City, combative sports commission to hire outside investigator into death of Edmonton MMA fighter

The Edmonton Combative Sports Commission and city administrators plan to work together to hire a third party to investigate the death of a fighter during a boxing match at the Shaw Conference Centre.

Beaumont-based MMA fighter Tim Hague, 34,died on June 18, two days after he was knocked unconscious in the boxing ring by Adam Braidwood, a former defensive end for the Edmonton Eskimos.

• 'We're all doing OK': Family of fighter Tim Hague overwhelmed by support from MMA community

A video of the match shows Hague, who had a history head injuries, getting knocked down several times.

On June 19, the city announced it would hire an outside party to review the circumstances surrounding Hague's death. It mentioned the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission would be involved.

There were no updates on progress until Monday night's meeting of the combative sports commission, during which it was revealed the commission was not consulted by the city about the investigation.

While the commission regulates professional fighting, it's the city that oversees event operations.

DavidAitken, the city's branch manager of community standards and neighbourhoods, said there was some confusion over jurisdiction.

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"Initially, administration wanted to be seen as acting quickly for a full review," Aitken said, noting that the assumption was that both regulations and operations would be looked at.

"There was no intent to cut the commission out in any way, shape or form," he said.

The city has started gathering statements from officials about what they saw at the fight.

Over the past month, Steven Phipps, chair of the combative sports commission, has been in talks with city administrators about the review.

"The goal is to ensure that there is a true level of independence with the reviewer, that they aren't simply reviewing materials that the city or the commission has gathered,"Phippssaid.

"We would want to know what was on the application. Were there any previous suspensions for medical reasons? Were the policies with respect to sanctioning this fight applied?"

The city wants thereport from the third-party reviewer, which has not yet been hired,to be completed by September. However, a city spokesperson said that it may take additional timebeyond then to complete.

Phipps said the hope is that it will be publicly available.

Next high-profile fightin September

On July 8 at UFC 213 in Las Vegas, Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, was asked atthe post-fight news conferenceif he had any concerns about the Edmonton review findingsbefore the city hosts UFC 215 on Sept. 9.

"I'm very confident in the people we have, from [UFC senior vice-president of regulatory affairs] Mark Ratner down, and the judges and referees that will travel for an MMA event," White said. "It's not like it's our first trip to Canada, either.

I'm very confident in the people we have.- Dana White, UFC president

"Our people are pretty capable," he added.

Erik Magraken, a British Columbia-based injury lawyerwho blogs about combat sports law, is hopingEdmoton's investigation into Hague's death will be completed before UFC 215.

"If Edmonton is interested in an inquiry into Tim's death to find out if something was done wrong from the regulatory front, you would think you'd want those answers promptly, certainly before further events take place," Magrakensaid.

"If there's internal issues that need to be remedied, it makes sense to remedy those before the commission regulates a further event."