CAMO Oversees First California Amateur Fights on Friday
Loretta Hunt Nov 18, 2009
The newly formed California Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Organization
(CAMO) will oversee its first event, a pro-am All Star MMA show in
Montebello, Calif., on Friday in conjunction with the California
State Athletic Commission.
On Aug. 24, the CSAC unanimously delegated to CAMO, a non-profit organization, the exclusive authority to regulate amateur MMA bouts in the state, much like USA Boxing oversees the amateur boxing circuit in California. Until then, amateur events had been illegal in the state, unless held on sovereign land, due to no regulatory oversight for health and safety concerns.
CAMO will “provide licensing services for promoters, inspectors,
fighters, trainers, referees and judges intent on competing in and
working at amateur MMA or Pankration events in California,” said a
press release circulated on Wednesday.
CAMO will also maintain records for amateur fighters, as well as officials and promoters at www.camo-mma.org, its official Web site. CAMO has also selected veteran referee John McCarthy’s C.O.M.M.A.N.D. program as the requisite training requirement for referee and judging officials who are not already commission-licensed.
CAMO was created by former Pro Elite executives Jeremy Lappen and J. T. Steele earlier this year and was selected by the CSAC following a candidate review process conducted by commissioners Mario Rodriguez and June Collision last August. Steele will serve as CAMO’s President and Lappen as CEO and Chairman.
Under CAMO’s Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (AMMA) regulations, bouts will be contested under rules nearly identical to the professional version, except for the omission of elbow strikes in all positions. A novice division, for amateur fighters with 10 or less verified bouts on their record, will contest three two-minute rounds. An open division, for fighters with 11 or more amateur bouts, will institute three-minute rounds. All fighters will be required to submit blood tests and other medical requirements.
CAMO will charge a $2,500 fee to promoters wishing to hold an amateur event in a venue with a capacity of 500 people or more. Events held at a venue with less than a 500-person capacity must pay $1,250 to CAMO. Additionally, amateur promoters will be required to pay separate fees for referees, judges, timekeepers, a ringside physician and inspectors to work the event according to a pay scale already established by CAMO. A senior official, most likely commission-certified to start, will oversee junior officials at the events, said CAMO CEO Lappen.
“(The $1,250-2,500 fee) goes basically to the funding and operations of CAMO, the running of the website. We will be keeping official records of all the medical process, assigning all officials to the events, overseeing that database,” said Lappen.
Lappen, who helped produce 17 EliteXC and ShoXC events under the Pro Elite brand between 2007-2008, said CAMO officials will also assist promoters in the running of the events. Lappen believes many could be first-time promoters.
“The idea for this is for people not to go out of business,” said Lappen. “I think promoters will be able to make a profit from this.”
Currently, Lappen said he and Steele are not salaried by CAMO, but that surplus fee money not contributed to CAMO’s overhead will eventually go towards that.
“At some point, we will take a salary,” said Lappen. “Because it’s a non-profit, there are specific rules about that. We will hire a third-party consulting company to set our salaries based on what we’re doing and our experience and it will be a reasonable salary based on everything.”
Lappen said additional excess profits made by CAMO could also go toward scholarships programs and hiring additional personnel, if needed.
“We’re not sure how this thing is going to play out,” said Lappen. “There may be very little demand for this or there may be a lot.”
Lappen said CAMO’s main goal is to provide a state-approved program that will allow for novice fighters and officials to develop their skills in a setting conducive with adequate health and safety standards.
CAMO already has six amateur events scheduled and will oversee its first all-amateur event, a California Fight Syndicate show, on Nov. 28 in Santa Maria.
On Aug. 24, the CSAC unanimously delegated to CAMO, a non-profit organization, the exclusive authority to regulate amateur MMA bouts in the state, much like USA Boxing oversees the amateur boxing circuit in California. Until then, amateur events had been illegal in the state, unless held on sovereign land, due to no regulatory oversight for health and safety concerns.
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CAMO will also maintain records for amateur fighters, as well as officials and promoters at www.camo-mma.org, its official Web site. CAMO has also selected veteran referee John McCarthy’s C.O.M.M.A.N.D. program as the requisite training requirement for referee and judging officials who are not already commission-licensed.
In addition, MMA veterans Dan
Henderson, Bas Rutten,
Erik
Paulson, and McCarthy have been named to a seven-member
advisory board for CAMO. They will be joined by industry
professionals Josh Schwartz, Steve Rusich, and Marc Altieri.
CAMO was created by former Pro Elite executives Jeremy Lappen and J. T. Steele earlier this year and was selected by the CSAC following a candidate review process conducted by commissioners Mario Rodriguez and June Collision last August. Steele will serve as CAMO’s President and Lappen as CEO and Chairman.
Under CAMO’s Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (AMMA) regulations, bouts will be contested under rules nearly identical to the professional version, except for the omission of elbow strikes in all positions. A novice division, for amateur fighters with 10 or less verified bouts on their record, will contest three two-minute rounds. An open division, for fighters with 11 or more amateur bouts, will institute three-minute rounds. All fighters will be required to submit blood tests and other medical requirements.
CAMO will charge a $2,500 fee to promoters wishing to hold an amateur event in a venue with a capacity of 500 people or more. Events held at a venue with less than a 500-person capacity must pay $1,250 to CAMO. Additionally, amateur promoters will be required to pay separate fees for referees, judges, timekeepers, a ringside physician and inspectors to work the event according to a pay scale already established by CAMO. A senior official, most likely commission-certified to start, will oversee junior officials at the events, said CAMO CEO Lappen.
“(The $1,250-2,500 fee) goes basically to the funding and operations of CAMO, the running of the website. We will be keeping official records of all the medical process, assigning all officials to the events, overseeing that database,” said Lappen.
Lappen, who helped produce 17 EliteXC and ShoXC events under the Pro Elite brand between 2007-2008, said CAMO officials will also assist promoters in the running of the events. Lappen believes many could be first-time promoters.
“The idea for this is for people not to go out of business,” said Lappen. “I think promoters will be able to make a profit from this.”
Currently, Lappen said he and Steele are not salaried by CAMO, but that surplus fee money not contributed to CAMO’s overhead will eventually go towards that.
“At some point, we will take a salary,” said Lappen. “Because it’s a non-profit, there are specific rules about that. We will hire a third-party consulting company to set our salaries based on what we’re doing and our experience and it will be a reasonable salary based on everything.”
Lappen said additional excess profits made by CAMO could also go toward scholarships programs and hiring additional personnel, if needed.
“We’re not sure how this thing is going to play out,” said Lappen. “There may be very little demand for this or there may be a lot.”
Lappen said CAMO’s main goal is to provide a state-approved program that will allow for novice fighters and officials to develop their skills in a setting conducive with adequate health and safety standards.
CAMO already has six amateur events scheduled and will oversee its first all-amateur event, a California Fight Syndicate show, on Nov. 28 in Santa Maria.
