White: MMA Safer than Recognized Combat Sports -- ATRadio

(ATR) International Mixed Martial Arts Federation chief executive officer Densign White tells Around the Rings his sport has what it takes to make the Olympic program.

"I think we’ve got the format for an Olympic event," White tells ATR Editor Ed Hula during an interview with ATRadio at the SportAccord Convention in Denmark. "I think we’ve made the sport very, very safe, and I would argue it’s a safer sport than some of the other combat sports recognized.

"I think the medical coverage that we provide for our athletes is not matched by any other combat sport in the world," White claims in an exclusive interview.

The IMMAF attended its second SportAccord Convention at the beginning of April in hopes of joining the list of International Federations recognized by SportAccord. However, White confesses his federation has faced real difficulty in breaking through barriers to become recognized given the changing requirements.

"Now they’ve added that you must have 40 countries that are recognized by government or National Olympic Committees which is quite difficult because what we found is when our National Federations go to their government or National Olympic Committees, they say we cannot recognize you because you’re International Federation is not recognized by SportAccord – so it’s kind of a chicken and the egg situation."

White also says his sport is one of the fastest growing on the planet and explains how social media and strong marketing have fueled such growth on the latest edition of ATRadio below:

Written by Kevin Nutley

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