Issue 110

January 2014

Las Vegas plays host to the first-ever amateur World Championships of mixed martial arts next year but did you even realize it was happening? FO lifts the lid on a milestone in the sport.

Next summer, Las Vegas will welcome over a hundred fighters for the first-ever mixed martial arts World Championships, organized by the sport’s global governing body, the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF), but did you even know it was taking place?

The inaugural championships will happen at the same time as the UFC Fan Expo event in Nevada between June 20th and July 6th 2014 – at a venue still yet to be confirmed. And it will feature male and female amateur fighters from across the world, all winners of nationally organized selection tournaments. But how do you even get selected? 

In fact, is your home nation even taking part? How far are the IMMAF’s amateur rules from those used in the pro game? And, most importantly, what does it all mean for the future of the sport?

Fighters Only sits down with new IMMAF president, and former Pride FC fighter, Bertrand Amoussou to get answers to the biggest questions. And yes, we do ask whether a gold medal guarantees a UFC contract… 

1. Why is it so important for mixed martial arts to have a world championships? 

“It is extremely important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it will provide the global MMA community with the ultimate opportunity to bring forth talent and foster athletic development; on the grass-roots level as well as on the elite level by securing a firm base in the sport.

“Secondly, having regular international competitions is a standard to follow within the international sports community and for mixed martial arts to get proper recognition, formally and informally, we need to follow that path. 

“Thirdly, and most importantly, MMA athletes deserve the same chance as athletes in all other sports – to realize the dream of representing their country in the sport they love. We want to give that to them.”

2. How many nations are committed to taking part already, and how many in total do you hope to have involved in the first event?

“We currently have 24 member countries and a handful of proficient applicants in the pipeline that are close to being finalized, meaning that we expect to soon have approximately 30 member federations and we expect all of them to be able to send a team. We know that most of our members already have a team or are in the process of selecting one, which is very encouraging.

“It is our ambition to see all of our federations participating in Las Vegas so we are currently offering our services to help the federations that need assistance in getting a national team together. Members are approved continuously so there will of course be countries where approval comes quite close to the World Championships. 

“Then we’ll have to deal with each individual case and see if it’s possible for them to host some type of fair national try-outs on short notice.”

3. Will all the major MMA nations – US, Canada, Russia, Brazil, UK – all be taking part? Have they committed already?

“Our member federations in the USA and Brazil are already far into the planning and implementation of their regional and national try-outs and will be sending teams. The UK and Canada have reported they will send teams, but not yet announced when and where their try-outs will be. 

“We don’t have a member federation in Russia yet so as of now there is no Russian team participating. We have a well-established and thriving federation in its neighboring country of Ukraine and it is sending a team.” 

4. Why can only countries with a national federation send a team?

“The IMMAF is structured and organized according to international standards and one common practice for all major sports is to only accept national teams from counties where there is a federation in place. Hence there will be no teams represented in Las Vegas from countries where there is not an affiliated IMMAF federation that meets our requirements. 

“There are numerous reasons for this, one is making sure that the principles of universality are met, i.e. that there are fair selections for the national teams. Another is to ensure that there is a responsible organization in each country that can act as a counterpart to the international federation in all matters practical.

“Most importantly however, a sport like MMA involves high demands on safety and medical standards and we need to make sure that those are met nationally as well as internationally. That is why the establishment of non-profit, democratic and open national MMA federations around the world is so important.” 

5. Will each competing nation also be subject to staffing the event with officials to score and referee bouts?

“We aim to have as wide a representation of referees and judges as possible to ensure unbiased treatment. The first IMMAF referee and judge licensing seminar will take place in Berlin at the end of February and that will be the start of licensing IMMAF referees and judges from around the world. By the time of the World Championships there will be a pool of officials to tap from and the countries will be asked to send one official each that the IMMAF will pay hotel costs for.” 

6. The biggest change to the rule set is the requirement of shin guards. Why are they mandatory?

“Assuring proper and safe progression from amateur to professional includes adding some protection gear in the amateur competitions, taking into account the shorter full-contact experience of amateur athletes and the likelihood of more matches over the course of a year. Shin guards provide a bit more padding to the shin, thus lessening the impact of kicks against the opponent, predominantly against the head.

“All pieces of match equipment including shin guards will be provided to the participants by the IMMAF on site to ensure a level playing field and a high standard of safety. The IMMAF is currently investigating different types of shin guards to find a design optimal for MMA as not all designs currently on the market function to our satisfaction.”

7 .What is the significance of the event in terms of the International Olympic Committee, or MMA being sanctioned by a similar body?

“The vision of the IMMAF is to one day bring MMA to the Olympics. The first step there, and a very important step in itself, is to get accepted by SportAccord – the international confederation for all sports, Olympic and non-Olympic. 

“That acceptance means formal approval for MMA worldwide, which will make a significant positive impact on the sport in every single country and on all levels. The IMMAF is committed to gaining this approval and a lot of what we do day to day has to do with working towards this goal.”

8. So will members of the IOC be invited to attend the event?

“During the week of the World Championships there will be a one-day conference on the topic of MMA – development globally, regulation, education, governance, the role of the IMMAF and so forth. We will invite key actors from within the MMA community as well as stakeholders in the international sports community to attend the conference and the tournament, including representatives of SportAccord.” 

9. Is the growth of MMA as an international sport chasing Olympic recognition a threat to fight sports already associated with the IOC, like wrestling, boxing and judo? 

“We do know that some, albeit not all, of the other martial arts and combat sports surely consider MMA as a threat. Some actions of trying to stifle our growth is testament to that. We, however, don’t see it that way and know that many people within these sports share our view.  

“It may be that in the short term a new sport like MMA gets extra attention which ‘steals’ attention from the others, but in the long run it will be beneficial for the other martial arts and combat sports that MMA grows, since it attracts new practitioners and fans. We know that many interested in MMA don’t have a martial arts background but come from other sports entirely and the overall interest in MMA should be considered a good thing for everyone within the same sports family.” 

10. Would a medal at the World Championships result in a professional contract with the UFC?

“The World Championships will be held under IMMAF Amateur MMA rules and they are designed for competition in MMA just below the professional level. So the World Championships represents the highest amateur level in terms of technical proficiency and experience. The rules are constructed to make a potential transition to the professional level easy and a natural step for the best athletes within this bracket. 

“Not all athletes are interested in pursuing a professional career, but for the ones that are looking to become professional, trying out for the national team and making it to the World Championships will be a great stepping stone. Winning does not automatically mean getting a contract with the UFC or any other professional promoter by default, but these athletes will of course have the eyes of the world on them and that is a great start.”