Nashville police halt fight club bouts

NASHVILLE, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Police in Nashville say they'll bust any bouts by amateur fight clubs until a new state commission determines which fights are safe and legal.

The Tennessee Athletic Commission, charged with regulating combat sports in the state, is to spend the next several months examining applications from fight clubs and bars, the (Nashville) Tennessean reported Monday.

That's not soon enough for fight promoters at Second Avenue Bar, which last week halted 12 amateur fights after police threatened to arrest participants, the Tennessean reported.

"This was not a shady operation," said promoter Eric Chester, who estimates he lost more than $10,000 when he had to cancel the fights. Chester claimed his fights were legal because the participants were amateurs slated to take home no more than a T-shirt for fighting.