Okay, hate to be the bearer of bad news but yet again we are disappointed and GoldenBoy’s doomsday predictions ring true.ÿ Why?ÿ The revisions to TDLR’s Combative Sports rules that would have enabled Nevada-style MMA with 6oz gloves, never were put forth for vote during the last regulatory session here at the Capitol.ÿ They were submitted, of course, by Representative Wilson on behalf of the TDLR, butÿthe bill sat in Committee (in limbo essentially) for weeks until the end of session as Wilson did not bring it to a vote.ÿ If you recall I got on a few sites asking for people to call or write Wilson to convince him to get those changes voted upon, and people did, however it apparently was not a priority for Wilson.ÿ If the bill had received a majority vote, it would have gone into effect immediately.. however the sad part is that even if it had not gotten a majority, the fact that it had been brought forth for vote would have meant it would be instituted by September *anyway*.ÿ Unfortunately it was not even brought forth for vote by Wilson, so we are sitting here until the next session in 2 years for those changes to pass.ÿ This is, contrary to the opinion of some, NOT the fault of TDLR (who actually went through the effort to draft the rule changes and get Wilson to submit them) but rather the political process involved.
On the upside, this is not the end.ÿ What is happening is effort between TDLR and promoters such as Saul Soliz’s LMS Productions to work within the current confines of the existing rules… with gloves!ÿ This means that to comply with current specs, 8oz MMA gloves would be required (double the weight of current Ouano’s used by the UFC for example) and gloved MMA would be run on a test show basis with these gloves.ÿ It’s all not clear quite yet but again, the train has not stopped but simply been re-routed once again.