Despite a June order from Vermont’s Office of Professional Regulation barring him from presenting spectator fights, promoter Randy Felion of Rutland was involved last weekend in organizing such an event.
Felion, who has put on mixed martial arts fights in Rutland County, commented on a fight-site Facebook page that Saturday’s contests had been postponed from a previous week because of rain.
A cease and desist order, served on Felion by the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Secretary of State on June 12, called previous fights “grossly inconsistent with legal and regulatory requirements.” Among officials’ chief concerns: Felion failed to staff events with medical personnel and promoted child fighters.
“Unauthorized promoting is cognizable as unauthorized practice of a regulated profession pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 127 and may subject you to administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions,” the order read. “Unprofessional conduct in the promotion of matches also may form a basis for denial of future efforts on your behalf to obtain registrations required to operate lawfully.”
Saturday’s event was promoted on a Facebook page called Vtbeefs, then streamed live, with a 50-minute video of several fights posted publicly afterward.
In response to VTDigger’s request for comment, an administrator of the page responded that Randy Felion doesn’t run Vtbeefs.
“He’s a fighter for me and the fights weren’t fights they were sparring matches,” the unnamed administrator wrote, then deleted the page.
Felion had used his personal account to comment on the page’s posts.
In a video on his personal account this week, also posted publicly, Felion thanked fighters for attending the event.
Vermont statute defines the prohibited mixed martial arts matches as “unarmed combat involving the use of a combination of techniques from different disciplines of the martial arts, including grappling, submission holds, and strikes with the upper and lower body.”
The video, along with photos still posted publicly, shows fighters with boxing gloves punching and kicking each others’ lower and upper bodies on a large blue mat surrounded by a group of unmasked spectators. A person familiar with the event, who asked not to be identified in order to speak candidly on the topic, said it was held in a backyard in Castleton.
Along with Felion’s lack of registration, the event also would appear to breach the state’s current Covid-19 protocol for high-contact sports.
Sports that fall under the high-contact category, such as football, cheerleading and wrestling, “may hold practice sessions limited to no and low contact physical conditioning and skill building drills. Full contact scrimmages and games and cheer stunting are not permitted,” the state guidelines, updated Sept. 4, read.
Lauren Hibbert, director of the Office of Professional Regulation, said Thursday that the office opened a complaint into Felion’s conduct. “As with any matter that is related to violations of COVID protocols we will be coordinating with the Attorney General’s Office and Vermont Department of Health,” she wrote in an email.
Felion formerly organized Fight Night Promotions, promoting mixed martial arts fighting through a Facebook page that has not been active since August.
Toward the end of the video that captured Saturday’s event, a drone lingered overhead. Voices in the video joked that someone named Rex was spying on them.
Rex Thompson, licensed owner of the Barre-based company DonnyBrooke Fight Promotion, said that while he and Felion don’t generally get along, the drone wasn’t his. “We don’t have anything to do with Randy at this point,” he said.
However, Thompson is familiar with Felion, and said he thinks he’s “digging his hole” by continuing to hold fights despite the state’s order, and that holding unregulated fights can put fighters at risk.
Fighters can’t afford to turn down matches, even when they aren’t sanctioned, Thompson said.
“When you’re in the fight game, and you want to become a pro fighter, it’s a hundred yard dash when life is a marathon,” he said. “You have to get in as much experience, and as many fights, as you can. And then you have promoters that take advantage, because they know this. You can’t fault the fighter.”
DonnyBrooke Fight Promotion uses a third-party sanctioning system that requires Thompson to provide $5,000 worth of medical insurance for each of his fighters in case they’re hurt during a fight. Thompson only accepts fighters who are members of gyms and work with coaches, he said. Fighters are required to complete a full medical screening and disclose their history of injuries.
When Thompson learned that one of his top fighters crashed while riding a motorcycle at high speed, he told the fighter he was no longer eligible to fight for DonnyBrooke.
“And then he called me up and was like, hey, I’m going to be fighting for Randy,” Thompson said. “I was like, why? Why are you doing that?”
A fighter, who spoke with VTDigger but asked not to be named out of concern for possible reprisals, said he had trouble breathing for a week after taking part in one of Felion’s events. The referee didn’t immediately stop the match when the fighter tried to tap out, he said, and no medical personnel were present. He didn’t seek medical attention after the fight, either, because he worried he wouldn’t be allowed to continue fighting.
Saturday’s on-camera fights appeared polite, with fighters fist-bumping before and after matches. Felion fought in three matches, later stating in a Facebook video on his personal account that after several fighters didn’t show, he wanted to give those who drove long distances a chance to participate.
Thompson said he’s amazed that the unsanctioned fights haven’t been stopped by the state, particularly after video and photos were posted publicly on social media.
“I am absolutely amazed at how the state has dragged their feet on this,” he said. “This is the problem that we’re having without sanctioning. You have guys getting together, beating the s— out of each other, and nobody cares what’s happening to these fighters.”
