Cybersecurity is an issue that concerns every American today. As more and more economic activity is conducted online and Americans’ personal information is increasingly subjected to massive data breaches, it is important that proper safeguards are put in place to protect the American consumer from fraud and to secure their personal information.

That was why last year the House Energy and Commerce Committee created a Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection. And its creation could not have come at a more important time. From self-driving cars to the security of the Internet of things, a quick glance of the subcommittee’s hearing schedule makes it clear that its assigned members have their hands full keeping up with the breakneck pace at which technology is evolving.

But curiously tucked into the myriad of other hearings last year was one titled Perspectives on Mixed Martial Arts.

Given the long list of more pressing issues facing the committee, it seems an odd use of members’ valuable time and of taxpayer resources to spend two hours exploring the federal regulation of mixed martial arts, MMA. Especially when one considers the vast network of state-level policies that already govern the sport, the need for additional oversight or regulation appears to be minimal.

The growth of mixed martial arts is an entrepreneurial success story only possible in America. A full contact combat sport that uses a wide range of fighting styles, from boxing to judo, it originated in Asia and made its way to the United States in the early 1980s. By the early 1990s the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, the premier MMA league in the United States, had been created. In 1993 UFC 1 was held, ushering this virtually unknown sport into the American mainstream. MMA is now the fastest growing spectator sport in America and has bootstrapped itself up to reach an audience of over 40 million people.

Despite the fact that state regulators throughout the United States have adopted Unified Rules of MMA that ensure fighter safety and fair contests, some in Washington believe the federal government should step in and shackle the industry with additional regulation. H.R. 44, the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, ALI Act, is a misguided attempt to regulate the sport. The bill would effectively put bureaucrats in the strange position of ranking fighters and conducting matchmaking, a role that is currently handled ably by actors in the private sector. Even more concerning, the bill would supersede the states' current ability to regulate contracts and sporting events, setting up yet another unnecessary regulatory power grab.

Leading the charge in favor of the ALI Act is the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, MMAFA. While the organization has a stated goal of maximizing “the influence and earning capacity of its members in the sport of mixed martial arts” it appears to be nothing more than a front group for trial lawyers looking for a fat payday and unions looking to swell their rolls.

Rob Maysey, one of the leaders of MMAFA, is also a leading attorney in an antitrust lawsuit against UFC. Along with the Teamsters Local 986, which has tried in the past to unionize the UFC, the pair appear to be responsible for much of the support behind the MMAFA. If it seems odd than an industrial union is interested in the well being of athletes, look only to the MMAFA’s attempts to model themselves “after the Major League Baseball Players’ Association and the Screen Actors Guild,” two prominent unions in sports and entertainment.

Surprisingly, a Republican is the lead sponsor of the ALI Act. The special interests supporting this bill have found a champion in Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a former part-time UFC fighter who has taken exception to UFC’s ranking system, presumably after his own experience in the Octagon. While his interest in the issue is clear, what’s less evident is why his Republican colleagues on the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection found the issue pressing enough to hold a hearing given their loose jurisdictional connection and lack of a discernible need for additional MMA regulation.

Given President Trump’s efforts to repeal the regulatory state, it seems counterintuitive that Republicans would want to explore instituting such a large federal power grab, never mind provide an opening the very unions and trial lawyers they say hurt American business. Congress would be wise to kill this bill and give it the knockout it deserves.

Travis Korson is a Senior Fellow with Frontiers of Freedom, a public policy think tank devoted to promoting free markets, individual liberty, and constitutionally limited government. To learn more about Frontiers of Freedom, visit www.ff.org.

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