Item C: Ordinance Prohibiting Extreme Fighting

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: An Ordinance Prohibiting Extreme Fighting; Adding Section 4.740 to the Eugene Code, 1971; and Amending Section 4.990 of that Code Meeting Date: November 27, 2006 Agenda Item Number: C Department: City Attorney’s Office Staff Contact: Jerry Lidz www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-5080 ISSUE STATEMENT This is the second work session on a proposed ordinance to regulate extreme fighting, also known as cage fighting, which is sometimes considered a form of mixed martial arts. BACKGROUND Chapter 463 of the Oregon Revised Statutes regulates professional boxing and wrestling, and the statutes define “wrestling” to include all forms of fighting not specifically covered elsewhere in the statutes. Typically, cage fighters are amateurs. Because the State does not regulate amateur fighting and does not prohibit the City from doing so, the City may regulate amateur fighting. The council held a work session on a proposed ordinance to prohibit cage fighting on August 14, 2006, and a public hearing on the proposed ordinance on September 11, 2006. Attachment A is a revised draft of the ordinance the council considered at the work session and public hearing. The revised draft modifies the definition of prohibited “extreme fighting” to exclude matches in which the participants and the promoter comply with rules adopted by the City Manager. Several states have adopted rules to regulate mixed martial arts. Attachment B is an annotated version of rules adopted by the Nevada Athletic Commission to regulate the conduct of the matches. Other rules regulate the ring, the fighters’ weight classes and other aspects of the events. Nevada’s rules are the same, or substantially the same, as those in several other states. The draft ordinance would prohibit both promotion of and participation in “extreme fighting” by amateurs; but, as described above, it now defines “extreme fighting” to exclude matches that comply with rules adopted by the City Manager. In other words, the ordinance would allow cage fighting and other mixed martial arts so long as the matches comply with the rules. Penalties for violation of the rules could include fines, jail time and civil penalties. The draft ordinance does not regulate professional fighting, which is regulated by the State. (State law also prohibits extreme fighting, whether amateur or professional, but the statute defines “extreme fighting” as a “no-holds-barred” match, and it is unclear whether cage fighting as recently conducted in Eugene would fit that definition. The definition of “extreme fighting” in the proposed ordinance is broader in that it includes fighting that may bar some holds.) L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M061127\S061127C.doc