#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.

#development

UWW, KNUS and Kazakhstan Sign MoU

Thursday, July 2, 2026 - 09:47 By United World Wrestling Press

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan (July 2) -- United World Wrestling has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kazakh National University of Sports and the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation to further the development of wrestling and promote sports education.

The MoU was signed on Thursday in Astana by UWW President Nenad LALOVIC, KNUS Rector Tursynzada KUANGALIYEVA, and Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation President Yerkin OKASSOV.

The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation in sports education, and the continued development of wrestling through joint initiatives and knowledge sharing.

During the ceremony, KNUS also conferred the title of Honorary Professor upon Lalovic in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of sports education, scientific research, international academic cooperation, and the global sports community.

Nenad LALOVIC

Lalovic thanked the founder of the University Nurasyl MEDEU, Rector Kuangaliyeva, the management, staff and students of the university along with representatives of the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation.

Astana will host the 2026 World Championships from October 24 to November 1 at Barys Arena, marking the return of the flagship event to the Kazakh capital seven years after it last staged the championships.