FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Penick's Take PENICK: How Matt Hamill got cleared to fight with an apparent staph infection at The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale

Jun 23, 2010 - 10:50:03 AM

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Last Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Nevada State Athletic Commission allowed Matt Hamill to step into the Octagon against Keith Jardine while suffering from a staph infection, clearly visible on his lower back.

While Keith Kizer, executive director of the commission, claimed it was a "dry, hard eschar," and that the NSAC doctor who had examined Hamill had cleared him, there are multiple issues with how the situation was handled, as well as with the doctor in question who actually examined Hamill.

For starters, the contention that the lesion had hardened and that it wasn't an issue is a complete fallacy, as during the course of the fight a number of things could have potentially happened to open the wound. A kick or punch to the back, a brush against the cage, getting moved across the mat with his back on the ground, any of these highly common blows or actions could have caused this "dry, hard eschar" to open, exposing Keith Jardine, Herb Dean, commission officials and cornerman of Matt Hamill that came in contact with him, not to mention all Court McGee, Kris McCray and anyone else involved in the main event to a potentially life threatening contagious disease.

The fact that they determined he was healing from the infection when he said after the fight that he would begin antibiotics this week is egregious enough, but there's an even more unnerving back story to how and by whom he was cleared to fight.

In a report this morning from Zach Arnold at FightOpinion.com, he runs down the nefarious background of the doctor that cleared Hamill to fight on Saturday, one Dr. Vickie Mazzorana. The first problem with how Hamill was cleared is that neither Mazzorana, nor Hamill's personal physician, UFC doctor Jeff Davidson, are licensed dermatologists. Both specialize in emergency medicine, and in the instance of this skin lesion, determined to be a staph infection, Hamill should have been cleared by a dermatologist to make the determination on the lesion's contagiousness.

But the more serious issue is with Mazzorana. While she has worked with the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a couple of years, and also works for the largest medical school in the state of Nevada as an assistant professor, she was also the owner of a Spanish-language oriented abortion clinic called Clinica de Mujeres.

Here's the kicker. Less than a year ago, Clinica de Mujeres was issued a cease and desist for performing unlicensed surgeries. The clinic was shut down as it was cited for sterilization issues, including "infection control" deficiencies and a lack of documentation for a sterilization machine.

The issue of licensing was taken care of the day after authorities entered the facility, but the issue of sterilization and "infection control" problems needed to be addressed before the clinic would be allowed to open up.

What we have here is a high profile doctor, working for both the largest med school in the state as well as the state's athletic commission, who is simultaneously operating a clinic aimed at a poor hispanic population in the region and performing surgeries in an unsafe environment on those patients.

The state went after her and her clinic for the licensing issue, and because that was cleared up the initial cease order was rescinded just a month after being issued. There has been no follow up as to the conditions in the clinic, and Mazzorana continued on in her role as a doctor for the commission.

That brings us to Saturday, where this doctor, cited less than a year ago for issues in "infection control," and not a licensed dermatologist qualified to make an expert judgment on the staph infection of Hamill, cleared him to fight and was subsequently backed up by Keith Kizer.

The decision to allow Hamill to fight without a proper medical examination from a doctor specializing in the issue put a number of fighters, referees, commission officials and more at risk for this potentially deadly infection, and it was completely unnecessary.

It highlights a much larger issue with the ineptitude of many athletic commissions governing this young sport right now, because when things like this are allowed to pass by, and this is a major issue, it makes one question just how competent they are with the rest of their duties. In a sport where bleeding is a common occurrence, how sure can the fighters be that the commission has correctly tested their opponent or has received the correct and up to date medicals on their opponent when blood-borne pathogens could be passed on during a fight?

The commission's job should be to protect the fighters, first and foremost. In this instance, the decision to allow Hamill to fight protected the promotion. Had Hamill been seen by a dermatologist and not been cleared to fight, the UFC would have had to find a very short notice replacement, but it's not as if it hasn't been done before.

The New Jersey State Athletic Commission caught Thiago Alves' brain issue just days before his scheduled fight at UFC 111. They would not clear him to fight, and as such he was able to get the medical treatment he needed, and he'll be coming back strong in August. It's not without precedent for an athletic commission to do their job correctly. The commission should be there for the fighters and not the promotions.

The UFC could have canceled the Jardine-Hamill fight, and it wouldn't have been a massive issue, as it had already been demoted to co-main event status. That move alone is curious, as it's entirely possible the UFC found out about the infection early in the week and made preparations for Hamill being pulled from the fight.

If Hamill would have been kept out by a dermatologist's examination, the UFC would have been prepared, so the fact that he wasn't referred to one for his pre-fight medicals is all the more inexcusable. This is an internal issue the NSAC needs to realize they can't just sweep under the rug. Many people were unnecessarily exposed to this contagious disease because a doctor, already cited for a lack of "infection control" at one of her own facilities, was the one to clear Hamill in this case. The situation was handled the wrong way at the very least, and it shows gross negligence that they allowed that fight to take place.

Read Zach Arnold's full report with even more on Mazzorana's background at FightOpinion.com

UPDATE: Matt Hamill's manager, Duff Holmes, has made a statement claiming it was never diagnosed as staph infection. Here's what Holmes said in Arnold's updated piece: "I’m not sure what the doctor’s name was. More than one looked at it and they all said it was in the healing phase and was hardened and safely under the skin. It was never diagnosed as Staph. That was an assumption made by Dr. Hamill. He has since started antibiotic therapy."

Even with that in mind, the fact remains that this skin lesion, that still could have been opened up during the fight, was something that requires antibiotics and should have still been cleared by a qualified specialist before Hamill was allowed to fight.

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