The president of the Nigerian Mixed Martial Arts Federation, Henry George, has promised that the federation will be committed to the development of the fighters at the grassroots.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development announced last Friday that the Mixed Martial Arts Federation has been recognized and has now given birth to the existence of the Federation in Nigeria.
In an interview session with journalists, the former world champion said: “We believe in Grassroots, most of our event has been about education. Educate our referees, educate our officials and educate our athletes”.
George also revealed the NMMAF’s plans for grassroots in order to grow the sport in the country.
“We will go to the states, we will set up sports councils in different states. We have secretaries and coaches educating our athletes because you can’t have a national event if you don’t have athletes and for us to have athletes we must go to the base.
“We have been holding events, championships to encourage the bases by giving fighters opportunities to compete, to have that confidence that they will meet fighters of their class, people who have not tried Mixed Martial Arts coming for the first time this it has been our job all this time,” he said.
The president praised the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the recognition, adding that it is a great victory for Nigeria and Africa as it will set a clear direction for the country’s youth.
“I am grateful to the Ministry and to the Honorable Sunday Dare for keeping their promise. This is important for us and for Africa because many African countries look up to Nigeria considering the two world champions and the talent we have in Nigeria.
“This recognition will give a clear direction and career path for our athletes and they will be able to transition into Mixed Martial Arts having the opportunity to represent their states, which will also give them space to represent the country and become African and world champions. ”. George said.
George also assured Nigerians that the sport will flourish in the country, saying, “We have everything it takes to make MMA prosper, we are amazing athletes, we have good coaches, good officials, referees and all that.
“We have an audience that is ready to support it. One of the things that makes the sport interesting or popular is the number of fans, we have a lot of fans here in Nigeria so there is no doubt that it will grow very, very fast because MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world. world. ”, said the former world champion.
