As used in the rules of the Tennessee Athletic Commission,
unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Amateur" means a person who has never
competed in an unarmed combat sport competition or contest for any purse or
item of value, other than for a prize or item of value which does not exceed
fifty dollars ($50.00), including reasonable expenses, except those involved in
Olympic organizations recognized by the Tennessee Athletic Commission as a
sanctioning organization.
(2)
"Application fee" means the fee due at the time an application for a license is
submitted to the Commission.
(3)
"Association of Boxing Commission" means the association recognized by state
athletic commissions, which affiliate with such association regarding rules and
regulations of unarmed combat sports. The association may also mean and be
referred to as the "ABC Association for Professional Unarmed Combat
Contests".
(4) "Banned substances"
means substances defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency, in addition to any
illegal substance.
(5) "Boxing"
means unarmed combat to compete with the fists.
(6) "Combatant" means any person eighteen
(18) years of age or older who engages in a professional unarmed combat
contest.
(7) "Commission" means the
Tennessee Athletic Commission.
(8)
"Commissioner" means any member of the Tennessee Athletic Commission.
(9) "Contest" means an unarmed combat sport
competition in which licensed combatants compete for a purse or item of value
greater than that amount authorized for an amateur event.
(10) "Department" means the Department of
Commerce and Insurance.
(11)
"Event" means an amateur event in which amateurs compete in an unarmed combat
sport competition in accordance with Title 68, Chapter 115. "Event" does not
include sparring wherein amateurs engage in unarmed combat for practice and not
competition and is not promoted or organized by a promoter.
(12) "Immediate family member" means a
spouse, parent, sibling or child.
(13) "Kickboxing" means unarmed combat
involving the use of striking techniques delivered with the upper and lower
body, and in which the combatants remain standing while striking.
(14) "Manager" means a person who:
(a) Undertakes to represent the interests of
another person by contract, agreement or other arrangement, in procuring
arranging or conducting a professional contest in which such person will
participate as a combatant;
(b)
Directs or controls the activities of an unarmed combatant relating to the
participation of the unarmed combatant in a professional contest;
(c) Receives or is entitled to receive at
least ten percent (10%) of the gross purse of any professional unarmed
combatant for services relating to the participation of the unarmed combatant
in a professional contest; or
(d)
Receives compensation for services as an agent or representative of an unarmed
combatant.
The term does not include an attorney who is licensed to
practice law in this state if the attorney's participation in any of the
activities described in subdivision (a) is limited solely to the attorney's
legal representation of a client who is an unarmed combatant.
(15) "Matchmaker" means a person
who brings together professional boxers, kickboxers or mixed martial art
combatants or arranges professional contests of unarmed combat.
(16) "Mixed martial arts" means unarmed
combat using a combination of techniques from different disciplines of the
martial arts, including kicking, wrestling, and striking, subject to applicable
limitations set forth in the Tennessee Athletic Commission Act of 2008 and
rules promulgated by the Commission.
(17) "Permit" means a certification of
approval for a contest, issued upon receipt of an application and fee that
shall be established and collected, pursuant to the rulemaking authority of the
Commission for professional contests.
(18) "Person" means and includes individuals,
corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships or associations,
domestic and foreign.
(19)
"Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in the state of
Tennessee.
(20) "Professional"
means a person who competes in an unarmed combat sport contest in this state
for the purpose of a purse or item of value greater than that amount authorized
for an amateur event.
(21)
"Promoter" means any person who produces, stages, or sponsors any professional
contest of unarmed combat.
(22)
"Purse" means the financial guarantee or any other remuneration for which
combatants are participating in a professional contest and includes the
combatant's share of any payment received for radio broadcasting, television or
motion picture right.
(23) "Ring
official" means any person who performs any one (1) or more of the following
official functions during the progress of a professional contest of unarmed
combat:
(a) "Announcer" means a person
authorized to act as an announcer at unarmed combat contests or amateur
events.
(b) "Judge" means a person
who is responsible for scoring the performances of the combatants in a
professional contest;
(c) "Referee"
means a person who is present in the ring during the professional contest and
exercises general supervision;
(d)
"Ringside physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in the state
of Tennessee and licensed by the Commission as a ring official;
(e) "Timekeeper" means a person who is the
official timer of the length of the rounds and the intervals thereof in a
professional contest of unarmed combat.
(24) "Sanctioning organization" means an
organization recognized by the Tennessee Athletic Commission that sanctions
professional contests of unarmed combat and is required to comply with all
provisions of this act. "Sanctioning organization" may also mean an
organization recognized by the Tennessee Athletic Commission that adopts rules
and regulations pursuant to the provisions of T.C.A. §
68-115-213.
(25) "Second" means a person, including a
manager, who is present at any professional unarmed combat contest to provide
assistance or advice to combatants during a professional contest of unarmed
combat.
(26) "Show settlement"
means the period of time immediately following the professional contest in
which a Commission member or the Commission's administrator or his or her
designee shall meet with venue personnel and the contest promoter to review
ticket sales and collect fees due if paid immediately following the
professional contest.
(27) "Unarmed
combat" means and shall include boxing, mixed martial arts, and kickboxing as
defined and regulated under the provisions of the Tennessee Athletic Commission
Act of 2008.