By Caoilte de Barra
Earlier this week, Chris Rees stepped down as President of MMA Cymru after serving for five years.
Board members were tasked with nominating and voting on a successor, and it was unanimously decided that secretary Ricky Wright would now become the federation’s new President.
As a founding member of MMA Cymru, Wright has been pivotal in the development of the federation while also supporting athletes on the team before and throughout events. Since 2004, Wright has taken on multiple roles regionally and competed on a couple of occasions too.
Many will know him from being the primary voice of the IMMAF Championships, where he has worked eighteen events across three continents.
“Ricky has been the core driving force behind Welsh MMA within the IMMAF structure and outside for as long as the sport has been a feature in Wales”, former President Chris Rees said.
Following his appointment, Ricky Wright added:
“Thanks to the board for electing me for this exciting and important role. It’s no secret that MMA Cymru has been a true passion of mine, and I am grateful for everything Chris has done up until now. In my new role, I aim to take Welsh MMA to the next level. My first task is to write a five-year plan with our collective goals of where I want to see the federation within that time. I have already been in touch with The English Mixed Martial Arts Association to organise training for our budding officials and to arrange opportunities to shadow-sanction their officials at events in England.
“Our MMA squad is in safe hands under head coach Wayne Arandjelovic. Therefore, it’s my main aim to concentrate on the governance and regulation side of things and to raise the standards of our officials to the same level as our athletes. There’s a lot of work to be done, and I hope to reward the board for the faith they’ve put in me with my appointment.”
