By IMMAF.org lead writer, Jorden Curran Photos courtesy of Dogs of War Photography Government recognition acquired this year by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation of Australia (IMMAFA) is coming into regular effect. Operating as Australia’s national affiliate to IMMAF, IMMAFA now serves as the recognised sanctioning body in the state of Victoria. IMMAFA’s current sanctioning jurisdiction covers the states of Victoria and New South Wales. On August 28 Oz MMA’s ‘Path to Hex 2’ was sanctioned in the city of Melbourne with IMMAFA providing certified officials in addition to verifying the required insurance and medical support arrangements. Featuring both Men’s and Women’s bouts, action was streamed live on the event Facebook page and was also taped for broadcast at a later date on Channel 31. [caption id="attachment_14862" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Athletes competed wearing official IMMAF-Green Hill gloves and shinguards[/caption] The fully amateur event provided a well regulated platform for amateur athletes to acquire experience with results having implications on national team selection ahead of the 2017 IMMAF World Championships taking place in Manama, Bahrain, 12 – 19 November. Australian athletes on the card were joined by their neighbours from New Zealand as a team of registered athletes were led by New Zealand MMA Federation (NZMMAF) national team coach, Matt Toa. NZMMAF achieved its own government recognition in March 2016. [caption id="attachment_14858" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
IMMAFA president Joe Minehan[/caption] IMMAFA president Joe Minehan stated: “It was a great opportunity to assist in a terrific event. This is the first event that IMMAFA has governed in Victoria as a recongised sanctioning body and it is expected that we will be sanctioning the majority of amateur MMA events by the end of 2018. This is a very positive step for IMMAFA on the road to being the leader in amateur MMA within Australia.” Event promoter Travers Grubb stated: “We are very pleased to be aligned with IMMAFA. We see that we have a similar vision for amateur MMA in Australia.”]]>
