by Sophie Mueller
Main image: IMMAF World and Asian Open Champion, Guangmei Han (China) competing at the 2019 World Championships
Last November, the MMA Department of Chinese Boxing Federation (MMADCBF) was approved as IMMAF’s national representative organisation in China. They are responsible for the management of China’s mixed martial arts project, researching and formulating development goals, policies, industry norms, standards and development plans for Chinese MMA. The MMADCBF also organise national MMA competitions in cooperation with IMMAF, as well as working to build a strong national MMA team to represent the country in various international competitions.
As part of MMADCBF’s drive to develop and promote MMA, the federation has established training centers across the country in Baisha,Hainan Province; ZiBo, Shandong Province; Nanjing, Jiangsu Province: Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province; Qingdao and ShanDong Province.
The MMADCBF also supports international and top domestic professional promotions, including the UFC and WKG&M-1.
“Currently board elections to the MMA Department of Chinese Boxing Federation are consistent with the structure of the Chinese Boxing Federation, and the executive committee is composed of the leaders of the Chinese Boxing Federation and various local boxing associations. In the next executive committee meeting, the MMA Department of Chinese Boxing Federation will apply for the establishment of the Chinese Boxing Federation Mixed Martial Arts Committee (equivalent to the board of directors of the MMA Department of Chinese Boxing Federation). The members of the committee will be elected from the main leaders of the local associations (or local sports authorities) that have carried out Mixed Martial Arts programs”, commented the MMADCBF about their elections and structure.
Due to the strong, mature structure of MMADCBF, MMA has the potential to develop rapidly and steadily in China.
Every two years, the MMADCBF holds national championship tournaments. The last national championship was held in Honhot, Inner Mongolia Province, China in 2017. The 2019 national championship fell through due to the celebration activities of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Due to the pandemic, the national championship was postponed again, and the MMADCBF’s plans to co-organise training and international certification with the IMMAF were also suspended.
To qualify for the national team, the MMADCGF explains:
“Athletes who have achieved excellent results in the National Championships will get put forward for the National Training Team, and then those athletes who win the championships in the Teaching Matches (trials) during National Team Training Camp will earn their place on the National Team.”
When asked about their proudest achievements, the MMADCGF comment:
“MMA Department of Chinese Boxing Federation has landed agreements with all the World’s Top professional MMA promotions in China, including UFC, M-1, etc., and has also held [WMMAA] Asian Championships and World Championships in China.”
