The United States Mixed Martial Arts Federation has reached out to USFMMA in an effort to help reconcile and defuse the current situation between the two organizations.
UMMAF and the newly formed USFMMA have been at odds with one another since February when a couple of former UMMAF members left the organization amid concerns they had on governance issues within UMMAF. The members then formed their own organization.
UMMAF Vice President Ryan Brueggeman said, “Today we reached out to USFMMA in hopes of being able to establish a dialog, in order to amicably resolve our differences, and to help unify the sport of amateur MMA within the United States. It is clear that both sides have their points of view and we respect that, however we feel that in order to best serve the amateur athletes in the United States, a conversation and the finding of common ground needs to happen.”
Brueggeman went on to say, “In the end it is our hope that we receive a favorable response to initiate talks. Regardless, this situation has caused UMMAF to take a very serious look at the way we do business, bylaws, and made us think about how we can take better care of the athletes and push the sport for Olympic recognition within the USA. It’s all very positive and we look forward to sharing that with any amateur MMA organization in the USA and internationally, with the goal of spreading IMMAF ideals and sport unification.”
“After having substantial talks in Rome, Italy several weeks ago, UMMAF solidified its standing as the sole United States Federation with IMMAF, while also paving a way forward for progression in the USA for the good of everyone in our sport. In our eyes that includes reaching out to all organizations for unification.” said Brueggeman.
Asked if UMMAF has received a response from USFMMA, Brueggeman said “Not yet. We assume it will take them a few days to decide if they want to talk, but we felt as an organization it was important for us to reach out to them to see what we could get done. In the meantime we are moving forward with our own internal changes and qualifying our team for the 2019 IMMAF World Championships.”
