Today, IMMAF announced the membership of its newest member from the Middle East with the onboarding of the Kuwait MMA Federation (KMMAF).
Headed by Hamad Musaed Bader Al-Sayer as President, who is Chairman of UFC Gym in the MENA region, the new organisation is committed to developing the sport of MMA in Kuwait from the grassroots up.
This includes a focus on recreational participants, amateur athletes, and educational programmes with certification for referees, judges and cutmen.
“Kuwait is a big market, but no one is working to develop the grassroots sport there,” commented President Al-Sayer. “And so, we have elected the best people to work on sport development for MMA here, and we believe that IMMAF will help achieve that.”
Other goals for the Kuwaiti federation include:
- the development of national-level safety and medical standards for MMA
- growing MMA in Kuwait and increasing participation
- developing a national youth programme
- organising competitions and building a Kuwaiti National team that will participate in IMMAF Championships
- World Anti-Doping Agency compliance
Through excellence in the above activities, the KMMAF hopes to gain government recognition as Kuwait’s sole representative of IMMAF, the world’s only legitimate, international authority for MMA.
Kuwait joins Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and United Arab Emirates among IMMAF’s Arab nations. The Middle East has contributed significantly to the international governing body’s development through three world Championships and the inaugural MMA Super Cup in Bahrain and the latest World Championships in the United Arab Emirates, with Bahrain topping the athlete and team rankings. The MMA Super Cup saw the formation of IMMAF’s first pan-Arab team as it took a spot in the recent eight-nation tournament.
Speaking on his itinerary to Saudi Arabia for sport development discussions, IMMAF President Kerrith Brown said:
“The Middle East holds huge potential for the advance of MMA both regionally and globally, and I am pleased to see IMMAF’s further expansion in the region with the membership of Kuwait. I would like to thank board director, Wissam Abi Nader, for his role in facilitating this latest progression. We very much look forward to welcoming a KMMAF team to put their stake in the ground at IMMAF competitions in 2022.”
