goes wrong from not 

following the rules and the promotion will not be able to claim it was not in the know

 

Promoter, Dave O'Donnell of UCMMA apologised in a phone call and admitted culpability. He also stressed that he would like to continue to work with Safe MMA moving forwards.

76 Harley Street  have outlined the terms of the suspension lasting 6 months, which bans UCMMA from marketing itself as a Safe MMA show and from the PR and liability protection support offered by Safe MMA. UCMMA will also lose its vote in in the forming of new agreements and at the AGM. However, UCMMA and its fighters can continue to use the medical and databasing service provided by 76 Harley Street. If UCMMA continues to register its fighters and uphold Safe MMA guidelines under supervision, it may be reduce its ban to 4 months. Safe MMA will work to troubleshoot the issues that lead to the incident and provide support and guidance to aid UCMMA to find resolutions.

The fighters may also reduce their ban from  1 year to 6-8 months if they have bloods once every six months during the ban, either through 76 Harley Street or they must supply their blood results to Safe MMA. Blood test results are required for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

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