As we've commented on in the past, WAMMA is an organization that is looking to sanction the sport of mixed martial arts. This has been looked down upon as many people in the business of promoting mixed martials arts simply see WAMMA as a virus. Confirming some of our suspicions, CBS Sports ran a small AP story on WAMMA with some notable quotes from people involved in the organization as well as quotes from Dana White himself.

The first quote from David Szady, CEO of WAMMA:

"You don't have those entrenched folks right now," said Szady, the CEO of the for-profit organization and a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence. "You have the beginnings of the sport, and we're trying to help take the sport mainstream."

Mixed martial arts doesn't exactly need help heading toward the mainstream. The only real obstacles that MMA has is the fact that it's hand-to-hand combat with more elements than that of boxing. Boxing has mastered the art of calling itself the sweet science and garnering audiences that want to see the beautiful battles in the ring of the highly technical striking athletes. MMA has that element at times, but usually isn't as beautiful and is seen as more brutal. Add in the fact that ground tactics come into play, submission techniques, and small gloves that allow for the quick knockout, it seems that many of these aspects of MMA are keeping it out of the mainstream due to some people feeling that it's just a street brawl.

MMA has, however, grown and proven that it can produce ratings in certain demographics. This seems to be the driving force behind its growth. Besides the piece of the population that simply enjoys the huge standup wars and knockouts, there also seems to be a growing fanbase that enjoys the technical aspects of fights. The jiu-jitsu battles, the submission attempts, and the tactical prowess of the all-around fighter who can end it either on the ground or on the feet. This may be another encouraging piece of the puzzle for MMA. Can it begin to do the same that boxing has done in making people see the sweet science in the sport?

With those aspects of MMA being part of the larger debate as to whether or not it can break into the mainstream, what exactly is WAMMA hinting at? My opinion is that MMA has to break the perception that these fighters are just knuckleheads. The constant debate of boxing vs. MMA always leads to an argument about how Boxing is the sweet science and MMA is just a street fight. As MMA fans, we all know that MMA takes a lot more training and training multiple aspects of the game to be successful. WAMMA doesn't seem to be helping that part of the equation. If helping MMA break into the mainstream means getting huge sponsors, MMA must first tackle the obvious hurdle that is its perception.

Open and shut case. The UFC won't be involved. The article also has a quote from Jay Larkin, Chief Executive for the IFL. The IFL has co-promoted with HDNet recently with Tim Kennedy battling Jason Miller this weekend. Larkin sees what many of us see as fans. The simple fact that the UFC won't be moving toward working with the sanctioning body is "the fatal flaw".

Let's ask one specific question though. What's wrong with organizations co-promoting currently in MMA? Is there really a need for a sanctioning body to help see who is actually the best fighter? If fighters want to see if they are the best, join the UFC's ranks. It's as simple as that. Maybe there are cases in which the UFC lowballs a fighter who wants to come into the organization, so they end up signing with Strikeforce, EliteXC, or another organization. What can they do to possibly get the money they deserve? Keep winning.

Organizations outside the UFC have been co-promoting with each other for quite some time now. Strikeforce, EliteXC, BodogFIGHT, and even K-1 are all intertwined at times by co-promoting events. This can continue to occur without the use of sanctioning bodies. Sure, it won't determine who the best in the world is, but the UFC seems to have a fairly big grasp on the fighters who are determined to be the best.

Final thoughts

WAMMA once again confirms our suspicions that they are clearly in this to make a buck. Without the UFC, even other smaller organizations such as the IFL are weary of the organization. I can't imagine that ProElite will be jumping on board either. Without bigger organizations working with the sanctioning body, we most likely will be seeing the body dissolve soon enough.

I received an email today regarding the press release by WAMMA and it has some of the information I was hoping would be released. Here's the structure of the organizations according to the release:

President & CEO: David Szady
Vice President: Bill Goldberg, Kay Stephenson, Godwin Asifo
Executive VP & COO: Michael B. Lynch
Executive Legal Counselor: Fred Levin
Head of Production: David Barnes
Accountant: Wayne K. Stephenson
Advisor to the Legal Department: Pete Kaufman

Interesting that they list three people as the Vice President of the organization. Most of the minds on this board seem to be legal or business minds. It almost confirms my inkling that this is purely a money making venture for the sanctioning body. Goldberg has been propelled into the VP role and no doubt has no responsibilities.

According to the email, Lynch has represented some mixed martial arts fighters in negotiating deals. Levin handles similar duties for Roy Jones Jr. and was his legal advisor. He was also considered to be one of the most successful trial attorneys in the country. Kay Stephenson was a professional football coach from 1975-1998. He coached the Buffalo Bills in 1983, and has coached multiple other football organizations such as the World Football League and Canadian Football League. He also played for the San Diego Chargers, the Bills, and the Jacksonville Sharks. Godwin Asifo is involved heavily in promotion and management of Ike Quartey in the boxing arena of sports. He's a good friend of Fred Levin and has worked with him extensively. Looks like a favor to me.

This seems like a long list of legal advisors looking to mount a case to free Din Thomas, not a sanctioning body. It's made up of people who all work in the same realm of work, same network of friends and contacts, and most likely gave their friends positions within the body to lend a name to it and make some money. Again, this is speculative, but it's my opinion.

Rankings

The release also concentrates on how rankings will be done. Interestingly enough, they will work rankings much like the Associated Press polls work in polling sportswriters. The list of writers was actually given to us, here it is:

Sam Caplan - CBS SportsLine & FiveOuncesOfPain
Oliver Copp - German MMA sportswriter on the UFC
Nelson Hamilton - Licensed Kickboxing referee
Todd Martin - Reporter for LA Times, Wrestling Observer, SI.com, and CBS SportsLine
Alex Marvez - Senior writer for FOX Sports.com
Mauro Ranallo - Canadian sports announcer for PRIDE FC, now with EliteXC, and anybody who is willing to pay.
Michael Woods - ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com

Not a bad list, although it's a fairly small sample. I'd love to see them compile a listing from the MMA community from all of the major sites. It'd be interesting to see the general consensus of the MMA community as the authority for the body, although I doubt it will ever actually matter.

Medicals

The Medical Advisory Board will be headed by Dr. James R. Andrews, here's the excerpt on his vast list of credentials:

Dr. James R. Andrews, orthopedic surgeon, is one of the founding members of the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center (ASMOC) and American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) in Birmingham, Alabama. He serves as Chairman and Medical Director of ASMI. He is also internationally known and recognized throughout the world for his scientific and clinical research contributions in knee, shoulder and elbow injuries, and his skill as an orthopedic surgeon.

Doctor Andrews came to Birmingham in 1986 to help form the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center. He has been the mentor for more than 150 orthopedic/sports medicine fellows and more than 30 primary care sports medicine fellows who have trained under him through the American Sports Medicine Institute Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. Involved in education and research in sports medicine and orthopedic surgery, he has made major presentations on every continent, and has authored numerous scientific articles and books.

Doctor Andrews graduated form Louisiana State University in 1963, where he was Southeastern Conference indoor and outdoor pole vault champion. He completed LSU School of Medicine in 1967, and completed his orthopedic residency at Tulane Medical School in 1972. He has surgical fellowships in sports medicine at the University of Virginia Medical School in 1972 with Doctor Frank McCue, III and at the University of Lyon, Lyn, France in 1972 with late professor Albert Trillat, M.D., who was known as the Father of European Knee Surgery.

Doctor Andrews is a member of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Orthopedic Society of Sports medicine, and currently serves as Secretary of that Board. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and International Knee Society. He is Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Alabama Birmingham Medical School, the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the University of Kentucky Medical Center, and the University of South Carolina Medical School. He has been awarded a Doctor of Laws Degree from Livingston University, Doctor of Sciences Degree from Troy State University and a Doctor of Science Degree from Louisiana State University.

At present, Doctor Andrews serves as Co-Medical Director for Intercollegiate Sports at Auburn University. He is Senior Orthopedic Consultant for Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Alabama. He is the orthopedic consultant for the athletic teams of Troy State University, University of West Alabama, Tuskegee University and Grambling University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the following companies: HealthTronics Corporation, Fast Health Corporation, American Club Systems, Banc Corporation, and Robins Morton Construction Company. He is a member of Troy State University’s Board of Trustees.
He is Senior Orthopedic Consultant for the Washington Redskins Professional Football team. He is the Medical Director of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Professional Baseball Team. He is the team physician for the Birmingham Barons Double A Professional Baseball Team, an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. He currently serves on the Medical and Safety Advisory Committee of USA Baseball.

Dr. Andrews served during the last two quadrennials as a member of the Sports Medicine Committee of the United States Olympic Committee. He has also served on the NCAA Competitive Safeguards in Medial Aspects of Sports Committee.

Very interesting, Andrews looks to have all the credentials to be a sufficient advisor for the fighters as part of the medical board. He also has a background in sports medicine, which is a plus.

Final Thoughts

It still looks like a shell game to me. I'm a bit curious though. Who is actually going to use WAMMA to sanction their events? You would think that these people got together and somehow had leads as to someone who would want them to sanction fighting for them. Levin and Lynch are both down in the Florida area, could they work a deal to sanction events in the state? I don't see them ever sanctioning the bigger events around the world, but it seems that they must have some promotions interested. There would be no reason to start something like this without any interest. Interesting developments coming from the new sanctioning body.

What is WAMMA, you might ask? WAMMA is the first ever sanctioning body in the mixed martial arts world. You may ask yourself as I have when I read the press release, why the hell would MMA need a sanctioning body when the Athletic Commissions regulate MMA? The commissions regulate rules, drug testing, and pre-fight testing to make sure all fighters are medically clear to fight on a card within their state. Here's a little excerpt from the press email I received:

Respected figures from the business world, professional and amateur athletics, medicine, and sports journalism will gather at a lunch/press conference next week to launch the first ever MMA sanctioning body. WAMMA – the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts – will rank fighters by weight division, establish unified rules, ensure the safety and welfare of fighters, and sanction world championship bouts. Most important, it will enable the best fighters in the world to face off against each other, creating unified legitimacy and increasing the integrity of the sport.

Many other MMA sites have hit this point on the head, but I might as well say the same thing because I feel exactly the same way. There are at least 10+ sites that rank fighters by weight class already. Those rankings also seem to stick in fighter's minds as well and seem to have become the norm even though the UFC and other organizations don't use them when picking fights or so they claim. Fact is, each promotions doesn't necessarily need rankings to find what the MMA community deems as the top fighter in each organization and the subsequent list 2 to 10.

Unified rules? There are already unified rules in mixed martial arts, and when there are different rules, it normally reverts back to PRIDEfc rules. There isn't much variations from organizations, if any at all. It's ridiculous to think that we actually need a sanctioning body telling us what we already have established. The safety and welfare of the fighters is already overseen by the athletic commissions. The only real time that a sanctioning body would come into play is within a state or country in which a commission isn't present. Even those states and countries are now in the process of establishing some sort of commission, and it's only a matter of time before we see it come to be. Considering the fact that commissions will make money from the regulation and testing of fighters for events in each state, I would think that the states that do not currently regulate MMA, but have a significant presence in their state of MMA fighters, will be on board soon enough.

I'm not completely familiar with the boxing sanctioning bodies, somebody enlighten me on how they function and what they actually do that an athletic commission does not. I imagine that the statement regarding the fact that the best fighters in the world will be alllowed to face off against each other is something that falls into a unique category. I suppose if two promotions wanted two champions to battle each other, they could either work through some type of co-promotion, buy out the other organization as ProElite has done, or go through a sanctioning body. The latter seems like an easier thing to do in some instances, but it's proven to be a huge downside in boxing.

The players

The most ridiculous part about WAMMA is the people behind it. Here's the excerpt:

Appearing at the press conference will be former wrestler and NFL player Bill Goldberg; MMA Legends Pat Miletich and Don Frye; noted boxing manager Godwin Asifo; attorney Fred Levin, who helped manage the career of boxer Roy Jones, Jr.; nationally known attorney Michael Lynch; and David Szady, a 33-year veteran of the FBI.

Bill Goldberg has once again popped up somewhere else in the MMA world. I'm not completely sure if this is a ploy by WAMMA to simply put a bunch of big names in front of the press in order to get people there or if any of these people are actually going to have anything to do with the sanctioning body. Goldberg currently does the post-fight interviews for EliteXC and some on-air commentary at times. You may know him as the pro wrestling champion from the WCW and the WWE. Another name to attract interest.

Pat Miletich and Don Frye shouldn't need much elaboration. Miletich is a former UFC champion and owner and founder of Miletich Fighting Systems Camp in Bettendorf, Iowa. He's coached many UFC champions and successful UFC veterans as well as many up-and-coming fighters through the constant stream of MMA promotions throughout the country. Don Frye is the old legend, the man who didn't back down from anyone and had some enormously entertaining battles in PRIDE. Two well-known MMA legends, more names to attract interest.

Godwin Asifo is Ike Quartey’s manager, so what? Fred Levin managed Roy Jones Jr.'s career, so he is now managing WAMMA accounts? Who knows, more names that people within the MMA industry don't care about when it comes to a sanctioning body. Who the hell is Michael Lynch? Isn't he the guy who was involved with Gary Condit? Not entirely sure, but seems irrelevant. The name that perplexes me the most is David Szady. A 33 year veteran of the FBI, but it doesn't mention in what division of the FBI. I realized that this was the David Szady who ran the counterintelligence division of the FBI. He was actually appointed the senior counterintelligence official in '01 until he retired in '06. Interestingly enough, there are many people out there who blame him for the considerable lack of quick justice in many of the United States's counterintelligence activities. Szady has been deemed by some writers in the political and intelligence arenas of being the single person who completely left us wide open to spies infiltrating the FBI. Case in point, Szady was the man in charge during the Robert Hannsen case in which Hannsen was actually a KGB spy who infiltrated the FBI. Yeah, remember they made a movie out of it called "Breach". Apparently, Szady wasted months concentrating on other organizations instead of the FBI when many felt the mole was inside the agency. This was only one of many cases that people have felt were at fault because of Szady and his team of investigators. Check out this blog about the book Enemies that highlights all of his foulups.

What does that have to do with MMA you might ask? Nothing. I do, however, find it very interesting that a FBI counterintelligence agent is now putting his face on a new MMA sanctioning body. What the hell for? Money. It all lies in the money. Szady may be looking for a small job to do while he's retired and he said "Why not?". Maybe he can clear up the Sean Sherk case by looking into Gary Shaw's desk for nandrolone vials and then somehow ignore the fact it was within his own organization! Szady may act as a chief investigator into testing and upholding regulations. It seems rather odd since his main line of work was unmasking information leaks.

All speculation of course, we'll find out more on Wednesday.

Final thoughts

This seems to all point toward the easy buck. I don't know who the hell is actually going to allow WAMMA to sanction their events, but in my mind, nobody will. Let me reiterate my initial thoughts. MMA already has a set of unified rules, and when they are changed, it's normally a slight change. All of these rules are already regulated by the athletic commissions within the states that allow mixed martial arts. Testing, insurance, and medical testing and oversight are already provided by the commissions as well. The UFC seems to be doing their own testing in unsanctioned areas like England that do not have a commission and will probably continue to do so. As mentioned on FightOpinion, sanctioning title bouts by co-promotions is pointless since EliteXC and the UFC won't be co-promoting with anyone soon, you can add M-1 into that mix as well. Could they be that stupid when they thought up this idea? It has to be about money. The names that are listed have no real relevance with a sanctioning body. They seem to be names that will gather interest. Wednesday will be the day of the press conference and we'll hopefully find out what exactly these names will be doing for the sanctioning body. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a whole load of fluff.