C.A.M.O. Killing Amateur MMA in California
The California Amateur Martial Arts Organization (CAMO) was voted to be the governing body for amateur MMA in California by the California State Athletic Commission. Prior to this vote amateur MMA was basically illegal and the only events were “smokers” held at gyms. CAMO’s policies and fees are essentially putting an end to something that never truly existed in the state and is forcing young fighters to go pro well before they are ready.
CAMO is run by Jeremy Lappen and JT Steele of the now defunct EliteXC. According to their website, “CAMO is a non-profit corporation dedicated to help foster the growth of the sport of amateur Mixed Martial Arts and to oversee the health, safety and welfare of the athletes that choose to participate in it.” Sadly I do not see them fostering anything, rather I see them hindering the growth of the sport. First off the amateur fighter that usually takes his paycheck straight to the gym in order to pay for the training is now required by law to register with state. This does not seem terribly erroneous until you read what is required to register. Registration costs each fighter $100 and then they are required to pay $125 for a physical and blood work. This is a total of $225 before they are even allowed to fight. Remember, these are fighters that do not get paid to fight and as I stated already they spend most of their money on school or dojo fees.
Maybe this does not seem like a lot of money to you but let’s compare California to Ohio. I picked Ohio because that is where I live and am quite familiar as to what it takes to fight in the state. Currently the Ohio Athletic Commission requires fighters to pay an application licensing fee of $20. This plus a standard physical form must be submitted in order to get licensed in Ohio. Why is it that a non-profit organization needs an amateur fighter to pay $100 just to register? They are essentially making the sport less attractive to young men and women who are thinking about taking part in mixed martial arts in California.
Another issue with CAMO is that they are requiring all fighters to use a rashguard that they recieve upon registering. No fighter will be allowed to fight without wearing the official CAMO rashguard. Once the rashguard wears out they are then required to purchase a new one through CAMO. Along the same lines are the gloves that will be used in the amateur fights. Gloves will be 8 ounce gloves. Most standard glove manufacturers make either 4 or 7 ounce gloves. However there will be no need to hunt down someone making the odd 8 ounce gloves. CAMO will supply all fighters with a pair of CAMO gloves upon registering. Once those gloves wear down, the leather cracks, the padding starts to become compressed, those gloves are now useless and the fighter must then purchase another pair through CAMO at a cost I have not been able to find.
Maybe it is just me but it seems to me like CAMO is in the business of making money rather than being a non-profit that is supposed to oversee the amateur fights in California. Once again I would like to reference Ohio. It is the promoters responsibility to provide all fighters with gloves for each fight that have been approved by the commission. This eliminates the cost to the young and more than likely broke amateur fighter and puts that cost on the promoter.
If I was an amateur fighter I can tell you right now there is no way I would want to fight in California under those stipulations. I would instead look to leave the state to fight in Nevada, Arizona or another more amateur friendly state. This leads me to wonder how many fighters will actually pay up and how many will fight outside the state in order to avoid the fees CAMO is requiring. It could also lead to many fighters skipping the amateur circuit all together and going pro in order to get sponsors and make money off of fights. Is this what we want from a group that is supposed to be advancing the sport in that state? It should be there job to help amateurs get into the sport, stay as safe as possible while competing and help them to move into the pro ranks by way of great experiences in the fight game.
One other thing I would like to mention that I can’t recall seeing in any other states rules for amateur MMA is a rule that bewildered me. Excessive coaching by a second is prohibited. This is directly from the rules and regulations “A second shall not excessively coach a contestant during a round and shall remain seated and silent when so directed by an inspector. Excessive coaching may lead to a point deduction by the referee, ejection from the venue, and/or disciplinary action by CAMO. After reading this I thought that Matt Serra (9-6) would be a bad choice for a coach in California.
CAMO seems to have gotten one thing right anyway. That would be their name. Due to what the fighters must go through, the money it will cost to actually fight in California as an amateur and the odd coaching rule, they are more of a para military organization that a well respected governing body. I am shocked that the California State Athletic Commision actually voted in favor of this. I believe that CAMO will lead to the destruction of amateur MMA in California and it won’t be long before they end up just like their former business, EliteXC.
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I wonder if you sponsored an ammy event in CA and you put your logo on the ammy fighter’s rash guard, who would receive the money? CAMO?
Very good article! It is robbery what they are doing to fighters that love this sport and know that maybe they will never become pro but put on a performance for us! Non profit…my ass!!!!
225$ for a amateur fighter is a lot money. Most fighter don’t have a big money flow. that more them most gyms
As a MMA coach i know the imortance of bringing new fighters up the ranks, here in uk if i had to ask for the 225$ thats being asked for in CA , i think i would be out of new talent, for MMA to continue to grow and push out the new randy coutures, matt lindlans, A nogera, and the like we need to keep the doors open and not closed…Please CAMO help the sport of MMA and think about those struggling to reach the middle and top ranks…
as a former ammy fighter (but not pro) in cali, i gotta say at least there IS an ammy org out here now! sucks that camo is doing all this, but to fight in vegas there is travel, hotel, food and license or registration or whatever kind of fees accroding to org, commision or whatever. so, if my choice is $300 for a fight in cali, or $800 for a fight in vegas…again, at least the option is there finally.
In addition to what was already mentioned and after speaking directly to the CEO of CAMO, did you know that as a promoter, you must provide CAMO with film of your event. As stated by the CEO, they are going to use that film to put on their website, give out to matchmakers, and give out to fight camps so that they can better train their fighters to fight whoever it is that they are fighting. Did you also know that as a promoter, if a fighter shows up and has forgotten any of his CAMO gear, the fight will be canceled unless the promoter has taken it upon him/herself to purchase additional rash guards and gloves from CAMO. Doesn’t this sound a bit like a monopoly to you??? Let’s see, taking the video rights away from the promoters, using the film to promote their own site, exclusive on gloves and rashguards, and let me add this last thought. As this sport progresses in California, and the California State Athletic Commission finally gets their crap together (which is questionable anyway), I believe that some day the commission will take back Amateur MMA and run it themselves. Doens’t anyone find it odd that CAMO, by mandating their logo’s on the gloves and rashguards of all fighters, seems to be setting themselves up for the future in that once the commission takes back Amateur MMA, their company or logo is ready to market and in fact has been marketed so that they have instant exposure for a wonderful MMA fight line, all on our money. Sounds like unfair business advantages for the future.
ps. Was going to start promoting Amateur MMA in Cali, but not under these rules, hello casino’s.
Great response Larry. We should be more vocal and make sure as many people read this as possible.
Great article that brings up what a scam CAMO is.
You didn’t even touch on the ridiculous fees CAMO charges for promoters to put on shows. For shows with capacity of less than 500 seats – they want $1250 up front. This money does not go to any of the other needs a promoter must pay for. It doesn’t include insurance ( cost another $500), judges (3 x $100), doctor ($100-$300), refs( 2 x $100 ), ambulance ($300-$500). They even require you to pay for a CAMO official to present to oversee the event at the expense of an additional $150.
What is that $1250 going toward exactly?
The whole thing is a scam – and the contract CAMO was awarded by the state is looking more and more likely that it wasn’t legally awarded. CSAC has long been considered corrupt or at least extremely dysfunctional. I fully expect the CA combat sports community to reject this bullshit and unfortunately take the amateur program underground.
The only other legit organization competiting with CAMO was disqualified at the last minute because they were not a non profit. I don’t see how CAMO is a non profit with all the money they are asking for.
Everyone forgot to mention that CAMO also gets 5% of ticket sales and $500 a year just to call yourself a promoter. The $1250 to $2500 plus all the other BS fees cannot be justified since they do nothing except keep a data base of fighters.
Judges, Inspectors and Referees just have to pay CAMO money for their jobs. Referees have to pay $500 to go though a CAMO appointed referee school. As high as these fees are, there is noting that will prevent them from hiking them further.
Jeremy Lappen and JT Steele care nothing about charity or Amateur MMA. They are only involved to make a buck. It amazing that they are still around after the Elite XC Kimbo Slice incident.
If the CSAC collected this much money from Amateur MMA they would be debt free. Maybe the people behind this will soon have jobs with CAMO.
camo is a joke, non profit my ass! im a pro fighter in ca. and besides being a fighter, im an ring anouncer and ringside comentator- and believe me when i say that ive seen everything and all aspects of mma. the athletic commission in california is comprimized and has lost its integrity with recent scandals,and camo just happend to recieve the contract- thats strange if you ask me. this fake ass non-profit organization is all about profit. if its non profit then why are all my own fighters having to pay these outrageous prices just to compete in an amateur event -and why is it that i can only obtain acceptable fight gloves thrue them? espeacialy when I can purchace very easily a 7-8oz. safety mma glove @ combat enternational that meets all the safety standards for athletic commisioned mma fights, amateur or pro. why? Because this whole amateur mma thing was born to capitalize on the the fighting and competitive spirit of the fighters, im refering to the shere desire of each contestant to fight-camo strikes me as just another one of those shady mma promoters in california that exploits mma fighters and wants only one thing . MONEY ! This was all put together to help the amature figher, not by any means to put him/her in financial ruin just to compete. thats why i personaly want to publicly anounce that @ the Hoopa Rezervation in Humbolt Co. is where i will be entering my fighters for amatuer events , the ca. athletic commission has no right on this beautifull Indian land, we dont have to pay all these ( NON-PROFIT ) FEES, AND WE DONT HAVE TO DEAL WITH ALL THE HEAD ACHES. OFCOURSE, BLOOD TEST ARE STILL REQUIRED FOR THE SAFETY OF THE ATHLETES-but i can ashure all reading this that it all happens without any headache. @ present time,im in possession of the only completely NATIVE AMERICAN MMA FIGHT TEAM THATS LOCATED IN sACRAMENTO,CA. All those who wish to compete in amateure mma without all the leaches and predators like camo, go to BRASS KNUX PRODUCTIONS and im shure all will be happy with hassle free. WREKN-AZTEKN !
This is the Joker who co chaired the committee that choose CAMO to oversee Amateur MMA.
http://www.fppc.ca.gov/agendas/12-09/RodriguezEx.pdf
WOW – One has to wonder if Mr. Rodriguez received anything from Elite XC which would have givin them (CAMO in their present from) an advantage in recieving approval over other applicants.
Unfortuntly this is only the beginning as the Commission may have granted CAMO athourity to regulate other forms of Martial Arts aside from MMA.
They recently took a small step into the direction when they attemted to give regulation of of Amateur Pankration to CAMO. At the Dec 21st CSAC meeting the executive Officer recommended that this delegation be put on hold until a formal legal opinion is drafted. Mr. Rodriguez rejected the recomendation and announced that CAMO will also regulate Amateur Pankration. I contacted DCA legal for clearity and still awaiting a response.
We have self governed Amateur Pankration for the past eight years without incident or any issues with the CSAC. In fact we disclosed our events and rules as far back as 2005. All of a sudden this year the CSAC have taken a position that the sport is in need of regulation.
They first rasied the issue that they were concerned about the health and welfare of the competitors. We think we were able to prove that our events were indeed safe with very few injuries and appropriate medical services on staff. They now say that Pankration uses Full Contact Martial Arts Techniques and they have the athourity to regulate it and give the regulation to CAMO. We hold the position that we do not allow Full Contact Martial Art Techniques because Strikes are limited to the body and must be delivered in a controlled manner. Matches cannot be won by injury and violators risk disqualification. We even changed our rules to fit the CSAC description of “light Contact” .
The real danger is, if they define Pankration as having Full Contact Martial Art Techniques, they can also include Jiujitsu , Karate , Taekwondo etc… They have not said what “Full Contact Martial Arts Techniques” are ?– Full Contact Chokes or Arm Bars , Karate Strikes to the body , Wrestling Cross Face or Double Leg Takedown , Taekwkondo kicks etc….
Hopfully this entire deal will get investigated. We always belived someting shaddy was going on especially since the Interm Executive Officer William Douglas would not responed to at least 6 or 7 questions we had starting back in March 09 when we learned someting was in the works. Thus we never had a chance to respond to the proposed regulation of the Sport we developed for the past 8 years.
Unfortunately, a lot of organizations, whether they are non-profit or not, are usually corrupt or something is wrong with them because nothing is perfect. But looking at CAMO in a positive perspective, I like knowing that the fighter that’s going against my boyfriend checked out fine in the physical and blood exam and is not some delinquent that can later hunt him down. I know it may sound a bit extreme but let’s face it, they are not professional fights and most fighters don’t act like professional fighters either.
When one is professional there are a lot of lil things that you have to take care of that are not looked at when fighting amateur. With official ameteur events you get legit refs (not the owner of a gym that may hold a biase), legit matches, and experience/insight into becoming professional. Yes, i agree it is pricey but at the same time there are other ways to get things done.
For a the physical and blood one can go to a clinic (for example planned parenthood for free blood test). And for the fighter fee, the fighter can start saving money, $115 is not too pricey if that’s what you want, if anything, they can start writing letters for sponsors, to get to learn the trade!!! It’s a learning experience, this CAMO amateur organization for the fighters, and why not use it as such!
If anything, shouldn’t we be thinking of the safety, health, and promotions of the fighters? With more supporters for the organiztion we can develop it to bigger than what it is now (as it’s growing in popularity at an exponentially increasing level).
My boyfriend does complain about the gloves, the rash guard, and the prices but at least you know that the person that’s going against you is going through the same exact issues and has the same exact equipment.
Just a little positive thought to ponder.