Overall, how was 2014 for the Finnish MMA Federation? 2014 was a big year for FMMAF. We achieved two gold medals at the World Championships in Las Vegas, as well as one bronze medal. The amateur sport gained more fame after the international tournaments. What do you feel was the greatest achievement of FMMAF since its beginning? Since the beginning, I think the biggest achievement for our Federation and the sport has been that people, in general, have started to see MMA as a sport rather than as a violent fight. At beginning of 2015 the government accepted MMA as a sport and now we are receiving some small financial help from them. Have there been any major difficulties that the federation has had to overcome so far? I don’t think we have had any major obstacles in Finland. There will always be people who will find combat sports a brutal thing, but the more that people see MMA the more they will understand the sport. What are your expectations for IMMAF’s World Championships this year? I expect that the arrangements will be better this year and hope that everything goes more smoothly than in the first year. I think we all learned lessons in 2014. I expect the FMMAF to keep on going strongly to the podium too! If you could name one lesson FMMAF has learned through its previous challenges, what would it be? I think, one that is a very general lesson and which works across every area of life: Be humble and work hard – the reward will come at some point. What’s next in store for Finland in 2015? In 2015 we plan to retain our spots on the podium at the World Championships. We have our own National Championships coming up in the beginning of April, too. There is a lot of work to do for the sport, but we are ready to grow even more. For more about the Finnish MMA Federation visit: http://www.vapaaottelu.fi/]]>
