IMMAF & WMMAA Announce the 2018 IMMAF - WMMAA Unified World Championships of Amateur MMA

AMALGAMATION AGREEMENT SIGNED BETWEEN IMMAF AND WMMAA

[20 August 2018. London] A unified amateur MMA world championships has been announced by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and the World Mixed Martial Association (WMMAA), as registration opens this evening to athletes wishing to compete in the tournament. The two governing bodies finalised and signed their amalgamation agreement last month.

The 2018 IMMAF – WMMAA Unified World Championships will take place in at Khalifa Sport City arena in Manama, Bahrain from 11 to 18 November 2018, hosted by the Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts Federation and with support from the Bahrain Olympic Committee.

The nation vs nation tournament will follow the IMMAF Championships format across 5 days and 14 weight divisions, and take place under the Unified Amateur MMA Rules.

The 2017 IMMAF World Championships in Bahrain broke participation records for an MMA tournament with close to 250 athletes representing 48 competing nations. With the WMMAA merger and an expansion to a combined 80+ member nations, the 2018 World Championships has the potential to double in participation. The unification will see WMMAA and IMMAF champions and medallists go toe-to-toe and a shake-up of the IMMAF World Amateur MMA Rankings as the talent pool deepens.

MMA amateurs wishing to participate should contact their national IMMAF or WMMAA affiliated national federation for information.

WMMAA President, Vadim Finkelchtein said:

"History is being made through the affiliation of the two world federations and I am thankful to the members of both IMMAF and WMMAA for supporting President Brown and myself in the decision to combine forces. The Unified World Championships is another step forward towards our ultimate goal. It is going to be an MMA tournament like no other before with the greatest number of nations and participants ever."

IMMAF President Kerrith Brown said:

"We look forward to welcoming IMMAF and WMMAA champions and athletes to compete in one contest at the 2018 Unified World Championships, bringing the best from around the world onto the only credible, global platform for elite amateur MMA. The competition level promises to be extremely high, and some surprises are to be expected across the divisions. On behalf of IMMAF, I would like to thank President Finkelchtein and the WMMAA board for enabling this progressive event and I look forward to meeting their teams, alongside ours in Bahrain as part of BRAVE International Combat Week. I would also like to thank H.H. Sheik Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Bahrain Olympic Committee and President Al Khayyat of the Bahrain MMA Federation for their ongoing support of the sport and for the opportunity to host a second flagship MMA World Championships in the kingdom."

/ENDS

- For media enquiries to IMMAF contact: carnwath@immaf.org

- For media enquiries to WMMAA contact: m.mazur@wmmaa.org

- See Championships poster attached

About WMMAA:

The goal of the World MMA Association is to provide unbiased structure and guardrail the growth of MMA as the official world governing body for Mixed Martial Arts. A non-profit organization founded in 2012, WMMAA is on a mission to develop a standardized and regulated organization, including competition, training, officiating, testing and growth when necessary. More than 50 countries have been granted WMMAA membership. wmmaa.org

About IMMAF:

The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation is the international democratic body for the sport of MMA, representing MMA’s stakeholders across 65+ nations worldwide. Founded from within the MMA community for the MMA community, the purpose of the IMMAF is to protect and further the development, recognition and regulation of the sport of MMA on all levels, enabling international competition through its family of non-profit, democratic national federations. immaf.org

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