| DreamFighters.com exclusive interview with WAMMA C.O.O, Michael Lynch Posted on: Mon 07-Jul-2008 |
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DreamFighters was lucky enough to get a one on one interview with the COO of WAMMA, Michael Lynch. DreamFighters.com: Mike, what made you and your team start WAMMA? Michael Lynch: WAMMA was officially announced to the world at a press conference held at Gallager's Steak House in New York City in November, 2007. However, the founding partners of WAMMA, which included myself, famous boxing attorney Fred Levin, former Buffalo Bills coach Kay Stephenson, and our CEO Dave Szady, had been reaching out to MMA promoters and fighters since early 2007. Fred Levin had initially envisioned an organization that would take the confusion out of the "alphabet soup" problem of boxing. Although the landscape of boxing did not provide for a successful business model, the founding partners of WAMMA saw a void, and more importantly, a need in Mixed Martial Arts and thus WAMMA was created. DreamFighters.com:What are your plans with WAMMA, and what is your end goal with WAMMA? Michael Lynch: The goal of WAMMA is much more than than crowning champions as WAMMA is so much more than a mere "sancioning body". WAMMA is a multifaceted fighter and fan-forward organization. Our 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, referee and judge training and an investment in ametuer MMA with a goal of having MMA recognized as an Olympic sport. DreamFighters.com:Will the belts only be awarded to affliction fights/fighters, or do you have other MMA orgs that will be competing for WAMMA belts? Michael Lynch: No, WAMMA is not awarding Championships only to Affliction fighters. WAMMA is looking forward to participating in Championship fights with all promotions - the UFC, Affliction, Adrenaline MMA, M1, Elite XC, Strikeforce, Dream, WVR, etc. In the end, it is all about the fighters, not the promotions. I have always said that in mixed martial arts, the two most valuable commodities in MMA are #1- the fighters, #2- the fans. The fighters want to fight the very best and see an undisputed champion regardless of promotional affiliation. Hence our slogan, "One Belt, One King." The fans want to see the best fighters fighting each other and the best match ups based upon skill, record and fan appeal. That being said, WAMMA couldn't be happier to have partnered up with Affliction for July 19th on "Affliction Banned." It is the single greatest card in MMA history and a must-see for both die-hard and casual fans. DreamFighters.com:Do you have any plans / future plans with DREAM MMA Michael Lynch: We would very much like to work with the Dream organization. Dream has tremendous fighters and has put on some incredible shows. WAMMA would be honored to see a WAMMA championship fight under the DREAM promotion. DreamFighters.com:Regarding the WAMMA belt design, although mostly positive, there has been some critics of the design, most noteably from www.sherdog.com forums, as they would like to see a belt re-design. Can you comment on this at all? Michael Lynch: The WAMMA belt has gotten an incredible amount of attention, and frankly, I could not be more thrilled with all the hype, both positive and negative! There have been a lot of comments that the WAMMA belt should be more in line of that of the many MMA promotional belts. However, WAMMA is not a promoter and we wanted our belt to convey something different, both in design, imagery, and appearance. WAMMA is very proud of the belt and anyone who sees it in person is usually overwhelmingly impressed. Since the unveiling of the belt, the www.GOWAMMA.com website has seen a tremendous upswing in traffic and overall, fan excitement over our upcoming WAMMA championship between Fedor and Tim on July 19th at Affliction:Banned has only increased. DreamFighters.com:After Affliction "BANNED" what is next for WAMMA? Michael Lynch: As you can expect, for the next two weeks, WAMMA is going to be focused squarely on the upcoming WAMMA Championship fight at Affliction: Banned. However, in the month of August, look for WAMMA to unveil the membership of our newly created Fighter Advisory Board, chaired by MMA legend Randy Couture and WAMMA Vice President and former UFC champion Pat Miletich. WAMMA has all ready had verbal conformation of participation from most of the invited members and trust me they amount to a Who's Who of MMA superstars of both past and present. The WAMMA Fighter Advisory Board will begin to tackle such issues as the WAMMA fighter pension fund, insurance programs for fighters, financial education seminars and refferree and judge training. As to future championship fights, we hope to see a defense of the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship this year or early next, and hopefully a WAMMA Championship fight in a lower weight division in the next 6 months. I will keep you updated on the developments in this regard. Also, look for a totally new www.GOWAMMA.com website to by unveiled in mid-August. DreamFighters.com:Can we expect any type of WAMMA world Grand Prix championship style tournament? Michael Lynch: The idea of a WAMMA World Grand Prix is certainly being discussed internally. However, our primary focus will always be crowning undisputed world champions based on our rankings on www.GOWAMMA.com DreamFighters.com:Do you know what weight class will be next for WAMMA, and what MMA organization it will be under? Michael Lynch: WAMMA CEO Dave Szady and I recently spoke on the topic of title unification and cross-promotion at the Association of Boxing Commissioners (ABC) annual conference in Montreal last week. As fans know, the ABC advocated some important changes in the unified rules and an expansion of weight classes. As you know, these new weight classes are merely recommendations. It will take many months to assess the overall acceptance of the individual state athletic commissions of these recommendations for an expansion in weight divisions. At this juncture, WAMMA plans to concentrate on the weight divisions as currently constituted. DreamFighters.com: How do your rankings work? Michael Lynch: WAMMA is very proud of our rankings. The ranking committee consists of 20 well-known and established MMA journalists and industry insiders including Sam Caplan, Dan Stupp, Ron Kruk, Ariel Helwani, Mauro Ranallo, Doc Hamilton, Oliver Copp and others. WAMMA has no influence on these rankings. Although I sit on the ranking committe, I have no vote and function merely as an administrator. There has also been some allegations that somehow the WAMMA rankings are predjudiced against the UFC. This myth can be easily dispelled by simply taking a look at the WAMMA rankings. With the sole exception of the heavyweight division, ZUFFA fighters dominate the rankings in every weight divison. In some months, UFC/WEC fighters have comprised the 1-10 rankings in an entire weight division. There certainly is no prejudice against the UFC and we look forward to working with them in the future. DreamFighters.com: Do you charge sanctioning fees? Michael Lynch: I am asked this question a lot and the answer is simple - WAMMA does NOT charge sanctioning fees to promoters nor do we tax a fighters purse. WAMMA is not here to make money off the backs of fighters. It is for this reason that acceptance and support of WAMMA among MMA fighters is 100% across the board. DreamFighters.com: Mike, thank you very much for doing this interview with us. We wish you the best of luck! Michael Lynch: Adam, thank you for your time. It was my pleasure. |
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