…Plans special amateur event in May
On Saturday February 20, 2016, British Challenge Mixed Martial Arts (BCMMA) returned to Charter Hall, Colchester for a night of mixed martial arts, headlined by a featherweight title bout between Steve Aimable and Stephen Martin – with the latter defeating the former champ, and taking home the belt for the first time.
BCMMA has been working with United Kingdom Mixed Martial Arts Federation (UKMMAF) since 2015 to ensure that their events fall in line with standards required by the MMA governing body, on a pathway towards third party sanctioning.
Among the bouts was Sean Carter vs. David Round, taking place at 70kg. The bout concluded at 3:04 of the first round with David Round defeating Sean Carter by way of KO (elbows).
Following the event, Sean Carter and his team appealed the result, stating that illegal elbows were used by Round.
Footage of the fight was reviewed by the UKMMAF’s appeals board of rules and regulatory affairs. All members of the appeal board agreed that the result should stand. From the footage provided, the board stated that no 12-6 elbows were thrown and that although some of the later elbow strikes may have been borderline legal, no blatantly malicious or deliberately illegal elbow strikes were landed.
BCMMA co-promoter, Jack Mason, commented:
“As part of our continued involvement with the UKMMAF we were very interested to see how the appeals process worked and the outcome of the review.
“It is reassuring to the promotion, the officials and the fighters involved that there is a formal appeals process in place that can be followed so that controversial circumstances can be given an independent and unbiased review by the UKMMAF to make a final decision on whether results should still stand or warrant further action.
“As with all controversial circumstances there may be individuals or parties with differing views as to the course of action to take following the outcome of a review but it is necessary to draw a line in the sand and respect the decision made.
“As part of growing the sport of MMA in the UK we believe a formal appeals process managed by the UKMMAF is an important step forward that we are very pleased to be involved in.”
The full results from the event can be viewed on Sherdog.
BCMMA have already confirmed the date for their next event – May 7, 2016. The event will feature a series of amateur match ups between the UK national team, and the Norwegian national team.
The UKMMAF’s Nigel Burgess commented:
“In the true spirit of amateur sport, these athletes will have no prior knowledge of their opponents. Both teams will put forward fighters, matched up only by weight class, with a neutral individual verifying match ups to ensure that they’re safe for all.”
Trials for the UK national team will take place in Leicester on March 20, 2016. For more details, including registration, please click here.
