AT BRAVE INTERNATIONAL COMBAT WEEK
MANAMA, BAHRAIN – 11-18 NOVEMBER
LIVE ON IMMAF.TV
A unified amateur MMA world championships has been announced by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and the World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA), as registration opens to athletes wishing to compete in the tournament. The two governing bodies finalised and signed their amalgamation agreement last month. The 2018 IMMAF – WMMAA Unified World Championships will take place in at Khalifa Sport City arena in Manama, Bahrain from 11 to 18 November 2018, hosted by the Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts Federation and with support from the Bahrain Olympic Committee. The nation vs nation tournament will follow the IMMAF Championships format across 5 days and 16 weight divisions, and take place under the
Unified Amateur MMA Rules. The 2017 IMMAF World Championships in Bahrain broke participation records for a MMA tournament with close to 250 athletes representing 48 competing nations. With the WMMAA merger and expansion to a combined 81 member nations, the 2018 World Championships has the potential to double in participation. The unification will see WMMAA and IMMAF champions and medallists go toe-to-toe and a shake-up of the IMMAF World Amateur MMA Rankings as the talent pool deepens. MMA amateurs wishing to participate should contact their national
IMMAF or
WMMAA affiliated national federation for information. WMMAA President, Vadim Finkelchtein said: “History is being made through the affiliation of the two world federations and I am thankful to the members of both IMMAF and WMMAA for supporting President Brown and myself in the decision to combine forces. The Unified World Championships is another step forward towards our ultimate goal. It is going to be an MMA tournament like no other before with the greatest number of nations and participants ever.” IMMAF President Kerrith Brown said: “We look forward to welcoming IMMAF and WMMAA champions and athletes to compete on one platform at the 2018 Unified World Championships, bringing the best from around the world onto the only credible, global platform for elite amateur MMA. The competition level promises to be extremely high, and some surprises are to be expected across the divisions. On behalf of IMMAF, I would like to thank President Finkelchtein and the WMMAA board for enabling this progressive event and I look forward to meeting their teams, alongside ours in Bahrain as part of BRAVE International Combat Week. I would also like to thank H.H. Sheik Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Bahrain Olympic Committee and President Al Khayyat of the Bahrain MMA Federation for their ongoing support of the sport and for the opportunity to host a second flagship MMA World Championships in the kingdom.”]]>
