The global development of amateur MMA continues to progress with Canada now set to host the first ever IMMAF Pan American Championships of Amateur MMA in April, ahead of the IMMAF World Amateur Championships which begin on July 5 in Las Vegas, USA.
Press release:
(London. February 5th 2015) The Canadian Combat Alliance has today issued its official invitation to the very first IMMAF Pan American Championships of Amateur MMA. Hosted by Canada, the event is to take place in the city of ‘Wonderland’, Vaughan, Ontario from April 10th to 12th in 2015. The competition will be broadcast live online and worldwide via SplitDraw.com.
The “Pan American AMMA Championships” will follow a tournament format and the event includes open contests for Amateur Mixed Martial Arts, youth and adult submission grappling, adult Brazilian jiu jitsu and karate. In addition, fans can enjoy traditional Muay Thai and kickboxing matches featured at the event.
Currently, Brazil, Canada, El Salvador and USA are recognized members of IMMAF in the Americas. Additionally, the first Pan-American Championships is open to all nations of Central America, South America & the Caribbean and their respective athletes in the sports of Amateur MMA, grappling, BJJ, kickboxing and Muay Thai. Competitors eliminated from the preliminary rounds of the Amateur MMA Championships may enter the other competition disciplines at no further cost.
See official letter of invitation for full information: http://www.immaf.org/pan-american-championships/
Provincially, the event will be sanctioned by the Ontario Grappling Alliance (OGA) which has legal authority in the region. The OGA is a member of the national committee, the Canadian Combat Alliance (CCA), which is affiliated to IMMAF.
Besides being used to broadcast the event worldwide, SplitDraw.com will provide the tournament management system as piloted at the Canadian national qualifiers for the 2014 IMMAF World Championships of Amateur MMA, last year. SplitDraw.com is a Canadian born automated system that can be used for online registration, bracketing, onsite check-in and registration and event operations, as well as event streaming.
On behalf of the Canadian Combat Alliance, Rohit Seth commented: “We are honored to be hosting the first ever IMMAF Pan American Championships of Amateur for the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation in Vaughan, Canada.”
President of the United States Mixed Martial Arts Association (UMMAF) and IMMAF board member, Frank Babcock, said: “Working in unison with our Canadian family, UMMAF is dedicated to presenting the first IMMAF Pan American championships to the highest possible level. This will be a historic event in the development of world recognized multi-day MMA tournaments under IMMAF. We are preparing for a martial arts extravaganza to include grappling, Brazilian jiu jitsu, kickboxing and more. The event will see Amateur MMA competitors from across two continents in the Western Hemisphere meet honorably in the cage. Our IMMAF Pan American championships are a major step forwards for the development of MMA for future Olympic recognition.”
The competition is to be the first in IMMAF’s wider global program of Amateur MMA competitions. The Americas have been pivotal in the evolution of the sport of MMA. The region is also renowned for producing high calibre talent, which will make this first annual tournament particularly compelling ahead of the 2015 IMMAF World Championships in July in Las Vegas (USA). Further IMMAF continental competitions are to be announced for 2015.
