#AmateurMMA, #Pankration

Novi Sad to host first-ever Amateur MMA World Championships

Friday, May 9, 2025 - 12:39 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 8) -- The World Grappling and Amateur MMA Championships will be held in Novi Sad from October 15 to 19.

United World Wrestling will organize the World Grappling Championships on October 15 and 16 and the first-ever World Amateur MMA Championships from October 17 to 19 in Novi Sad, Serbia. Both these competition will be organized only in the senior category.

The Youth World Championships in Pankration, Amateur MMA and Grappling will also be organized by UWW in Greece. The dates for the Youth World Championships will be communicated later.

According to new structure, UWW will conduct Amateur MMA for U20 and Senior age-group while Pankration is limited to U17 and lower age-groups.

To test the revised ruleset, UWW will also conduct two international tournaments in all styles.

The first tournament will be held in Andijan, Uzbekistan from June 1 to 4. Grappling will be held in U17, U20 and Senior age-groups, Pankration in U17 and Amateur MMA in U20 and Senior age-groups.

The second international tournament will be held in Poland in June. The exact dates for the tournament will be communicated by UWW later.

For full list of events, refer to uww.org/events.

Obituary, #UnitedWorldWrestling

Former UWW Sec Gen Dusson passes away

Thursday, May 29, 2025 - 16:28 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 29) -- Former United World Wrestling General Secretary and Hall of Fame member Michel DUSSON passed away Thursday aged 90 years.

Dusson served wrestling for close to 65 years in different positions including being a referee, President of Federation Francaise de Lutte and Secretary General of UWW from 1982 to 2022.

UWW President expressed his condolences on the demise of Dusson and thanked him for his service to wrestling.

"Dusson was a true steward of the sport of wrestling," Lalovic said. "He dedicated his life to it and served across many eras. We are forever indebted to his unwavering commitment and lifelong dedication to wrestling."

Before being appointed the Secretary General in 1982, Dusson was the Bureau member of UWW (then FILA) from 1980. He began his referee career in 1959 and remained one till 1980, officiating the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

He also served as the member of the French Olympic Committee for 12 years besides being appointed as the CAS Arbitrator from 1984 to 1992.

While he made numerous contribution to grow and improve wrestling over the years, Dusson played a major role in bringing Women's Wrestling to the Olympic program.

In 2018, he was inducted into the UWW Hall of Fame at a ceremony on the eve of the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

UWW expresses its condolences to the Dusson family.