World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts

The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) is a sanctioning organization for professional mixed martial arts. [NBC Sports, [http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23275918/ Will sanctioning organization help MMA?] ] WAMMA lists its goals as "promoting the integrity, legitimacy and longevity of mixed martial arts" through unified rulesets and rankings. [ [http://gowamma.com/about.asp About WAMMA] ] the organization's logo is "One Belt One King."

WAMMA's goals are to invest in the sport of MMA by way of contributions to a fighter pension fund, insurance programs for fighters, financial education seminars, and referee and judge training. Unlike traditional "sanctioning bodies" WAMMA does not charge a sanctioning fee to promoters and does not place a tax on a fighter's purse. WAMMA also outsources its rankings to an independent ranking board composed of over 20 prominent MMA journalists.

Recent Events

On June 14 2008, it was announced that the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia at "" would be for the newly created WAMMA Heavyweight Title. [mmarated.com, [http://mmarated.com/blogs/blog/20080614/exclusive__fedor___sylvia_to_fight_for_wamma_title-226.html Fedor & Sylvia To Fight For WAMMA Title] ] Emelianenko defeated Sylvia by rear-naked choke at 36 seconds into round 1, and became the first WAMMA Heavyweight champion. The crowning of Emelianenko as the first WAMMA undisputed champion has been widely reported in the media as gaining WAMMA increased legitimacy in the eyes of MMA fans and organizations worldwide,Fact|date=August 2008 as Emelianenko is widely considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world.Fact|date=August 2008

WAMMA COO Michael Lynch recently dispelled rumors that an upcoming fight between Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland at Affliction: Day of Reckoning would be for a WAMMA title. "There has been a lot of speculation that an upcoming proposed match-up between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort will be for a WAMMA title. To be sure, Matt and Vitor are two of the very best fighters in MMA today. Lindland is currently ranked seven in our middleweight rankings and Belfort is a former UFC champion who is bound to excite fans everywhere with his explosive style. If this fight happens, it would be an incredible match up. It certainly rises to the level of a must-see fight and would be the highlight of any fight card. With that being said, any fight between Lindland and Belfort at this time would not be for a WAMMA title. WAMMA’s goal is to crown undisputed champions based on our objective rankings. Based on our rankings, we could not sanction a Lindland vs. Belfort fight as a WAMMA championship. However, the winner of the match-up would certainly cement his place as part of the fighter elite and would be a likely contender for a WAMMA championship in the future."

WAMMA is headed by CEO Dave Szady, a former 33-year veteran of the FBI,Fact|date=August 2008 COO Michael Lynch, former attorney with the nationally recognized plaintiff's firm Levin, Papantonio, and VP of Fighter and Promoter Relations Pat Miletich, a former five-time UFC champion.

Challenges

Seeking to unify rulesets and rankings, WAMMA requires unified consensus or acceptance of its legitimacy. As the UFC is dominant in the sport and seeks to downplay and discourage the importance of its competitors,Fact|date=August 2008 it has not volunteered its recognition of WAMMAs legitimacy. Without the UFC's recognition, much of WAMMA's goals are difficult, as they are lacking a large portion of the sport. Promotions such as Affliction, Adrenaline MMA, StrikeForce, and M1 have all worked with WAMMA or expressed an interest in cooperating for undisputed, unified titles. WAMMA states that the UFC has not expressed interest in cross-promotion of any sort.

Another significant challenge is the differing rulesets between countries, and further within the US, there appear to be struggles among varying state athletic commissions as to what rules to use and how to enforce them. The UFC previously adopted the ABC's "Unified Rules", though now that the "Unified" rules have changed (new weight classes, clearer definitions of "back of the head", clarifications on other illegal strikes), they have said they will not be adopting the changes. New Jersey's athletic commission was present at the ABC's meeting in Montreal, where California and Nevada's athletic commissions were not and have also not moved to accept the changes.

Current Champions

External links

* [http://gowamma.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.mmachump.com/2008/08/wamma-bamma-thank-you-mamma/ WAMMA Answers Fans Questions]

References