The rise of WAMMA
About two years ago, a group of investors formed Florida-based WAMMA, partnering with former MMA legends such as Pat Miletich and Don Frye and hiring 30-plus-year FBI veteran Dave Szady as its CEO.

Their goal: to be the sanctioning body for MMA across the globe. WAMMA executives realized that now more than ever, there was a need for uniformity in a sport that's witnessed tremendous growth in a short period of time.

WAMMA set to work, hammering out some worthy objectives, including presenting MMA as "wholesome entertainment for the public," promotion of clean, fair and equitable competition, and providing mediation to resolve controversies that may arise.

One of the biggest challenges WAMMA saw before it was the "alphabet soup" predicament that had long plagued professional boxing, WAMMA COO Michael Lynch said.

The fact that there are a multitude of MMA champions in as many organizations on the state, regional, national and international level is advantageous in one sense, in that it contributes to "the allure of the event," if there is a championship fight on an organization's bill, Lynch and Szady said.

At the same time, it creates confusion. How does anyone ever know who is truly the best in each weight class when you have multiple champions?

That's where WAMMA comes in. While encouraging MMA organizations to keep their respective belts, those organizations would also align themselves with WAMMA, recognizing the winner of the WAMMA belt as the undisputed champion in each weight class, Lynch said.

In other words, Strikeforce's middleweight champ could take on EliteXC's middleweight champ with the WAMMA belt at stake.

"As Pat Miletich says, 'One belt, one king,'" Szady said.

Meetings, and more meetings
WAMMA executives also moved forward to get some of the major MMA promotions on board.

It wasn't easy.

"We really pounded the pavement," Lynch said.

They had meetings with executives from Strikeforce, EliteXC, Adrenaline MMA and Affliction.

Make that several meetings each.

"We listened to their concerns about 'who do we think we are,'" Szady said.

WAMMA's executives persevered, insisting, as Szady puts it, "We're not trying to take anything away, we're trying to add to it."

The result was an overwhelming, "You guys are going about it the right way," Szady said.

One major selling point for WAMMA -- no surprise here -- money.

Cross-promotional events mean more publicity, more pay-per-view buys, and bigger gate sales. The MMA organizations' promoters were interested in hearing about that, Lynch and Szady said.

But what about the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the top o' the heap on the MMA landscape?

WAMMA's Exective Legal Counselor Fred Levin and Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Wayne Stevenson met with Lorenzo Fertitia, co-owner of Zuffa, the UFC's parent company, in early November 2007.

Although there were no deals made at that meeting, the overall feeling Levin and Stevenson walked away with was a positive one, Lynch and Szady said.

Joining forces with WAMMA would be beneficial, even for the mighty UFC, which, only several years ago, operated without any serious competition.

"That model (existing autonomously) is great ... as long as there's no other promotional groups," Szady said.

Now there's Adrenaline MMA, Affliction, Strikeforce, EliteXC, M-1, DREAM and World Victory Road, some of which have caught the eye of corporate America -- can you say Donald Trump and Mark Cuban?

In addition to be "fan-forward" with cross-promotional events, another WAMMA objective is to be "fighter-forward," Lynch said. To accomplish that, WAMMA VP of Fighter and Promoter Relations Pat Miletich, along with former UFC multiple champion Randy Couture, will co-chair WAMMA's fighter advisory board, which will tackle such fighter-sensitive topics as pension plans, health care coverage, and money management.

Moving forward
So what's next for WAMMA?

Answer: Full speed ahead with both barrels loaded, to keep up with the ever-changing world of MMA.

But, if WAMMA wanted to sit back and admire their work, they certainly would have reason to.

"Our model was that none of this would happen until next year," Szady said.

Lynch said he spends a couple hours each day talking on the phone promoting and clearing up misconceptions about WAMMA. A big misnomer: The organization does not take money from promotions, nor does it take money from fighters. They also have no influence over their fighter rankings; instead, they are culled from the expertise of 20 MMA media representatives, Lynch said.

But, being for-profit, WAMMA also needs to make money. WAMMA owns their belts, so they plan to sell advertising on them, similar to what NFL teams did with their stadiums. So, we could see the "WAMMA Budweiser Heavyweight Championship," or something like that, Lynch and Szady said.

They also own a portion of the ring or cage at each event in which they are involved, that they can in turn sell to advertisers, they said.

Lynch said he knows the road will not be short, or easy, but in the end, it is the fans who will provide the demand for an organization such as WAMMA.

Which brings us back to July 19 and Affliction: Banned. So, how do you top standing in the ring helping strap the WAMMA belt around either Emelianenko or Sylvia?

Well, how about making strides to set up WAMMA belts in the other major weight classes, starting with the lightweight belt, possibly in the fall, Szady and Lynch said.

"We could not be more thrilled at the way things have happened," Lynch said. "It's been a wonderful 2008 for WAMMA so far."