Australia confirms its 2016 IMMAF World Championships Team

Joe Minehan, President of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation of Australia (IMMAFA) has revealed the official team lineup of eight athletes who will represent the nation at this year’s IMMAF World Championships of Amateur MMA from Tuesday, July 5 – Sunday, July 10 in Las Vegas, USA. 2016 will mark Australia’s first venture to the IMMAF World Championships which take place in conjunction with the 5th Annual UFC International Fight Week. Australian MMA’s transition to the competitive IMMAF platform comes in line with the country’s biggest year for MMA to date with major breakthroughs playing out over the past 14 months.

In the second half of 2015 Sports Minister John Ehren of the Australian Labor Party announced that the new government had accepted the added safety that a caged area brings, as opposed to a boxing ring where competitors can fall through the ropes, and the ban on fenced MMA competition in the state of Victoria was lifted. The historic development made way for the UFC 193 supershow in November, headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm in front of over 55,000 fans at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. The success of UFC 193 was followed by the well received UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Mir in Brisbane on March 20. The IMMAFA have worked tirelessly to maintain MMA’s momentum at the grass roots level, and hosted The Australian National Championships of Amateur MMA on the same weekend as UFC Fight Night in Brisbane, on March 18-20, at the Arnold Classic Multi-Sports Festival in Melbourne. IMMAFA President Joe Minehan stated: “After the Australian Championships and Team selection tournament at the 2016 Arnold Classic, I am proud to announce the first Australian Team to compete at the IMMAF World Championships. “The talent at the Arnold Classic was impressive and we aim to be competitive at the World’s. The team of 4 men and 4 women are hard at work, preparing to represent Australia at this iconic event.” The Amateur athletes selected to represent Team Australia at the 2016 IMMAF World Championships in Las Vegas are listed below alongside the names of their home MMA club. Women’s: Strawweight (115lbs): Brenda Tan, Absolute Strawweight (115lbs): Nina Le, Absolute Bantamweight (135lbs): Yvonne Chow, Absolute Featherweight (145lbs: Lou Richards, Adrenaline Men’s: Lightweight (155lbs): Eban Cox, Infinity Martial Arts Welterweight (170lbs): George Moustakas, Absolute Welterweight(170lbs): Joseph Luciano, Kimekai Middleweight (185lbs): Andrew Stanway, Infinity Martial Arts All chosen athletes will be subject to IMMAF screening and clearance ahead of competition at the World Championships. For more information on the 2016 IMMAF World Championships and participating teams visit www.mynextmatch.com. For more information on the IMMAFA you can visit www.immafa.org.au Written by IMMAF.org lead writer and website manager, Jorden Curran