School strikes cage fights

WISE, Va. (AP) — The University of Virginia-Wise has stopped mixed martial arts events, following a recent cage fight in which several people were injured.

One person was sent to a hospital, but nobody was seriously injured in the April 5 amateur event, which drew 600 people to the Fred B. Greear Gymnasium.

The announcement was made last week by university spokesman Roger Hagy, who declined to elaborate.

The fight was organized by the Arena, a Wise-based fight promoter, and the university’s athletic booster club. It earned $3,000 for the college’s general athletic fund.

According to the organizations, fighter Adam Bentley was carried out on a stretcher and taken to Mountain View Regional Medical Center for treatment of dehydration and exhaustion. Another fighter received stitches for a cut above his eye, and two others suffered dislocated elbows.

The Arena had an insurance policy for the event, and Mr. Hagy said the university was not liable.

Amateur fights are not governed by the state, but state officials became involved in the UVa.-Wise event when they learned the fight had not been sanctioned. Virginia law does not require such fights to be sanctioned, but David Holland of the state Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation said he tries to stop unsanctioned fights.

“It’s a red flag that they’re doing something illegal in the show,” said Mr. Holland, who oversees professional boxing and wrestling in the state.

Mr. Holland said he gave David Shelton, a promoter for the Arena, a list of sanctioning organizations. One of them, Ground N Pound, sanctioned the event.

Ground N Pound owner David Probst and Mr. Shelton make a distinction between mixed martial arts and the anything-goes “tough man” fights. They have a list of rules prohibiting such moves as elbow strikes, kicks at the head of an opponent on the ground, eye-gouging and head-butting.

The cages, generally 24 feet in diameter, are coated in vinyl to protect fighters. Fights end in knockouts or submissions, either verbal or visual.

Mr. Probst also requires a promoter to have on hand a licensed doctor, two emergency-medical technicians and an ambulance.

“The sport’s not the way it used to be,” said Mr. Shelton, who started the Arena in September with his father and two brothers. “It had a dark past before the rules were put into it.”

On Saturday, Lee County High School will host Cage Kombat IV, the fourth amateur fight to be held at the school in the past year. It is also sanctioned by Ground N Pound.