Tennessee Athletic Commission closes complaint against out‑of‑state combatant, flags license

The Tennessee Athletic Commission voted Sept. 22 to close a promoter‑filed complaint against an out‑of‑state combatant (case 2023058101) with a letter of warning and to place a flag on the fighter's license file.

Commission General Counsel Jesse Gentry told the panel the commission and staff had attempted to serve the combatant and contact the out‑of‑state commission where he resides but had not obtained new contact information. "I would recommend closing the complaint with a letter of warning, and we can flag his license in case he tries to come back to the state," Gentry said.

The nut of the commission's action is administrative: the flag will prevent automatic approval of any future bout requests or renewals until staff and legal review the file. Gentry explained the flag means "when the staff is looking at that to approve it, they wouldn't be able to approve it automatically. They would have to go back and look to see what the issue is."

According to staff statements in the meeting, the promoter who filed the complaint was not cooperative in providing additional information. Commissioners also noted that the combatant's current Tennessee license is set to expire Oct. 30; staff indicated they can apply the flag immediately so any late‑September or October fight requests would be caught.

A motion to accept the general counsel's recommendation was made by Commission member Ben, seconded by Commissioner Ricky Goodrich, and approved by the commission.

Next steps: the commission closed the administrative complaint with a letter of warning and flagged the license; if the fighter reapplies or appears on a bout request, staff will refer the file to legal for further review before approval.

Ending: The commission recorded no dissent on the motion and moved on to a rules update and other agenda items.