The form of mixed martial arts (MMA) making its debut at the Asian Games looks almost completely distinct from the visceral brawls of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which have come to define combat sports in recent years.
In order to get a version of the sport into the Asian Games, currently taking place in Nagoya,Ā Japan, organizers had to make adaptations. The fights take place without the familiar cage, on an open mat and with small boxing-style gloves. While MMA’s presence in theĀ Games is significant in itself, it’s also a clear effort to get close to Olympic recognition.
“We think without the cage we will have a better alignment with the Olympic values and hopefully recognition from the IOC,”Ā Galastein Tan, the director general of the Federation of International Mixed Martial Arts (FIMMA), told press agency AP. “It takes time to change a perception. We hope to be able to share that there is a new form of MMA, and this form is more aligned with the Olympics.”
FIMMA is not the only body purporting to represent the sport, with the International Mixed Martial Arts (IMMAF) also staking a claim. A spokesperson for theĀ International Olympic Committee (IOC), who organize the OlympicĀ Games, told DW that it “does not currently recognize an International Federation governing the sport of Mixed Martial Arts at the world level at this point in time,” precluding it from the Olympics for now.
However, Gordon Tang, a Chinese billionaire property mogul, is a vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia and president of FIMMA. This couldĀ potentially open doors in a movement which has so far kept MMA at arm’s length, with violence levels among its concerns. DW contacted bothĀ FIMMA and the IMMAF for comment but had received no response at the time of publication.
UFC has outstripped MMA
In the past the UFC, a lucrative MMA-based competition,Ā hasĀ also pushed for Olympic recognition. But the growth of that arm of the sport, highlighted by it staging an event on the South Lawn of the White House at the 250th anniversary celebrations of US independence earlier this year, has meant that the aims of a sport that was marginal two decades ago have shifted, according to author Karim Zidan.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s that important to MMA. The sport has alreadyĀ found its success on a professional level, which is what the fan base demanded of it,”Ā said Zidan, who has written an upcomingĀ book “The Ultimate Strongmen: MMA and the Rise of the New Authoritarian Right”Ā on the subject.Ā
“The UFC is bigger than it’s ever been in terms of the amount of money it’s making” added Zidan.Ā “The UFC’s growth mainstreamed MMA as a sport, but it also cannibalized it. So there’s really not much remaining. Olympic recognition might seem like a badge of honor, but it doesn’t amount to much else.”
Events for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are already set and the IOC spokesperson told DW that Brisbane 2032 was out of the question for MMA too. “Only disciplines governed by IOC-recognized International Federations that featured on the Olympic programs for Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 or LA28 are eligible for considerationĀ by the IOC. Mixed Martial Arts does not meet these eligibility criteria,” the spokesperson said.
Does MMA have enough appeal for Olympics?
Tan appears to be trying to find a way to change that, citing the sport’s popularity. “MMA is popular globally, able to engageĀ fans at a gut level and attract fans at a youth level,”Ā he said.
But Zidan argues that its popularity is through the UFC, rather than any grassroots popularity.
“There isn’t much of an MMA ecosystem outside of the UFC for me to say there’s an entirely different worldview existing in the sport that’s demanding this. There are pockets within the sport that enjoy amateur MMA and are operating within it, but I don’t think it’s a significant part of the fan base at all,” he said.
“I’m not particularly convinced that this is a turning point or a significant moment for mixed martial arts, honestly. I think the sport has suffered tremendously under the burden and the weight of the UFC over the past decade.”
UFC’s links with the Trump administration are deep and clear, with UFC CEO Dana White speaking at the Republican convention in 2024.
But Zidan also pointed to the IMMAF’s linkup with Brave Combat Federation, a Bahraini organization headed by Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a son of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain. A 2025 Amnesty International report said Bahrain continuedĀ “to suppress the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including through arbitrary detention and prosecutions.”
Authoritarian links remain for MMA
Such links with authoritarian governments have become, Zidan added, fairly commonplace in the sport.
“They’ve already had associations with authoritarian regimes in the past and it’s very likely that relationship will build. If this [the Asian Games and potential Olympic acceptance] means that we will now have more amateur MMA events being hosted around the world in youth championships, it’s very likely that authoritarian regimes will jump on that.”
The challenge for FIMMA, who appear to want to take MMA in the Olympic direction and away from UFC and its associations, is to make the sport more “normal”Ā and less about spectacle, FIMMA’s executive vice president Alex Engelhardt told AP.
“It’s very challenging in the sense that the whole mindset in the sport is so focused on promotions,” he said.
Even if that can change, and sport’s debut at the Asian Games adds someĀ legitimacy, the Olympics still seem some way off.
This article was initially published on September 22 before being updated on September 23 to include a statement from the IOC. An amendment was made the same day to clarify that Gordon Tang is FIMMA president, rather thanĀ Galastein Tan, its director general.
Edited by: Jonathan Harding