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Combat Sports Face Ban in Tennessee

365 views · Published 28 January 2015 · 2:12 · Indexed 23 September 2026

Channel: FOX NASHVILLE · 2015 · News & Politics

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Local mixed martial arts athletes are in fist fight with the law.

Their battle, however, won't happen inside a ring or on the mat, but more likely a courtroom.

Combat sports like MMA, boxing and kickboxing could soon be illegal in Tennessee. 

Shawn Hammonds is the owner of Nashville MMA, the biggest mixed martial arts training center in Music City, and says this just doesn't sit right.

"That's scary for the fighters and the health of the sport," he said. "We really would like to be able to fight in our own state and it be regulated."

The reason these sports are facing a ban: money. The Tennessee Athletic Commission -- the regulating body of combat sports in the state -- just isn't pulling in enough of it. 
Tennessee Athletic Commission executive director Jeff Mullen said the commission has cost Tennessee about $70,000 a year for the past several years.
 
This ban, however, could cost the state even more money because local athletes say they'll fight anywhere, any time whether it's legal or not.

"It's going to be really hard to stop something once you started it," said local professional fighter Kenny Degenhardt. 
Without a licensed commission, Degenhardt believes combat sports will regress back to the old days when fights resembled barroom brawls. 

"If we don't make sure people are getting blood tests and make sure that all the safety precautions are taken, we could go back when we were fighting on the Indian reservations when there were no rules," he said. "You would see the most heinous injuries and that's what we don't want to see." 

If a new Bill isn't heard by Feb. 12, combat sports in Tennessee could be down for the count by this summer.

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