JURISDICTION CHECKER

IS IT LEGAL TO FIGHT HERE?

Pick a US state or country to see the legal status of unsanctioned, underground, and bare-knuckle fighting — whether a commission can sanction it, the consent-to-assault rule, and what authorities actually prosecute.

25 STATES · 10 COUNTRIES · UPDATED 2026-07

The one rule that decides everything

SANCTIONED IS THE DIVIDING LINE.

Professional combat sports — boxing, MMA, and in many places bare-knuckle — are legal when licensed and regulated by a state athletic commission. The exact same fight held without that sanctioning is typically illegal: unlicensed prizefighting that can expose organizers and fighters to criminal charges.

So a “yes” almost always means “yes, if a commission licensed it.” Underground, no-rules clubs (KOTS, UUF, FPVS and the like) are illegal essentially everywhere they operate — they run on secrecy and lack of enforcement, not on legality.

Pick a state

Filter:Showing 25 states

				Note
Arizona	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Confirm with the Arizona combat-sports regulator before assuming legality.
California	No framework	Illegal	YES	Do not read the strong CSAC as bare-knuckle-friendly — that is a separate question. Verify with the California State Athletic Commission.
Colorado	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Confirm current status with the Colorado combat-sports program before any event.
Florida	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Florida has hosted commission-sanctioned bare-knuckle cards. Verify current status with the Florida State Boxing Commission.
Georgia	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Confirm with the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission.
Illinois	No framework	Illegal	YES	Verify current status with the Illinois combat-sports licensing authority.
Kansas	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Confirm current status with the Kansas Athletic Commission.
Louisiana	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Confirm current status with the Louisiana State Boxing and Wrestling Commission.
Massachusetts	No framework	Illegal	YES	Verify current status with the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission.
Michigan	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Confirm with Michigan's Unarmed Combat Commission / regulatory affairs office.
Mississippi	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	An early adopter of sanctioned bare-knuckle. Confirm current licensing with the state athletic commission.
Nevada	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Nevada's commission historically resisted bare-knuckle even as other states adopted it. Verify the current position with the Nevada Athletic Commission before assuming legality.
New Hampshire	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Confirm current licensing with the state combat-sports authority.
New Jersey	Grey area	Illegal	YES	The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board is a combat-sports rule-maker; confirm its current bare-knuckle position directly.
New York	No framework	Illegal	YES	New York's late re-legalization of MMA shows how restrictive the state has been. Verify any bare-knuckle claim with the NY State Athletic Commission.
North Carolina	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Confirm current status with the North Carolina Boxing Authority.
Ohio	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Confirm with the Ohio Athletic Commission before assuming bare-knuckle is sanctioned.
Pennsylvania	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Confirm with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission before assuming bare-knuckle is sanctioned.
South Dakota	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Confirm current licensing with the state athletic commission.
Tennessee	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Confirm with the Tennessee Athletic Commission before assuming bare-knuckle is sanctioned.
Texas	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	The minor-injury consent defense is narrow and fact-specific. Verify event licensing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Virginia	Grey area	Illegal	YES	Home of the Streetbeefs backyard promotion, which is explicitly a non-sanctioned, community-mediated operation — not a licensed legal event. Confirm any bare-knuckle sanctioning with the state board.
Washington	Grey area	Grey area	YES	The mutual-combat rule is widely misunderstood — treat any specific situation as needing local counsel. Verify commission status for organized events.
West Virginia	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Also the historic base of the Rough N' Rowdy toughman-style promotion, which runs under its own event rules. Verify commission status for any bare-knuckle card.
Wyoming	Sanctioned	Illegal	YES	Widely reported as the first state to sanction professional bare-knuckle (2018). Confirm current licensing with the state regulator before any event.

This tool is general information, not legal advice. Combat-sports laws and athletic-commission sanctioning change frequently and vary by county and city. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship or tells you whether a specific event is legal. Before organizing, promoting, or competing in any bout, verify the current position with the relevant state athletic commission and consult a licensed attorney in that jurisdiction.

THE DOCTRINE

CAN YOU CONSENT TO A FIGHT?

This is the legal heart of the whole question. Under common law, a person generally cannot legally consent to serious bodily harm. That is why an unsanctioned fight can be prosecuted as assault even when both fighters agreed to it — their agreement is not, by itself, a defense.

A minority of jurisdictions recognize limited exceptions. Some recognize a narrow mutual-combat concept — Washington State is the one most often cited, though the doctrine is far narrower than internet folklore suggests. Texas recognizes consent as a defense to assault that causes only minor injury. Neither exception legalizes an organized, injurious, or commercial fight.

Sanctioning is what removes the assault exposure: inside a licensed commission bout, the regulated framework — medicals, a referee, weight classes, insurance — is what makes the violence lawful. Take the same two fighters outside that framework and the consent-to-assault problem returns.

FAQ

COMMON LEGALITY QUESTIONS

Is King of the Streets legal?

No. King of the Streets (KOTS) is an unsanctioned, no-rules underground promotion — it is not licensed by any athletic commission, so its bouts are illegal essentially everywhere they take place. It relies on being filmed and distributed, not on legal sanction. Organizers and fighters in such events can be exposed to assault and unlicensed-fighting charges.

Is bare-knuckle boxing legal in the US?

It depends on the state. Bare-knuckle boxing is legal in the US only where a state athletic commission has specifically sanctioned it. Wyoming was the first to do so in 2018, and a large and growing number of states have followed. In a state that has not sanctioned it, a bare-knuckle event is unlawful unlicensed prizefighting. Sanctioning is public record and changes over time, so verify current status with the state commission.

Is underground fighting illegal?

Generally yes. An underground, unsanctioned fight held outside any athletic commission is typically illegal — it can be charged as unlicensed prizefighting and, because most jurisdictions hold that you cannot consent to serious bodily harm, as assault as well, even when both fighters agreed. The dividing line is sanctioning: the same bout is legal only when a commission licenses and regulates it.

Can you legally consent to a fight?

Usually not for anything beyond minor injury. Under common law, a person generally cannot consent to serious bodily harm, which is why prosecutors can charge an unsanctioned fight as assault even when both people agreed. A few jurisdictions recognize limited exceptions — Texas allows consent as a defense to assault causing only minor injury, and Washington is associated with a narrow 'mutual combat' concept — but these are narrow and do not legalize organized or injurious fighting.

What is the difference between sanctioned and unsanctioned fighting?

Sanctioned fighting is licensed and regulated by a state athletic commission, with weight classes, medicals, a referee, and insurance — that oversight is what makes professional boxing, MMA, and (where approved) bare-knuckle legal. Unsanctioned fighting is the same violence without that oversight, and it is generally illegal regardless of whether the fighters agreed to it.

Is King of the Streets illegal? Is KOTS legal in the US?

KOTS is not a legal, sanctioned event anywhere — in the US or its native Sweden. No athletic commission sanctions a no-rules underground format, so it is illegal wherever it operates. Underground promotions depend on secrecy, anonymity, and lack of enforcement, not on legality.

METHODOLOGY

HOW WE CLASSIFY EACH JURISDICTION

Each entry describes the general legal structure of a jurisdiction, not specific statute numbers or case citations — those change and would give false precision. Statuses are: Sanctioned (a commission can license it), Grey area (unclear or conditional), Illegal (prosecutable), and No framework (no confirmed sanctioning — not a green light).

Where we are not certain a state has sanctioned bare-knuckle, we mark it “grey area” or “no framework” with a note to verify — never a fabricated “illegal.” For any US state not listed here, apply the general rule: sanctioned, commission-licensed boxing and MMA are legal; bare-knuckle is legal only if that state's athletic commission has specifically sanctioned it; and any underground, no-rules, or unlicensed bout is generally illegal and prosecutable as unlicensed prizefighting and/or assault. When in doubt, a state is a 'verify with the commission' state, not a green light.

LAST UPDATED: 2026-07. Sanctioning is public record and changes; verify current status with the relevant commission.

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