Photography by Marc Moggridge and courtesy of BAMMA The United Kingdom Mixed Martial Arts Federation (UKMMAF) shadow sanctioned BAMMA 20 at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham last Saturday 25th April. This was the fourth time the promotion has opened its doors to UKMMAF inspection. The concept of Shadow Sanctioning was introduced by UKMMAF Board Member and international referee, Marc Goddard, as a first step for a promotion wishing to work towards independent sanctioning. It has now been adopted by other national federations, including most recently in Poland where MMA has a similar legal status. Since MMA is unregulated in the UK, promoters have been operating independently for many years and some have established good working practices. At the same time the national governing body is a new entity in development. The Shadow Sanctioning programme involves governing body and promoter working in partnership to evolve best practice for both, and involves a review of event processes followed by a report, dialogue and ongoing support towards sanctioning. The programme enables the legitimisation many of the excellent processes already followed by the leading promotions while assisting others to raise their standards, to improve safety, lower risk and enable the sport to become recognised. Mr. Alistair Pettitt, who heads the UKMMAF Sanctioning Committee and is also Events Manager at IMMAF, was in attendance at BAMMA 20 to carry out the inspection report. Pettitt commented: “The UKMMAF have been overseeing operations at BAMMA events over the past year. Working with BAMMA to implement a framework of sanctioning requirements that will then be used for all future sanctioned events. I’m pleased to say that BAMMA have collaborated with the UKMMAF to the extent that they are now ready to be a fully sanctioned promotion. This is a major achievement by all involved that ultimately allows for consistency in safety procedures and accountability, which in turn provides fair competition for the athletes.”
Mr. Alistair Pettitt at BAMMA 20
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