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Commission meeting blog: Mayweather acquitted, Jones and Cormier fined

UFC light heavyweights must surrender 10 percent of purse and serve community service for August brawl

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Takes Questions From NSAC

Steve Marcus

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., center, appears with Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, left, and attorney Shane Emerick during a Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting at the Sawyer State Building Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. Commissioners expressed concern about activities at his gym that were broadcast on Showtime’s “All Access” program.

Updated Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 | 11:27 a.m.

Jones and Cormier Fined For Brawl

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones appears before the Nevada State Athletic Commission at the Sawyer State Building Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. Jones was fined and ordered to do community service for his role in a brawl with Daniel Cormier during a news conference at the MGM Grand last month. Launch slideshow »

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Takes Questions From NSAC

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., center, arrives with Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, left, and attorney Shane Emerick during a Nevada State Athletic Commission at the Sawyer State Building Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. Commissioners expressed concern about activities at his gym that were broadcast on Showtime's Launch slideshow »

All Access Doghouse Episode

The Nevada State Athletic Commission rebuked three of the world’s best fighters at its monthly meeting Tuesday morning at the Grant Sawyer State Building.

Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. was able to leave without further punishment. UFC light heavyweights Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier weren’t as fortunate.

The commission fined Jones $50,000 and gave him 40 hours of local community service for his role in a brawl with Cormier at a press conference last month. Cormier must pay $9,000 and serve 20 hours in his home of San Jose, Calif.

Both fines represented 10 percent of the fighters’ purse for their upcoming meeting at UFC 182 on Jan. 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Cormier got the lighter charity assignment because Jones was determined the aggressor of their encounter.

Jones didn’t speak to media following the hearing, but Cormier praised the decision as “fair.”

Both fighters went in front of the commission separately, answering questions and sitting through deliberation that lasted about an hour apiece.

Mayweather appeared for a half-hour, addressing concerns that came up with the last season of Showtime’s “All Access” that promoted this month’s bout with Marcos Maidana. Several scenes from the second episode concerned the commission, including a sparring session at his gym that the show depicted as lasting 31 minutes without any breaks and marijuana usage by guests inside Mayweather’s home.

Mayweather told the commission it was all for show to sell that fight. He said the marijuana was fake and the fight had several unaired breaks.

He also said the gambling that took place in his gym on the “doghouse” fight was for the cameras’ sake and not real. The commission wanted to speak with Mayweather because he was granted a promoter’s license in Nevada over the summer, which means he’s held to a higher level of scrutiny.

Look below for coverage of the meeting, including a live blog and preceding rundown, and come back later for a full story.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s tenure as a licensed fight promoter in Nevada is off to an ignominious start.

Less than two months after the Nevada State Athletic Commission approved Mayweather Promotions to stage fights, it’s calling out the company’s president for possible disciplinary action. Mayweather will appear in front of the commission at its monthly meeting this morning at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building to “provide information,” according to the agenda, on a recent incident that took place inside his Chinatown gym.

The second episode on the latest season of Showtime’s “All Access”, which previewed Mayweather’s fight two weeks ago against Marcos Maidana, showed a grisly sparring session facilitated by the local champion.

Mayweather arranged for Donovan Cameron, an English amateur, and Hasim Rahman Jr., son of the former heavyweight champion, to fight with no time limit while members of his gym stood around the ring and gambled on the outcome.

The impromptu bout lasted more than 31 minutes with no breaks before Cameron, who had already fought Rahman’s younger brother in the same fashion earlier in the day, was unable to continue. Mayweather treated it as a common practice on the show, going as far as to explain the concept.

“Guys fight to the death,” Mayweather said on the show. “It’s not right, but it’s doghouse rules.”

“That was a (expletive) today but that’s just how it is in the doghouse — blood, sweat and tears. That’s how it is in professional fighting. It’s about excitement. It’s about pushing yourself to the limit. It’s about the last man standing.”

The commission holds Mayweather to a higher standard now that he possesses a promoter’s license, which is part of the reason it summoned him to the meeting. Expected penalties range from a warning to a fine.

Mayweather joins an already-crowded schedule that includes possible punishment for the brawl between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier last month, and a hearing over a failed drug test from since-retired UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva.

Stay tuned to lasvegassun.com for more and look below for live coverage of the meeting.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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