Fair Play

Lalovic Reaffirms Wrestling’s Commitment to Olympic Charter, Fair Play

Saturday, April 7, 2018 - 22:01 By United World Wrestling Press

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IOWA CITY (April 8) – United World Wrestling president and IOC executive board member Nenad LALOVIC today reasserted wrestling’s commitment to open and fair play in sport.

“Like many federations we face problems with countries allowing their politics to interfere in competition,” said Lalovic. “For wrestling, this problem has been visible among our stakeholders. No longer can we allow political problems to enter the field of play. We must fight against any opponent of our sport community with all the means we have.”

Lalovic is currently in Iowa City, United States attending the 2018 Men’s Freestyle World Cup, a dual meet competition featuring the top eight wrestling nations in the world.

“If every international political conflict is transferred to the field of play, and we fail to respond, then all of sport would be in jeopardy. Every nation and every sport on the Olympic programme must respect the Olympic charter and the nature of their sport in general.”

“We will never allow any disrespect to our nations, nor will the IOC.”

United World Wrestling is reviewing all host cities and national federations to ensure they have no outstanding political disputes which might conflict with the idea of open and fair competition. Also, nations who do not allow for entrance of other nations will not be considered for hosting future events.

#AmateurMMA

Historic Amateur MMA World Championships kicks off in Novi Sad

Saturday, October 18, 2025 - 09:17 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 18) -- The first-ever Amateur MMA World Championships kicked off in Novi Sad Serbia in men's and women's.

The three-day event began with preliminary rounds and with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The World Championships is live on uww.org and on Instagram.

Here are a few top photos from day one on Friday:

AMMAScott HEATHCOTE (CAN), blue, and Aayush DIPU (IND) showing some early kicks during their match. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The matches are of nine minutes divided into three rounds of three minutes each with two breaks of one minute each between the three periods.

AMMAFront rolls for the win. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The are fought without a headgear but with protective gloves. Other part of the uniform includes tight-fitting rash guards, shorts, and the fights are fought barefoot.

AMMAUp in the air. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Athletes are allowed to wear mouthguards. However, the mouthguards cannot be of red color.

AMMAIt's all about respect in the end. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The UWW Amateur MMA is competed in various weight classes:

Men's (U20, U23, Seniors): 57kg, 62kg, 66kg, 71kg, 77kg, 84kg, 93kg, 100kg, 130kg
Women's (U20, U23, Seniors): 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, 90kg

AMMAThe coach improvised there. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

The various types of victories include: Submission, Knockout (KO), Technical Knockout (TKO), Disqualification (DSQ), Forfeit, Judge’s Decisions.

AMMAWin or lose, the reaction can't give it away. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

In certain cases, there can be draws in the bouts. Draw decisions occur in the following scenarios:
- Unanimous Draw: all three judges score the bout equally
- Majority Draw: two judges score the bout as a draw
- Split Draw: each judge scores the bout differently, resulting in an overall draw
- Technical Draw: awarded when a bout is prematurely stopped due to injury from an intentional foul after continuing, and subsequent injury forces stoppage from either legal or illegal actions with scores equal or insufficient for a clear winner.

Resolving Draws

If a winner must be declared (e.g., elimination rounds) and a draw occurs on the judges’ scorecards, the following criteria apply, in order:
1. The athlete who had points deducted for fouls loses the bout
2. If no fouls occurred, the athlete who won any single round by the largest margin (e.g., one round 10-8 versus two rounds 10-9) wins the bout.
3. If neither of these criteria resolves the draw, the Mat Chairman polls judges to vote for the winner. The athlete receiving the majority of judge votes is declared the winner. This decision is final and cannot be appealed