Jasmine Jasudavicius’ win over Karine Silva in Manitoba two months ago wasn’t anything to write home about, but it did generate a decent amount of work for the Manitoba Combative Sports Commission (MCSC) after Jasudavicius was accused of fighting with a Zyn in her mouth.
Jasudavicius beat Silva 29-28 on all three judges scorecards, employing a very conservative gameplan to control her opponent in the main card fight. There was no highlight post following that one and we never would have spoken about
it again had it not been for footage between rounds that eagle-eyed fans found that showed Jasmine with something in her mouth.
Was that a Zyn nicotine pouch? It certainly looked like Jas was packing a lip to us.
Jasudavicius laughed off the accusations and said it was just gum, but the MCSC wasn’t laughing. Fighters aren’t allowed to have anything in their mouths during a fight other than a mouthguard, for obvious reasons. So when Silva’s team filed a complaint and asked for the fight to be overturned, the commission investigated.
This time, Jasudavicius will get off with a fine and not a ‘No Contest’ or a loss on her record. According to MMA Junkie, a letter sent to Silva’s team concluded “an unauthorized foreign object was present but [the commission] were unable to to verify the specific item or determine whether it provided any potential advantage. Without evidence regarding the item in question, the commission concluded there was insufficient basis to overturn the result of the bout.”
The commission went on to state Jasudavicius would receive the ‘maximum possible’ fine for a ‘safety violation and breach of the Act of Regulations.’ No specific dollar amount was named, but the province’s Combative Sports Act notes that the fine for a violation can be up to $10,000.
That’s a decent amount of money for a middle of the card fighter like Jasudavicius, but fighters can’t have mystery substances in their mouths during a fight, even if it is just a harmless piece of gum.
