GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
When does Nevada use MMA scorecards after an accidental-foul stoppage?
Under NAC 467.7966, an injury from an accidental foul that stops a bout in the first two rounds of a schedule of three rounds or fewer receives the rule's stated 'no decision' treatment. For longer schedules, the same threshold is the first three rounds. But if the foul-caused injury is later aggravated by fair blows and the referee stops the bout because of that injury, subsection 4 calls for scoring the completed rounds plus the stoppage round. The rule's phrase 'no decision' should not be silently renamed 'no contest'.
For MMA viewers trying to understand why scorecards may or may not determine an official result after an accidental foul stops a bout. · Updated
For a bout scheduled for three rounds or fewer
If the referee determines that a bout cannot continue because of an injury from an accidental foul, NAC 467.7966 sets a threshold using the scheduled length and the round in which the foul occurs. For a bout scheduled for three rounds or fewer, a foul in Round 1 or Round 2 that prevents continuation receives the section's stated 'no decision' treatment, unless the separate later-aggravation rule applies.
If the accidental foul stops a bout scheduled for three rounds or fewer after the second round is complete, the regulation says the outcome is determined by scoring the completed rounds and the round in which the referee stops the contest.
For a bout scheduled for more than three rounds
The threshold shifts for longer schedules. An early stoppage because of the original accidental-foul injury, before later fair blows aggravate it, falls within the first-three-round condition. After the third round is complete, the outcome is determined from the completed rounds plus the round where the referee stops the contest.
The wording is specific about which round the foul occurs in and which rounds have already been completed. Keep those facts separate when reading the rule.
Keep the rule's result wording intact
NAC 467.7966 uses the term 'no decision' for the early stoppage it describes. A separate section, NAC 467.7968, lists 'no contest' along with other authorized result labels, but that list does not explain in this passage whether the terms are interchangeable. For an actual event, rely on its official commission record rather than renaming the rule's phrase.
Subsection 4 gives a separate case: when an injury from an accidental foul is later aggravated by fair blows and the referee stops the contest because of that injury, the outcome is determined by scoring the completed rounds and the round in which the referee stops the contest. Do not classify that case only by the round in which the original foul happened.
This is a procedural explanation of a rule, not medical guidance about whether anyone can safely continue.
Two fictional three-round stoppages
Bout A is scheduled for three rounds. During Round 2, the referee stops it immediately because an injury from an accidental foul in that round prevents continuation; no later fair blow has aggravated that injury. Fewer than two rounds are complete, so NAC 467.7966(2) gives the rule's 'no decision' treatment. Bout B is also scheduled for three rounds. During Round 3, after Round 2 is complete, the referee immediately stops the bout because of an accidental-foul injury, before any later fair blow aggravates it. Under subsection (3), the outcome uses Round 1, Round 2, and the Round 3 segment in which the contest stops. The rule calls that scoring result an outcome determined from the completed rounds and the stoppage round; the example does not relabel it.
Related questions
What if a bout is scheduled for five rounds?
For a bout scheduled for more than three rounds, NAC 467.7966 uses the first-three-round threshold. After the third round is complete, the completed rounds and the stoppage round are scored.
What if fair blows later aggravate the accidental-foul injury?
NAC 467.7966(4) separately says that if fair blows later aggravate an injury caused by an accidental foul and the referee stops the contest because of that injury, the outcome is determined from the completed rounds and the round in which the referee stops the contest.
Is no decision the same as no contest here?
The early-stoppage passage in NAC 467.7966 says no decision. NAC 467.7968 separately lists no contest as an authorized result but does not define the terms in that passage, so this guide does not treat them as interchangeable.