World Mixed Martial Arts Federation – WMMAF
We are the global body for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), the world’s fastest growing sport with an estimated with millions followers worldwide.
Furthering development
WMMAF is focused on developing MMA as an international sport, from the recreational level to the elite, driving the development of common sets of rules, safety regulations, structure, progression pathways and mutual exchange.
History
The World Mixed Martial Arts Federation (WMMAF) was founded in Monza, Italy back in 2003 with the name of the World Kick-Jitsu Federation.
The name was later changed to the WMMAF. The reason for the name change is quite obvious.
We pursued the idea to develop not only kick-jitsu but also the other styles of the MMA both light
(suitable for children, young people under 18 and veterans) and tough.
Hence we opted for 5 styles which are currently presented in our amateur events:
MMA Light
MMA Full
MMA Elite
(the toughest style suitable also for pro-fights adding elbow techniques and several submission techiques which are not used in amateur fights)
MMA Grappling
MMA Musical Forms
(with and without weapons) Basically we are amateur organization with pro fights
department and separate rules for pro-fights
The headquarters of the WMMAF is currently in Kiev, Ukraine.
NATIONAL FEDERATIONS
What is a national federation?
A national federation is a non-profit, democratic organization that deals with the overall development and structure for MMA in a country. Our stated ambition is for each national federation to be approved by the ministry of sports (or the equivalent) and the Olympic committee in their respective country. The responsibilities and activities of a national federation for MMA is much like those of any other sport. The national federation…
…governs, manages and develops the amateur side of the sport. This entails everything from offering coach and referee education to representing MMA with politicians and the sports community, suggesting or protecting legislation regarding MMA and overall ensuring that MMA has a standing in the sports community of the country in question.
…handles questions regarding rules, regulations, safety and so forth. It is a driving force behind ensuring that these areas are developed, communicated, standardized and adapted to the specific needs of the MMA community in the country in question.
…gathers all MMA academies, teams and organizations as members in a democratic forum. It helps the members with practical issues and provides a hub for all those active within MMA in the country, from the recreational to the professional level. The members in turn are the “owners” of the national federation, they are all eligible to vote in the general assembly or the like, and as such have both rights and obligations, much like the national federations have as members in the WMMAF.
…hosts national championships and manages the selection of a national team to participate in the WMMAF world championships.
The core purpose of a national federation is thus not to offer training or host its own events, although that may of course be the case sometimes the focus of the national federation should be on the above mentioned areas.
It is an organization consisting of members, and these members are MMA academies, teams and organizations that train, coach and stage competitions.
National federations and professional MMA Our stated ambition is that each national federation have the right to govern MMA and sanction professional events in countries where there is no functional state controlled governance today. In most parts of the world there is no proper governance of MMA, neither for the sport in general nor for the sanctioning of professional events. The state athletic commissions of the USA are a rarity, and so is the government licence that the Swedish MMA Federation has to govern both amateur and professional MMA. There are also countries (or regions within countries)
where MMA is semi-regulated by other sports commissions, which sometimes functions efficiently and in the best interest of MMA, but not always. In the overwhelming majority of countries however MMA is un-regulated with no standards to follow and no common guidelines on safety, refereeing, athletes insurance and so forth. This kind of situation can worst case lead to risky practices and athletes being taken advantage of. The WMMAF is currently working on establishing national federations around the world, thus ensuring safe governance of both amateur and professional MMA in whatever form that suits each individual country.
