Photo credit via GAMMA press release
Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts creates GAMMA Pro
The Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts has now created GAMMA Pro.
This further establishes an athlete development pathway for MMA athletes who aspire to turn professional. An example of this was evident in GAMMA partnering up with ONE Championship. They rewarded the male and female champions of the 2019 GAMMA World Championship with contracts of $100,000 each.
In 2020, GAMMA continued to form new partnerships with other prominent MMA organizations like BRAVE Combat Federation (CF). BRAVE in conjunction with GAMMA offered the winner of “African Knockout – AKO” (a reality show broadcasted across 46 African countries) a professional contract with BRAVE CF.
AKO Management/ CEO Mohammed Shahid and GAMMA President Alexander Engelhardt worked hard to establish this contract for the AKO Champion. The aim is to further develop MMA in Africa, mainly in Nigeria.
To further galvanize their professional athlete development, GAMMA has now established an expressly defined sanctioning arm. GAMMA Pro will provide belts for champions and professional rankings. This will apply to all that participate in GAMMA-sanctioned tournaments and professional events.
GAMMA Pro
Adrian Bakos(GER) and Francesco Migliaccio (ITA) will oversee the operations of GAMMA Pro. They will spearhead the GAMMA Pro Commission. Its main objectives being centered on tracking the rankings and setting competitions with info to be released on the official GAMMA website shortly.
GAMMA President Alexander Engelhardt stated, “Creating GAMMA Pro is crucial for the development of the sport. Mixed martial arts have had a different development than other sports. It started off focusing on the commercial side of sports rather than from the grassroots.”
“Which makes it interesting since the growth and popularity of MMA has been exponential. MMA has 577 million fans worldwide, according to Nielsen’s report “Fan Insights 2020”. With this fanbase we are the third most popular sport in the world. With Football at 901 million fans and Basketball ahead of us.”
“Striving towards GAMMA’s mission, we have also developed a full Athlete Career Program (ACP). GAMMA ACP, where further details will be announced shortly. Guiding an aspiring athlete to a professional athlete is part of the goals of ACP. If we want to guide our athletes, we need to assure safety and fair play while keeping our GAMMA values. Therefore, GAMMA PRO is needed”.
