Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Mixed Martial Arts and the Law’ With Jason J. Cruz

Review Fix chats with “Mixed Martial Arts and the Law” author Jason J. Cruz, who lets us know what inspired his books and what his future goals as an author are.

About the Book:

Barbaric. Savage. Violent. Words often used by critics to describe the sport of mixed martial arts. To this can be added lucrative, popular and flourishing. MMA has seen astronomical growth since the 2000s, spurred on by its biggest promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC).

Along the way, legal issues have plagued the sport. This book provides an overview of the most important cases and controversies arising both inside and outside of the cage—antitrust suits by fighters against promoters, fighters suing other fighters, drug testing, contractual issues, and the need for federal regulation.

About the Author:

Jason J. Cruz is an attorney and writer based in Bellevue, Washington. He owns Cruz Law, PLLC where he practices business law and also writes for MMA Payout, a web site dedicated to the legal and business aspects of combat sports.

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Jason J. Cruz: I have been writing about the business and legal aspects on the sport of mixed martial arts since 2011 for MMA Payout – a web site dedicated to the legal and business aspects of combat sports.  I thought that with all of the legal cases arising out of the sport that a book would be an interesting read.  There are so many fans interested about the business and legal side of the sport I felt there would be a niche.   

Review Fix: What was the research process like?

Cruz: A lot of researching legal cases including paying for legal documents on PACER and state court websites.  I had knowledge of certain cases having written about them for the web site but I had to go back to pre-2011 for certain cases.  The good news is that there were similar themes with certain cases which I was able to tie together in chapters. 

Review Fix: Any real trials and tribulations during the writing process?

Cruz: There’s always motivation issues as well as balancing time to write in addition to my job as a lawyer.  Also, certain cases changed after submitting my manuscript which required me to change the final draft. 

Review Fix: What are your goals for this book?

Cruz: I think the main goal is to give a comprehensive look at the legal history of the relatively new sport of mixed martial arts. From these lawsuits, which are written in a way that lay people will understand, the reader will comprehend the obstacles athletes, organizations, companies and promotions face in the industry. 

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Cruz: If you are an MMA fan interested in the backstory of the sport, you will find the read interesting since most of the chapters focus on athletes they will know by name and companies within the industry.  Also, for the legal scholar, it gives some context for the issues faced in MMA. 

Review Fix: How does your background help and hinder your creative process?

Cruz: My background in law and writing has helped with the process because I’ve been able to distill the legal cases and write the book in a way which offers insights for the legal professional as well as an enjoyable read for those non-lawyers interested in the subject.  I have had to review the manuscript to ensure that I didn’t provide too much legal minutiae or dry details that might not engage the reader. 

Review Fix: What’s next for you?

Cruz: Legal Issues in Boxing which may be a deeper dive due to its longer history.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Cruz: I never thought that I’d write a book and was surprised as to how driven I was to complete this project.  It wasn’t easy, but I am glad it is complete.  Also surprising was realizing how the book laid out perfectly from idea to paper.  

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14225 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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