Evil Athletic Commission Won't Rest Until it Kills the Very Thing it Created

There is wickedness afoot, and an article in the Press of Atlantic City (http://tinyurl.com/5ud2wao) has managed to uncover it.  According to author Michael Clark, a campaign of regulatory discrimination is being waged by the New Jersey athletic commission to stamp out amateur mixed martial arts – the very beast it created years ago in its own nefarious laboratory.  And the first casualty in this dastardly crusade is the venerable New Breed Fighters promotion, which had scheduled its 35^th show for April 16 at the Hilton in Atlantic City, but thanks to an archaic (i.e., year-old) policy, was forced to cancel when pro organization Cage Fury Fighting Championship wanted that date for themselves.  As per said policy, all pro MMA events take precedence over amateur ones, which ultimately means that no matter what a promotion like New Breed Fighters has invested in a particular date – no matter how many flyers they’ve printed, billboards they’ve paid for, and fighters they’ve promised not to pay – they’re out of luck.  It is, as the article implies, a gross injustice, and direct evidence that the athletic commission is trying to destroy the thing it created on a cold February afternoon back in 2006.

What recourse is available to an amateur promotion found on the wrong end of this well-known, agreed to, yet inherently clandestine policy?  As New Breed Fighters found out, there’s nothing to be done beyond whispering into the ear of a sympathetic member of the media and mourn the loss of the $500 they paid to the commission to put on the show (no, wait, that was returned to them) plus the ticket- and broadcasting taxes and various licensing fees paid (no, wait, amateur promotions don’t pay any of that).

Said a source within the New Jersey athletic commission who spoke on the condition on anonymity: “We oversaw 19 pro MMA shows last year and 20 amateur shows, and we could’ve been relaxing on the beach working on our tans instead.  You know what I’m saying here?”  Added the source, “I will not spend another year this pale.  I simply will not.”