The World Fighting Organization (WFO), mixed martial art’s (MMA’s) first world recognized independent sanctioning body, is proud to announce the sanctioning of it’s inaugural fight on Tuesday, December 11th at the Crazy Horse Saloon in Miami, Florida. The main event for “Worlds Collide” 1, a joint boxing and MMA card, will be a heavyweight showdown between David Oliver and American Top Team’s Mario Rinaldi for the WFO America’s Heavyweight Title.

Although MMA has exploded in popularity in the past few years, the sports current fractured structure threatens to slow this growth and confuse the mainstream media and fans. Unlike boxing, which clearly has too many “world” champions, MMA promoters such as the UFC and M1 currently crown their own champions, which results in numerous champions who have little chance of meeting in the ring. While the UFC has been credited with developing a huge fan base for MMA in the United States, co-promotion between competing promoters to create the biggest fights is virtually non-existent, to the detriment of MMA fighters and fans.

Describing MMA’s need for a recognized “world champion,” ProElite head Gary Shaw stated recently “for MMA to explode, really explode, you don’t just have a UFC champion or a Pride or a K-1 champion, but you have a true world champion.” This is where the WFO mandate begins; by establishing clear rules and regulations, and an unbiased rankings system, the WFO has been formed to encourage promoters to work together to crown a universally recognized champion, the “WFO champion.”
 
The World Fighting Organization, headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, is headed by Chairman John Daddono, who has over 20 years of experience in boxing and mixed martial arts, both as a fighter and more recently as the founder of the Prize Fight Network and Chairman of the International Boxing Organization. Vice President Jeremy Levine, Esq., who was a member of the Florida State Athletic Commission for 5 years, has also been a fight supervisor for world championship boxing for over a decade.

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