”’The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts”’ (WAMMA) is a sanctioning organization for professional mixed martial arts. WAMMA lists its goals as “promoting the integrity, legitimacy and longevity of mixed martial arts” through unified rule sets and rankings. The organization’s slogan is “One Belt One King.”

WAMMA’s goals are to invest in the sport of MMA by way of contributions to a fighter pension fund, insurance programs for fighters, financial education seminars, and referee and judge training. Unlike traditional “sanctioning bodies” WAMMA does not charge a sanctioning fee to promoters and does not place a tax on a fighter’s purse. WAMMA also outsources its rankings to an independent ranking board composed of over 20 prominent MMA journalists.

It is headed by CEO Dave Szady, a former 33-year veteran of the FBI, interim COO Sam Caplan and VP of Fighter and Promoter Relations Pat Miletich, a former UFC champion.

== History ==
The WAMMA was announced on November 15, 2007 at a press conference held at Gallager’s Steak House, New York, given by Michael Lynch, boxing attorney Fred Levin, former Buffalo Bills coach Kay Stephenson, and Dave Szady.

== Recent Events ==
On June 14, 2008, it was announced that the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia at Affliction: Banned would be for the newly created WAMMA Heavyweight Title. Emelianenko defeated Sylvia by rear-naked choke at 36 seconds into round 1, and became the first WAMMA Heavyweight champion. The crowning of Emelianenko as the first WAMMA champion has been reported in the media as gaining WAMMA increased legitimacy in the eyes of MMA fans and organizations worldwide[citation needed], as Emelianenko is widely considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world.

WAMMA COO Michael Lynch recently dispelled rumors that an upcoming fight between Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland at Affliction: Day of Reckoning would be for a WAMMA title. “There has been a lot of speculation that an upcoming proposed match-up between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort will be for a WAMMA title. To be sure, Matt and Vitor are two of the very best fighters in MMA today. Lindland is currently ranked seven in our middleweight rankings and Belfort is a former UFC champion who is bound to excite fans everywhere with his explosive style. If this fight happens, it would be an incredible match up. It certainly rises to the level of a must-see fight and would be the highlight of any fight card. With that being said, any fight between Lindland and Belfort at this time would not be for a WAMMA title. WAMMA’s goal is to crown undisputed champions based on our objective rankings. Based on our rankings, we could not sanction a Lindland vs Belfort fight as a WAMMA championship. However, the winner of the match-up would certainly cement his place as part of the fighter elite and would be a likely contender for a WAMMA championship in the future.”

On December 29, 2008, it was announced that the Shinya Aoki vs Eddie Alvarez fight at Dynamite!! 2008 would be for the vacant WAMMA Lightweight Championship. As a result of the fight, Shinya Aoki became the first-ever undisputed Lightweight champion in World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) history by defeating Eddie Alvarez via heel hook submission at 1:32 of round 1.

On January 24, 2009, at Affliction: Day of Reckoning, Fedor Emelianenko was successful in defend his World Heavyweight Title by knocking out former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at 3:14 of round 1.

“In what has grown to become tradition for Fedor fights, he maintained his composure throughout the bout and when he saw an opening to finish the fight, he capitalized,” said WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Mike Lynch. “WAMMA could not ask for a more humble and gracious athlete to represent our association as a heavyweight champion.”
On February, 11 2009, WAMMA announced it would also be starting to rank the top ten females in three weight classes (125, 135 and 145 pounds).

On March 5 2009, WAMMA released its first ever women’s rankings and new names for the weight classes. 125lbs became bantamweight, 135lbs became super bantamweight, and 145lbs became featherweight.

Starting on March 18, the Top Ten fighter rankings from the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) will debut each month on ESPN.com’s original mixed martial arts studio show, MMA Live.

On May 19, Vice President Pat Miletich and interim COO Sam Caplan announced their departure from WAMMA.

== Challenges ==
Seeking to unify rulesets and rankings, WAMMA requires unified consensus or acceptance of its legitimacy. As UFC is dominant in the sport and therefore WAMMA’s chief competitor, it has not volunteered its recognition of WAMMAs legitimacy. Without the UFC’s recognition, much of WAMMA’s goals are difficult, as they are lacking a large portion of the sport. Promotions such as Affliction, Adrenaline MMA, StrikeForce, Dream, K-1 and M1 have all worked with WAMMA or expressed an interest in cooperating for undisputed, unified titles. WAMMA states that the UFC has not expressed interest in cross-promotion of any sort.

Another significant challenge to the goal of WAMMA to unify the varied rulesets is the differing rules used between countries and within the United States. The UFC adopted the the “Unified Rules”, created by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and New Jersey State Athletic Commission (NJSAC). Then the Association of Boxing Commissioners (ABC), along with members of the NJSAC and the CSAC, proposed a new ruleset that changed weight classes, gave a clearer definition of the “back of the head”, clarified other illegal strikes, and banned tactics such as smothering. The UFC said it will not adopt the changes.[8] Although New Jersey’s athletic commission was present at the ABC’s meeting in Montreal and supported the rule changes, it opposed the ruleset because of the weight classes. The NJSAC also opposed the ruleset because California, Nevada, and Florida’s athletic commissions would have to accept the changes to keep the rules unified.