WEDNESDAY, October 27th, 2004, AT 8:10 PM, PT


I Don't Want Anyone Watching Over My Shoulder
So I Want To Be A Sanctioning Body!


So, your a Mixed Martial Arts Promoter and doing great with your events. Then, the State Boxing Commission steps in and tells you, "You can still do your events however, you need to have a nationally recognized MMA Sanctioning body sanction your events." So... What does this mean?

It appears there are several in the fighting sports that think all there is to making a sanctioning body is to throw some letters together and give away a title. Here's a pretty simple 411/FYI for those groups. This does NOT make a sanctioning body. To fill some of you in who are wondering if you have selected a "TRUE" Sanctioning body we ask you to ask yourselves these few simple questions:

  1. Does the organization your looking into promote their own events?
    If yes, they are NOT a sanctioning body. This would be like watching over yourself and if you do wrong, so what... A Sanctioning body must ALWAYS be a neutral entity, unattached to the promoted event. Unfortunately, there is only 1 "Non Promoting" sanctioning body in Mixed Martial Arts and that is, the ISCF. Now, if our sanctioning fees were like say, the state of Florida ($5,000.00) we could say, we are a monopoly and trying to corner the market. However, our general sanctioning fee can be as low as $150.00, which is a far cry from $5,000.00. You see, there is no big money in running a "REAL" sanctioning body unless your sanctioning Pro Boxing. Sanctioning fees there are based upon Pro fighters purses so it's not uncommon to see a Pro Boxing Sanctioning fee of 6 figures.

  2. IF you can find an actual NEUTRAL - NON PROMOTING Sanctioning body other than the ISCF, the next question is,
    Where are their rules and regulations?
    If they are a true sanctioning body you would find their rules listed on a public website like we have done. To see our rules CLICK HERE.

  3. OK, So lets say you had no problem with number 1 and even number 2 above. Next lets look at what they sanction.
    What rules do they have for their promoters to follow?
    What are these things?
    Well, with the ISCF they are several things from ringside officials, medical staff to fighters insurance. Here are some links to check out for some of these requirements:

  4. OK, So you past with number 1 and number 2 and now you have all the info like on number 3 above. So what's next?
    Well, how about rankings and listed title holders?
    Yes, we need to have rankings if we're a sanctioning body. What? It's a lot of work to do that! well, we never said running a sanctioning body was easy. But again, many just want to do it to avoid following rules and regulations, not secure safety and credibility in the sport. Oh, if your looking for the ISCF Rankings, Click HERE.

  5. So now we are on number 5. Really moving now. You have got all the above in place and now you want to know what's next. Well, there's plenty more but should we continue? Check out the sanctioning page by Clicking HERE for more info or just look over our site. Hopefully you can see what it takes to make the ISCF click.



So that's it?
Why of course that's it. How hard can this be right?
Well, if it was so easy everyone would be doing it... Which... NO one else is.
Why? Well, where's the golden egg? Where's the big Money?
You see, you can make money at promoting and hopefully a lot, because there's a lot of work involved to do it. But as a sanctioning body? Well, don't expect any big rewards. Here at the ISCF, the "ONLY" reason we survive is because of our other businesses related to the ISCF in the ring sports. Do the math guys... Unless we Promote MMA Events like all the other "Promoting - Sanctioning Bodies" do, or unless we change our Georgia Rules and Regulations to be able to get a Florida fee of $5,000 per event, the numbers just don't add up for all the work we do. Sure, we could cross that line and just start promoting events ourselves, and we might do pretty well. However, where would we be as far as ethics and credibility in the sport? Exactly where we don't want to be!

Although we hear about them all the time, we recently were informed of 3 or 4 "Promoters" in Missouri and Kansas have started their own sanctioning bodies, or... Think they have. Again, remember number 1 above. "If you promote events, you are NOT a sanctioning body!" However, they believe they are and they have been calling up our promoters and offering to sanction their events at a major price reduction. How can they do this? Because they make their money as promoters, and don't offer a fraction of what the ISCF offers as a REAL Sanctioning body.


____________________________________________


How Can The ISCF Help Promoters?
So what does the ISCF offer?
Click HERE.

Well, the rope is short for them and several others because several states are closing in on these "Promotional Organizations" and their time is limited. There has been reports of no medical staff at ringside, no fighter insurance, changes in rules without informing the fighters, fixed (worked) bouts, you name it, the list goes on and on and not just from some of the smaller organizations, but even some very well known promotional groups.

So why do we here at the ISCF care?
Well, we can assure you, as you can see, it's not because of money. There are many reason we here at the ISCF do what we do and here are just a few...

  • It's to protect and preserve the longevity of the sport.
  • To preserve what some of us have built for this sport.
  • To avoid these promoters who don't want to follow rules and regulations by "Cutting Corners!"

From the State Boxing Commissions we have spoken to, they are ready to close down all Mixed Martial Arts in their state because of these "Promoting Sanctioning Bodies." There have been so many that have popped up it's become a laugh to those who are truly trying to honestly sanction the sport. So as we prepare to close out 2004, we await the decisions of many of these states who have told these MMA Promoters,

You can still do your events however, you need to have a nationally recognized MMA Sanctioning body sanction your events.

It will be interesting what new rules are established for 2005 if not sooner. Maybe all these States can adopt laws like in Georgia where all MMA must be regulated by a "REAL" Sanctioning body, such as the ISCF and pay that terrible fee of $150.00. Or, for those who don't like the ideas and beliefs of the ISCF, some states can simply adopt the laws of the State of Florida where every promoter pays a $5,000 sanctioning fee per event. Oh but wait, there is still that last choice, or for at least as long as it's possible.

Just "THROW" some letters together and call yourself a sanctioning body, and better yet, give one of your WORLD UNIVERSE GALACTIC Titles to your buddy Joe. Heck, he helped load in the ring, so he deserves such a title in his first fight... Right? Besides, no one in the stands (Those die hard fans who pay their hard earned money to you so you can continue to promote your passion...) will ever know he's not a contender, and why tell them the truth!

But hey... Isn't that yet ANOTHER duty of a sanctioning body? To bring credibility to a title?
We sure wouldn't want that to happen now would we...



This is our mission...


The ISCF Mission For Mixed Martial Arts...
"Safety, Credibility, Fairness, Recognition, Support & Unification
of Mixed Martial Arts Around The World"

"The goal of the International Sport Combat Federation is to regulate safe and fair rules and regulations and help provide exposure and opportunities for local, regional, national and international competition among amateur and professional mixed martial arts fighters, trainers, promoters and officials. We will, through adherence to and enforcement of these rules and regulations, strive to make competitive mixed martial arts fighting a safe and fair sport as we continue to help bring exposure to and enhance the present as well as the future of the sport we serve, Mixed Martial Arts."

What's yours?



For more about the ISCF, Click HERE!


For more fun reading, Check out the article,

"It's a FREE COUNTRY So Let Anybody Do What They Want."


ISCF - EVENTS - NEWS - GYMS - RANKINGS - RULES - SANCTIONING - FIGHTER REGISTRATION - WEIGHT CLASSES - E-Mail