John McCarthy. Full translated statement below, via CABMMA.org.br: The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) approved on Monday the use of Instant Replay for events regulated by the entity. The guidelines were set under the supervision of referee John McCarthy, a member affiliated to CABMMA and Technical Director of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), and will already be implemented in the upcoming events, as of this date. Using Instant Replay in MMA The use of Instant Replay in MMA should be set in the parameters that ensure equality in competition and an adequate result to the end of combat. Using Instant Replay may not be possible in smaller events that are not being recorded or that fail to provide the proper images to the Commission. Due to the complexities involved in MMA, the referee can only use the Instant Replay when you feel that the “Sequence Final Combat” was possibly caused by an illegal action (lack), whether intentional or unintentional. In that time the referee and only the referee can ask for a review of the last moments of the fight. Once reviewed the replay, the referee can confirm or not an offense has been committed and has caused the end of the fight following taking appropriate action. It should be noted that the Instant Replay is not to be used to assess the referee’s actions. Examples include:
- Fight was stopped at the right time?
- There was a “tapout”?
- A fighter committed a foul, but did not bring an end to the fight?
- The winner of the fight;
- Take the fight to the scorecards of the judges for a technical decision; (Depending on the round in which fighting has been closed);
- If the fight will be a “No Contest”;
- Disqualification.
