‘It’s a very serious risk’: Safety in the spotlight following amateur fighter’s death

Professional mixed martial arts fighters are hoping the decease of a combatant pursuing a foundation MMA lawsuit this past play brings astir alteration successful Alberta.

“It’s a tragedy, obviously, successful the combat sports world,” said Ryan Ford, a co-owner astatine Edmonton’s Wolf House Gym. Ford is simply a nonrecreational combatant with much than 60 nonrecreational mixed martial arts and boxing fights nether his belt.

The amateur foundation warring event, enactment connected by U.K.-based Ultra MMA, took spot Saturday, Nov. 23 astatine the Enoch Community Centre, connected the First Nation straight westbound of Edmonton. The First Nation said Ultra MMA privately rented the installation and hired their ain staffing team.

One of the fighters during the 2nd of 19 planned fights, Trokon “Tee” Dousuah went into aesculapian distress and died successful infirmary aboriginal the pursuing morning.

The 33-year-old Edmonton antheral leaves down a woman and children.

Ford said helium watched videos from the opening of Saturday’s event, earlier it was unopen down erstwhile Dousuah’s wellness made a crook for the worst.

“There was nary headgear. There was nary shin pads. And they’re wearing beauteous overmuch MMA nonrecreational gloves,” Ford said, explaining astatine his gym, amateur boxers commencement retired wearing large gloves and caput protection, portion amateur Muay Thai fighters deterioration that positive shin guards and elbow pads.

Wolf House Gym separates fighters into beginner, intermediate and nonrecreational categories and Ford said they person galore types of grooming classes, specified arsenic an instauration to sparring — going done the motions of boxing without landing dense blows — for radical who’ve ne'er thrown a punch before.

“And it’s not adjacent sparring. It’s conscionable showing you the basal skills, what sparring is going to beryllium like. And past you get moved up and past you spar. So, you know, there’s truthful galore antithetic small levels that earlier you get thrown into a fight.”

Global News spoke to a fewer of the radical who signed up to combat astatine the Enoch lawsuit and they said the 20 oregon truthful fighters trained unneurotic 2 hours a week, for 8 weeks starring up to the fight, and characterized it arsenic turning radical disconnected the thoroughfare into decent fighters.

Ford said what helium saw astatine the Enoch event, wherever the amateur fighters were not wearing immoderate of that protective gear, near him feeling the lawsuit shouldn’t person happened and present needs to beryllium investigated.

Safety implicit winning oregon putting connected a amusement should ever beryllium the archetypal precedence successful a warring event, Ford said.

“Make definite that you’re prepared to combat and to marque definite that you get location safe,” helium said. “Like, yes, we privation to win, but if you’re taking excessively overmuch damage, there’s times erstwhile that needs to stop. You’d alternatively spell location to your household than dice and triumph a fight, you know?

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Ari Schacter is simply a idiosyncratic wounded lawyer successful Edmonton who represented the household of Tim Hague, a boxer that died successful 2017 pursuing a stroke to the head.

He said fighters cognize — oregon ought to cognize — what they are signing up for and portion each lawsuit is unique, mostly determination are constricted ineligible options erstwhile things spell awry.

“There’s a defence astatine instrumentality called ‘volenti non acceptable injuria’ that mostly applies, and fundamentally you’re a consenting subordinate successful your ain risk.

Unlike different provinces, Alberta does not modulate combative sports astatine a provincial level.

Earlier this month, a justice starring a fatality enquiry into Hague’s knockout decease recommended changes to however the athletics is regulated and however caput injuries are monitored.

Justice Carrie Sharpe with Alberta’s provincial tribunal made 14 recommendations successful a study published past month, including that combat sports beryllium overseen by a provincial authorization alternatively of a patchwork of municipal bodies.

Schacter said helium believes those recommendations should beryllium implemented and would pb to greater information successful the warring world.

“A greater regulatory strategy that is governed by the provincial government, I deliberation would assistance guarantee things similar this doesn’t happen,” helium said. “There decidedly needs to beryllium immoderate much provincial oversight and a higher a higher level of attraction enactment into combatant safety.”

Ryan hopes this latest decease serves arsenic a aftermath up telephone for fighters and the public.

Global News posed respective questions astir information to the organizers of the Enoch lawsuit — Ultra Events Canada — but the institution did not reply them. Instead, it issued a connection expressing condolences to Dousuah’s household and saying an probe is present underway into his death.

The Alberta RCMP is besides alert and looking into what happened.

Ultra MMA said their lawsuit was sanctioned by the Central Combat Sports Commission.

Global News reached retired respective times via telephone and email connected Tuesday and Wednesday to that commission, which is based successful Penhold successful cardinal Alberta, but nary of our requests for remark were acknowledged.