By Press Release

Athlete registration opened yesterday for the 2019 IMMAF-WMMAA Asian Open Championships of Amateur MMA, which will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1 – 4 May 2019. To apply, athletes from around the world from should contact their affiliated national MMA federation. The deadline for athlete registration is Wednesday 10 April.

The Championships in Bangkok replaces that which was orginally planned for China, but had to be moved due to bureaucratic obstacles. The Thai Mixed Martial Arts Federation (TMMAF) offered to host the tournament instead a matter of weeks ago, in January, and the IMMAF President has just returned from his latest recce to confirm all plans are in place for the smooth running of the competition.

IMMAF  President Kerrith Brown said:

“We are grateful to and proud of the Thai federation for generously offering to host the 2019 Asian Open Championships. At short notice, the federation has pulled out the stops to enable the tournament to go ahead. The Thai federation is well experienced in the organisation of high level amateur MMA events. From our visits to Bangkok over time and working experience with the Thai federation, the IMMAF – WMMAA team has every confidence in the delivery of a fantastic event and the best hospitality for the visiting teams.”

TMMAF President, Jitinat Asdamongkol, said:

“The Thai MMA community and Thai Federation are very pleased to help facilitate the IMMAF-WMMAA Asian Open in Bangkok this year. We and the IMMAF- WMMAA execs team have worked diligently over the past several weeks to make this happen and it makes me feel very happy that Thailand will get to welcome and host the various nations’ federations and athletes to the land of smile and land of warriors in the grandest amateur MMA tournament to happen in the kingdom. This will be a historic moment for Thailand and will be instrumental in helping to show our government and the public that our country has amazing potential and capability to be among the important global hubs of MMA and combat sports. We would like to thank you, IMMAF- WMMAA, for trusting in us and giving us the opportunity to showcase our beautiful country and also our friends in the Thai MMA community and supporters of the sport to enable Thai MMA to come this far and have this opportunity. We are looking forward to welcoming all delegates and athletes soon.”

The 2019 IMMAF – WMMAA Asian Open Championships will span three days and present opportunities for competitors across sixteen weight divisions (from Atomweight to Lightweight for women, and Strawweight to Super Heavyweight for men). Participation in all IMMAF – WMMAA tournaments accrue points for individuals and national teams in the IMMAF – WMMAA Amateur MMA Rankings, providing the opportunity for seeding and priority placement in flagship tournaments.

See Amateur eligibility criteria here: http://www.immaf.org/competitor-eligibility/
See IMMAF Amateur MMA Rules here: http://www.immaf.org/about/competition-rules/