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[SumsNews]

I had a fight last Friday with an old pal of mine, it started off with him kicking me a few times and throwing a couple jabs. Keeping in mind that we both had on mma gloves, no shoes, and were in an open grass area on Church property . So after I stopped smiling and laughing because he was actually landing some, I got serious and threw a right hook that ended it b/c he fell straight to the ground with a loud grunt. The fight was about 45 seconds total. We were alone and we rushed to the hospital after he could see again. He has to get surgery this Friday and I broke his nose and nose cavity? As well as his left cheek bone is cracked.

My main concern is that is it possible for me to get sued over an amateur fight like this? For future references. Can I make and/or print out like a waiver or something for each of us to sign that agrees that neither of us can press charges or sue; like for assault or for damages/surgery, or the fact that we were on church property. Where would be a legal place that we could fight also?

I actually had the video recorded but we walked right out of focus before the fight, when we were taking our sandals off, and just forgot to walk back to where I had it pointed. But I'm trying to get this x boxer to fight me, he's my weight 185/190 and I'll make sure that one's recorded. We are both 18 and the other guy was 160+ I think, if anyone was wondering.

Comments and feedback are more than welcomed..

[Gmunit]

Originally Posted by SumsNews

I had a fight last Friday with an old pal of mine, it started off with him kicking me a few times and throwing a couple jabs. Keeping in mind that we both had on mma gloves, no shoes, and were in an open grass area on Church property . So after I stopped smiling and laughing because he was actually landing some, I got serious and threw a right hook that ended it b/c he fell straight to the ground with a loud grunt. The fight was about 45 seconds total. We were alone and we rushed to the hospital after he could see again. He has to get surgery this Friday and I broke his nose and nose cavity? As well as his left cheek bone is cracked.

My main concern is that is it possible for me to get sued over an amateur fight like this? For future references. Can I make and/or print out like a waiver or something for each of us to sign that agrees that neither of us can press charges or sue; like for assault or for damages/surgery, or the fact that we were on church property. Where would be a legal place that we could fight also?

I actually had the video recorded but we walked right out of focus before the fight, when we were taking our sandals off, and just forgot to walk back to where I had it get this x boxer to fight me, he's my weight 185/190 pointed. But I'm trying to and I'll make sure that one's recorded. We are both 18 and the other guy was 160+ I think, if anyone was wondering.

Comments and feedback are more than welcomed..

just because you guys had gloves on DOESN'T make it an amateur fight, not to be hard on you but this is EXACTLY the type of shit that's bad for MMA

[SumsNews]

Not really, I want the experience instead of just jumping right into our local mma fighting organization.

Technically it is an amateur fight:

[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amateur]

1. a person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.

2. an athlete who has never competed for payment or for a monetary prize.

3. a person inexperienced or unskilled in a particular activity

4. a person who admires something; devotee; fan

5. characteristic of or engaged in by an amateur; nonprofessional

but w/e..

It would be different if I was posting shit on youtube bragging or boasting about this; it's not like I had a crowd watching either. Instead of taking advantage of him going to the ground I stopped, took off my gloves and made sure he was alright. Would it be that bad if I had submitted him and won?!!

[Clint]

Yes you can be held both civilly and legally liable for a fight of this nature. If both of you sign a waiver stating that you are Sparring and neither is responsible financially for injuries then you can probably prevent getting in trouble montarily but if something bad happens you can still be help criminally liable regardless.

My advice: Join a gym, do your training there or atleast do the shit on your own private property not on someone else's property.

Edit: Note: An amateur fight requires licensing in most states and is illegal in some. It is different from sparring.

[ufobydeath]

Originally Posted by SumsNews

Not really, I want the experience instead of just jumping right into our local mma fighting organization.

Wouldn't jumping into the org give you experience?

Originally Posted by SumsNews

Technically it is an amateur fight:

[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amateur]

1. a person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.

2. an athlete who has never competed for payment or for a monetary prize.

3. a person inexperienced or unskilled in a particular activity

4. a person who admires something; devotee; fan

5. characteristic of or engaged in by an amateur; nonprofessional

Technically doesn't translate well into legally though; if it did then you could argue that every single streetfight was a sparring match. Gloves or no, amateur matches have to be sanctioned for them to be legal 99% of the time. If you want to get around this then make sure that you both sign an agreement that you are just sparring for fun and aware of the dangers.

Originally Posted by SumsNews

but w/e..

It would be different if I was posting shit on youtube bragging or boasting about this; it's not like I had a crowd watching either. Instead of taking advantage of him going to the ground I stopped, took off my gloves and made sure he was alright. Would it be that bad if I had submitted him and won?!!

This just proves that you aren't a douchebag, and that's a good thing!
Well, if you had caught him with an armbar and he tapped before getting injured then he wouldn't have fucked up his nose now would he?

[Steel]

Dude..there is a reason why MMA exists only in select states..it is due to the fact that only certain states recognize it as a sport.

What you've done is possibly assault..like Fight Club or a bad episode of Jackass. I would make friends with that guy real quick and talk to a lawyer just in case.

If you want practical experience, go roll at a dojo or join a karate school.

[Noob]

Originally Posted by Clint

Edit: Note: An amateur fight requires licensing in most states and is illegal in some. It is different from sparring.

Lol at this thread.

Yes. What you are doing is not amateur fighting. The meaning of the word 'amateur' is not the same in a legal sense as it is in everyday speech. You can look at all the dictionaries you want, but the only definition that counts is the one a lawyer uses.


You are not an amateur fighter. You do not have an amateur record. This is backyard MMA at worst and sparring at best, not an amateur sport. I would suggest that you join a gym.

[SumsNews]

ufobydeath
[Wouldn't jumping into the org give you experience?]

I'd rather not jump in and get handled and end up with a loss. I'd like as many wins over losses as possible.

Erotnas Steel

[I would make friends with that guy real quick and talk to a lawyer just in case.]
[If you want practical experience, go roll at a dojo or join a karate school.]

I don't want to pay for a trainer or any type of training. And I was friends with him previously so it's all good.

Thanks for all the tips on calling it a sparring match and making a waiver like that. I'll talk to some law students at my uni, I'm sure they'll have some sort of advice. All this legal shit sucks tbh, but I'm sure there's good purpose behind it. So people don't end up killing others or what not. It'd suck if someone got sued just because they fought better than the other guy.

[ufobydeath]

Originally Posted by SumsNews

ufobydeath
[Wouldn't jumping into the org give you experience?]

I'd rather not jump in and get handled and end up with a loss. I'd like as many wins over losses as possible.

So... does this mean that you don't train? Oh yeah, you didn't want to pay for a trainer... why is this? Afraid he'll hold ya back tiger? Seriously, if you don't wanna train and don't wanna risk losing... why are you playing MMA?

[Palma]

He can sue you and you can sue him... this is America and anyone can sue anyone for any reason. It doesn't mean everyone wins, but in his case I think he has a good chance of ruining your life financially. He could also sue the Chruch as well since it took place on their property.

It would be much cheeper to pay for a trainer then hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next 20 years because watch too many MMA fights.

Either train or don't, but fighting like you are is a bad idea and it will bite you in the ass at some point. You obviously don't know what you are doing... I would recomend you stop now while you are ahead.

And Lol, at wanting to lose to trained MMA fighters because you don't want to lose... It's not like what you are doing is going to translate into an MMA record.