OAC Bans Sprawl Shorts
by Zak Woods on Nov 30, 2009 4:38 PM EST
in Ohio MMA
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Attention Ohio MMA fighters, the Ohio Athletic Commission has banned SPRAWL shorts from competition.
The OAC explains the reasoning for the apparel ban as such:
Flexible lightweight, non-abrasive, high-tech polymer fused to the inseam of the fight shorts creates 'Grip-Zones' to help secure finishing holds and counter the slippery effects of sweat.
NO SLIP PREVENTION OR GRIPPING MATERIAL ON ANY PORTION OF THE FIGHTER’S SHORTS IS
PERMITTED.
On SPRAWL's official website they explain the grappling prowess of their shorts,
SPRAWL® FusionTM - This new SPRAWL short is comprised of the most advanced fabrics and technology and has a number of features that enhance fighter performance such as our new Channel LockTM waistband-the first non-slip waistband that allows a full size range of adjustability.
SPRAWL® GripFlexTM - Adds the dimension of ‘grip' to counter the slippery effects of sweat when applying a finishing hold.
WKR certainly understands the ban as long as it is shown that the shorts do provide an advantage compared to other athletic apparel.
A commission's duty is to keep an equal playing field for all competitors. Part of that duty is combating unfair technological advantages. Sports fans saw one such incident in international swimming earlier this summer. When Milorad Cavic defeated Michael Phelps in Rome the Serbia swimmer was wearing a new Arena X-Glide swimsuit. It was determined that the technologically superior suit gave Cavic an unfair advantage and the Arena X-Glide suit was recently banned from international competition.
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I go back and forth with these issues. For example, in swimming world records are broken every Olympics due to enhances in the equipment. However, all the athletes have the same access to the suits, so where is the crime. I think it was Bill Parcells (might not have been) who said that Gatorade is a performance enhancer. he is not looking to ban Gatorade, but making the obvious statement that finding ways to improve performance is part of the evolution of the sport.
However, with this ruling i do not have a problem because the equipment does something that is listed as illegal in the rules. Most commissions in the U.S. ban pants for that exact reason, so it makes sense they would ban the shorts in this case.
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