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Committee advances bill to exempt charitable amateur bouts from athletic‑commission sanctioning
Summary
House Bill 16, proposed to carve out certain charity mixed‑martial arts exhibitions from sanctioning rules, was advanced by the House Business Committee after sponsors said current rules are written for professional boxing and impose fees that make small charity events infeasible.
The House Business Committee voted to send House Bill 16 to the House floor with a "do pass" recommendation. The bill would exempt certain charitable adult exhibition fights from athletic‑commission sanctioning requirements.
Sponsor Representative Rob Bieswanger described a canceled Horseshoe Bend charity event called Freedom Fight Night that had raised about $24,000 in its first year but was later told by new State Athletic Commission staff that the event likely required sanctioning. "After some back and forth ... the organizers took the step to cancel the event and lost about $10,000 in sunk costs," Bieswanger told the committee.
Bieswanger said the organizers had earlier been verbally told by a prior commission director that the event was outside the agency's purview and that current rules were written with professional boxing in mind. "If 2 adults wanna fight each other for charity, then I don't see why we should be standing in their way," he said. The bill would add a narrow exemption for nonprofit fundraising events if participants are adults, fight in their weight class and are cleared by a physician, aligning those requirements with existing exemptions for military, college and high‑school participants.
Committee members discussed the difficulty and cost of obtaining sanctioning, including fees and drug testing, and were told informally that similar unsanctioned "smoker" events occur elsewhere in the state. Representative Birch asked whether the Athletic Commission supported the bill; Bieswanger said commission staff told the sponsor they preferred more supervision but acknowledged the legislature may change the rules.
Representative Thompson moved to send HB 16 to the House floor with a do‑pass recommendation. The motion passed by voice vote.
The bill's sponsor said the measure is intended to allow small community fundraisers and developmental exhibition opportunities for novice fighters, not to deregulate professional competition. The Athletic Commission was not recorded as a registered proponent at the hearing; staff representatives said they prefer legislative direction on scope and supervision.
