Is it Finally Time for an MMA World Cup?

This summer’s historical Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup must have raised a number of questions in the mind of MMA fans worldwide, such as: will we ever see a mixed martial arts equivalent of futbol’s most prestigious tournament?

Will MMA ever become an Olympic event? Will there ever be some sort of international MMA competition where fighters compete on behalf of their nations, regardless of what organization they belong to?

For the Olympic question, the list of events for the 2012 summer games has already been decided (at least nominally). If MMA does make it to the Olympics (I’d predict 2024 at the earliest), it will probably be with modified rules, similar to modern Pankration. The subject of MMA at the Olympics can form an article on its own though, and here I’d like to focus on the second possibility mentioned above.

The grand prix tournaments that were held by PRIDE FC represented the pinnacle of what MMA competition could be. So why hasn’t there been an international tournament featuring professional fighters from multiple organizations yet?

Notwithstanding the logistical difficulties of holding such a spectacle, the reluctance of the UFC (which has the largest roster in the sport) to cross-promote with other organizations is one of the main obstacles in realizing this possibility.

With the UFC favoring exclusive contracts and being very protective of their talent, the chances of them sending top fighters to compete in a global competition seems remote, especially given the probability of certain combatants getting injured and costing the company future revenues.

The UFC’s refusal to cooperate with WAMMA (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts), the sport’s first and only independent sanctioning body, is another reason that could impede such a tournament from happening.

WAMMA, acting in a manner similar to that of FIFA or the FIA, could work with smaller promotions to hold this competition; but without the UFC’s support, the overall quality of the talent pool would be limited. It would be a truly international event only if all the top fighters and organizations participated.

Another factor to consider is that many nations, states, and provinces haven't sanctioned MMA yet. State athletic commissions need legal permission to hold MMA events, and some countries wouldn't be able to host any fights right now. Hopefully this problem will be remedied sometime in the future, so that all the participants can have home matches.

Still, if the idea of an MMA World Cup attracts enough popular attention, and if the higher-ups of MMA organizations find a way to make such a project profitable, we may see such a phenomenon sometime in the future. I’m sure that a lot of professional fighters would be eager to represent their country and prove that they are the best by competing in this tournament.

As far as the format goes, there are a number of different ways that the MMA World Cup could be held. Firstly though, the matter of participating countries has to be decided. There are many European countries that have recently started producing top MMA talent, which is why I have included them in the list.

The nations which could conceivably send high-quality fighters to the MMA World Cup are: Canada, America, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, China, Korea, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Armenia, Italy, Croatia, Russia, Australia, Ireland, Greece, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and Belgium, among others.

Some of those countries listed may only have two top-flight competitors right now, but in the future more will likely emerge. And the prestige of winning a medal for one’s country in the MMA World Cup may entice many promising candidates to turn pro.

Perhaps amateur fighters could be allowed to compete, which would help each nation fill out a five-man roster. There would most likely be five weight classes (equal to the UFC’s weight divisions).

The structure of the tournament would be the most difficult aspect to decide upon, but I feel that a system similar to that of the Davis Cup in men’s tennis would be most appropriate. It would be too hard to hold the entire tournament in one month and have fighters compete several times in four weeks, for various reasons.

The Davis Cup uses what are called ties, whereby two nations play five matches and whoever wins the majority moves on to the next round. In an MMA tie, two countries would have five fights, one in each weight class, and the winner moves on to the next round.

The top eight MMA nations would be ranked and play a three-round elimination tournament. Every four months, a tie is held with the higher-ranked nation hosting. The host nation chooses a venue and the fighter’s battle it out.

The next eight nations compete in a similar tournament, and the finalists are promoted to the first group (known in the Davis Cup as the World Group). The bottom two finishers in the MMA World Group get relegated. Then, the eight nations ranked below the second group proceed in a similar manner, with a fourth group if that many nations are eligible.

Countries could get points based on the number of fights they've won and finishing percentage, which helps decide the rankings. The ties could be pay-per-view events. (The promoters have to make a profit somehow, right?)

This is just a rough outline of my proposed format. Of course, countries can use different fighters for each round, so the same fighter does not have to compete four times in one year to win the MMA World Cup. The alternative is setting aside one month in the MMA calendar each year and having an elimination or round-robin tournament, where each country enrolls a certain number of fighters to participate.

The problem with that format though is that it is extremely difficult for fighters to compete three or four times in one month while staying completely healthy and at the top of their game (though Jeremy Horn may have something to say about that). And organizations such as the UFC may not want their fighters competing that often in such a short time span, against world-class competition no less.

Then again, if MMA did make it to the Olympics, a format similar to the one listed above would be used. So perhaps a Davis Cup style tournament would be more rewarding and beneficial to the health of the fighters.

There would be alternates if somebody gets injured. Also, there could be certain stipulations, such as current champions are not allowed to compete, and the nation that wins the World Cup gets a title shot for each of its athletes in their respective organizations.

The two semi-final nations could compete for third place and bronze medals. The date of the ties would have to be coordinated so as to not interfere with any major MMA events, but this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The rule set would have to be agreed upon by every nation, but I believe that current UFC rules (perhaps without elbows) should suffice.

I haven’t touched on all the logistical difficulties that such an enterprise would entail, but hopefully I have shown that holding an MMA World Cup (whether annually or bi-annually) is feasible and even profitable. I’m sure that many MMA fans are in favor of such an idea and perhaps a lot of fighters also.

Now all we have to do is convince Dana White and the Fertitta brothers’ wallet.