CSAC adopts rule limiting travel for judges, notes after recent controversy

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) restricts how far its judges and referees can travel while officiating at consecutive events.

CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster issued a memo Friday saying officials working in the state can only travel to Nevada — or vice versa — if they schedule back-to-work events. Ariel Helwani was first
Report news. The memorandum reads as follows: As the Commission understands, you can work in other states as officers. It is important to keep in mind the travel distance between locations while you are performing optimally for those tasks and accepting continuous tasks. If you work in California on Friday, the Commission accepts that you will work up to Nevada on Saturday or vice versa. If you accept an out-of-state job that is within one day of a job in California and requires you to travel farther than the state of Nevada, you may be removed from the California quota.

MMA judge Douglas Crosby will be in Uncasville, Conn. on Dec. 9 before traveling to Las Vegas to judge the UFC 282 card a day later. This rule comes after working at Bellator 289 in Crosby submitted a pair of controversial tallies that weekend — one in each event. He won the Bellator 289 main event between Raufion Stotts and Danny Sabatello with Stotts split decision 50-45 in favor of Sabatello. Later, he submitted a 29-28 decision to Paddy Pimblett in his controversial unanimous decision victory over Jared Gordon in the UFC 282 main event.

The Mohegan Tribe’s Department of Athletics Regulations is going to review the Stotts-Zabatello fight, along with Crosby and two other referees who scored the bout. Mohegan athletic director Mike Mazzulli acknowledged that Crosby’s scorecard was “controversial” and that Stotts’ win was the right “decision.”