UKMMAF’s Mark Woodward talks upcoming July refereeing course and more

The UKMMAF have recently announced the first in a series of officiating courses in the UK, and it has those close to the heart of the UKMMAF very excited with the prospect of where recognised MMA officiating qualifications can lead to in the future. SevereMMA spoke to the UKMMAF to find out just why this course is the first hurdle in legitimising the sport in the near future.

“This is the first course of its kind in the UK, and the aim of the course is to provide quality, structured training for anyone who wishes to referee. It’s a massive breakthrough for MMA in the UK, and one of the first steps towards getting the sport regulated.

“The course has been put together by some of the best refs in the UK: Leon Roberts, Neil Hall, Marc Goddard and myself (Mark Woodward), as well as others on the UKMMAF technical committee.”

Most of these officials are not just mainstays of the UKMMA scene but also take charge of some of the highest profile MMA fights on the global stage. What makes this course different from other officiating courses available is that this course focuses entirely on the refereeing element and does not combine judging within its parameters.

“The certification course is 12 hours of intensive training 6 hours on day 1 and 6 hours on day 2 with a 40 minute multiple choice exam at the end of the 2nd day. Also included on the second day is a practical session where the candidates will be given certain scenarios to work through, in as close to a real fight environment as can be replicated. The successful candidates will be entered onto a register of licensed referees which will be available to promoters who sanction there shows under the UKMMAF banner. There is a 3 tier structure in place so that the refs have a clearly defined path of progression, the tiers are A, B and C class.

“By providing this course the UKMMAF will be improving the standards of officials and ultimately improving competitor’s safety.”

“By improving safety standards and providing trained officials to ref this in my opinion will greatly reduce the risk involved for competitors.

“The UKMMAF are actively seeking to get the correct insurance policies in place to cover MMA as a competitive sport, and part of this will be that all officials are on the register, this will mean that anyone who has not passed the certification course will not be able to work on a UKMMAF sanctioned show. Again, in my opinion, this can do nothing but improve the future of MMA in the UK.

“Once the correct insurance is in place we will be some way towards providing a structure for a Governing body for MMA. Getting the sport recognised as a legitimate sport is important and work is underway towards providing Coaches with training, not what to teach but how to coach. A recreational syllabus is being together and I know that this is somewhat controversial but like it or not MMA is a martial art, not everyone who wants to train wants to compete so this will provide them with an achievable goal based system to work through. This is a really exciting time for UK MMA.”

The course is also recognised, and approved by the IMMAF which adds international support to the project. The first certification will be run on the 11th & 12th of July.

Shortly the UKMMAF will be rolling out a new judging course that follows the same path of progression.  For information on how to register and on the continuing work of the UKMMAF go to: www.UKMMAF.org.uk

By @SteveCA_MMA