I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 44 

To amend the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 to include fighters 

of combat sports in the safety provisions of such Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. MULLIN (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. BUCSHON, and Mr. SMITH of Missouri) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 to 

include fighters of combat sports in the safety provisions 

of such Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Muhammad Ali Expan5 sion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTERS. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Professional 

3 Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 6301) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

6 (15) as paragraphs (5), (6), (7), (9), (10), (11), 

7 (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), and (17), respectively; 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(4) FIGHTER.—The term ‘fighter’ means an 

11 individual who fights in a professional mixed martial 

12 arts competition or other professional combat sport 

13 competition.’’; 

14 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7), as so re15 designated, the following: 

16 ‘‘(8) COMBAT SPORT COMPETITION.—The term 

17 ‘combat sport competition’ means a professional 

18 fight that allows fighters to use one or more forms 

19 of martial arts, including mixed martial arts. Such 

20 term does not include— 

21 ‘‘(A) a combat sport that allows the use of 

22 a weapon or foreign object; or 

23 ‘‘(B) a competition that is regulated by an 

24 amateur sports organization.’’; and 

25 (4) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(18) MIXED MARTIAL ARTS.—The term ‘mixed 

2 martial arts’ means a full-contact combat sport that 

3 allows fighters to use both striking and grappling 

4 techniques, and both standing and on the ground, 

5 from a variety of other combat sports and martial 

6 arts.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) Sections 3 through 21 (other than section 

9 20) of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 

10 (15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) are amended— 

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘or fighter’’ after ‘‘boxer’’ 

12 each place it appears; 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘and fighters’’ after ‘‘box14 ers’’ each place it appears; 

15 (C) by inserting ‘‘or combat sport competi16 tion’’ after ‘‘boxing match’’ each place it ap17 pears; 

18 (D) by inserting ‘‘and combat sport com19 petitions’’ after ‘‘boxing matches’’ each place it 

20 appears; 

21 (E) by inserting ‘‘or competition’’ after 

22 ‘‘the match’’ each place it appears; and 

23 (F) by striking ‘‘boxing service provider’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘boxing or combat sport service 

25 provider’’. 


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1 (2) Section 2 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 6301) is 

2 further amended— 

3 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and 

4 combat sport competitions’’ after ‘‘professional 

5 boxing matches’’; 

6 (B) in paragraphs (3), (6), and (14), by 

7 inserting ‘‘and fighters’’ after ‘‘boxers’’ each 

8 place it appears; 

9 (C) in paragraphs (4), (11), and (13), by 

10 inserting ‘‘or fighter’’ after ‘‘boxer’’ each place 

11 it appears; 

12 (D) in paragraphs (6), (9), and (14), by 

13 inserting ‘‘or combat sport competition’’ after 

14 ‘‘professional boxing match’’ each place it ap15 pears; 

16 (E) in paragraph (9), by inserting ‘‘or 

17 competition’’ after ‘‘the match’’ each place it 

18 appears; 

19 (F) in paragraphs (12) and (13), by strik20 ing ‘‘boxing service provider’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘boxing or combat sport service provider’’; and 

22 (G) in paragraph (15) by inserting ‘‘or 

23 combat sports’’ after ‘‘boxing’’. 

24 (3) Section 3(2) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

25 6302(2)) is further amended by inserting ‘‘and proVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Jan 05, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H44.IH H44

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1 fessional combat sports industry’’ after ‘‘professional 

2 boxing industry’’. 

3 (4) Section 4(a) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 6303(a)) is further amended by inserting ‘‘and com5 bat sport regulations’’ after ‘‘professional boxing 

6 regulations’’. 

7 (5) Section 6(c) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 6305(c)) is further amended by inserting ‘‘and fight9 ing’’ after ‘‘risk associated with boxing’’. 

10 (6) Section 7(a)(2) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 6306(a)(2)) is further amended by inserting ‘‘or 

12 compete’’ after ‘‘box’’. 

13 (7) Section 9 of such Act is further amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘Within 2’’ and inserting 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(a) BOXING CONTRACTS.—Within 2’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) COMBAT SPORTS CONTRACTS.—Not later than 

19 2 years after the date of enactment of the Muhammad 

20 Ali Expansion Act, the Association of Boxing Commissions 

21 (ABC) shall develop and shall approve by a vote of no less 

22 than a majority of its member State boxing commis23 sioners, guidelines for minimum contractual provisions 

24 that should be included in bout agreements and mixed 

25 martial arts and other combat sport contracts. It is the 


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1 sense of the Congress that State boxing commissions 

2 should follow these ABC guidelines.’’. 

3 (8) Section 10(a) of such Act is further amend4 ed— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘or 

6 fighter’s’’ after ‘‘boxer’s’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘This subsection’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘With respect to boxing con10 tracts, this subsection’’; and 

11 (ii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: ‘‘With respect to mixed martial 

13 arts and other combat sport contracts, this 

14 subsection shall only apply to contracts en15 tered into after the date of the enactment 

16 of the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act.’’. 

17 (9) Section 11 of such Act is further amend18 ed— 

19 (A) in subsection (a)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘Within 2’’ and insert21 ing the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) BOXING CONTRACTS.—Within 2’’; and 

23 (ii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(2) COMBAT SPORTS.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the date of the enactment of the Muhammad 

3 Ali Expansion Act, the Association of Boxing Com4 missions shall develop and shall approve by a vote of 

5 no less than a majority of its member State boxing 

6 commissioners, guidelines for objective and con7 sistent written criteria for the ratings of mixed mar8 tial arts and other combat sports. It is the sense of 

9 the Congress that sanctioning bodies and State box10 ing commissions should follow these ABC guide11 lines.’’; and 

12 (B) in subsection (d)(1)(C) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘boxer’s rating’’ and inserting ‘‘boxer 

14 or fighter’s rating’’. 

15 (10) Section 13 of such Act is further amend16 ed— 

17 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘boxer’s 

18 purse’’ and inserting ‘‘boxer or fighter’s purse’’; 

19 and 

20 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘boxer’s 

21 purse’’ and inserting ‘‘boxer or fighter’s purse’’. 

22 (11) Section 17(b)(2)(B) of such Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 6308(b)(2)(B)) is further amended by insert24 ing ‘‘, and fighters participating in a mixed martial 

25 arts competition or other combat sport competition 


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1 scheduled for 11 minutes or more’’ after ‘‘10 rounds 

2 or more’’. 

3 (12) Section 18(b)(3) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 6309(b)(3)) is further amended by inserting ‘‘or 

5 combat sport’’ after ‘‘State boxing’’. 

Æ 


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