ABC President responds to voting procedure criticism

Earlier this month, the Association of Boxing Commissions held a package vote on six rule changes to the ABC’s Unified Rules of MMA. Four of the changes were uncontroversial, but two – the rule permitting heel kicks to the kidney area, and the rule changing the definition of a grounded opponent – were opposed by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB).

All six rule changes were combined into a single yes or no vote. This meant New Jersey voted no to the entire package, despite agreeing with four of the six changes. In all, 41 commissions voted yes, one voted no, and two abstained. After the conference, this package method of voting drew criticism from some other commissions.

I recently spoke to ABC president Mike Mazzulli about a variety of topics, including the vote on the rule changes. This is what he had to say about the voting procedure from the conference:

ABC President Mike Mazzulli: “What we did is, we approached the rule changes on Monday, on Tuesday we reiterated what we were going to do, and [the athletic commission representatives] had that time to discuss the changes among themselves. At no point – from the first time we discussed it, until the voting process – did anyone approach the podium and request that we vote individually.

I say that, because we had New Jersey that was adamantly against the rule changes. I gave the New Jersey …

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