Should MMA be an Olympic sport? This was the question I examined with my colleague Danny Downes in a recent Trading Shots column, which resulted in neither of us feeling terribly enthusiastic or hopeful about the prospect of ever seeing a cage fight on that particular world stage.

After this column ran, I received an email from an International MMA Federation (IMMAF) representative who made the case that adding MMA to the Olympics was not only a worthy goal, but maybe even an essential one. It’s a goal that IMMAF officials say they are actively pursuing, and one they insist MMA fans should rally around.

Why? For an answer to that question, I spoke to IMMAF CEO Densign White. Here are excerpts from our conversation, edited for length.

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MMAjunkie: I understand that the IMMAF would really like to get MMA into the Olympics eventually. For starters, could you tell me a little about what that process has been like, and what you’ve been doing to try and make it happen?

IMMAF CEO Densign White: Well, our application has gone into (World Anti-Doping Agency) to become a signatory to the WADA code. We’re applying for membership in SportAccord. That deadline is Aug. 20, so the work there is already done. There’s a vote next April in Denmark on allowing new sports, and we’re feeling confident about that.

MMAjunkie: Why is that important?

White: Once you’re a member of SportAccord, that’s a major step. Then you’re recognized by the Olympic family of sports. Then you can start to make representation and have a realistic chance of being accepted as an Olympic sport. And we’re working on that.

We’ve got a good format of competition that suits the Olympic program. We have a five-day event, normally. The athletes fight only one contest per day. We have a limit of 32 athletes per category. Each country is allowed to have a maximum of two athletes per category. We’ve got 13 categories. We did try to introduce a new ladies category, but there weren’t enough athletes to justify putting that one in. But we’re hoping that the number of women will grow as the amateur sport becomes more popular.

MMAjunkie: From what I understand, bouts in your IMMAF amateur tournaments are contested under different rules. The rounds are shorter, just three minutes. All fighters wear shinguards, and there are no knees to the head and no elbow strikes at all.

White: Yes, those are out. The equipment is a little different as well. We use seven-ounce gloves, whereas the professionals generally use a four-ounce glove. What we’ve found is we have less knockouts and less cuts.

That’s probably one of the things that is going to be quite important when we’re making representations to the IOC, because if the sport is considered very bloody and very violent, that’s going to be an obstacle for us. That is actually the major obstacle to us getting into the Olympic Games. We have to try to present something to them that is palatable.

MMAjunkie: Why is it important to get into the Olympics? Especially if you have to change the rules of the sport to make it more attractive to Olympic committees? Why should MMA fans care if an amateur version of the sport is in the Olympics or not?

White: The most important thing, from my perspective, is the safety aspect. At the moment, it’s like the Wild West. There are lots of private promoters out there. The big promoters like the UFC, which has supported IMMAF since our inception, they do a fantastic job, and their safety standards are the highest in the industry. But when you go down a level, the safety standards are not the same.

There are events that happen that don’t have qualified medical staff, don’t have the right doctors, don’t have paramedics – even the referees aren’t qualified. Those are all things we’re focused on. A lot of these things aren’t happening the way they should, and that’s because the sport’s not regulated. And doing it the right way, it’s not cheap. People will take shortcuts unless there’s someone around to tell them, “This is how you have to do this.”

Now, who has the authority to do that? How does an organization like ours get the authority to tell our members what to do? We can only get there if we are an internationally recognized organization, the same as judo, taekwondo, all the other sports in the Olympic program. It’s the only way we can protect the sport. Nobody, not even the UFC, can afford to ignore what’s going on at the levels all below them, because when something goes wrong it affects everybody.

The IMMAF, I often describe it as a lion without teeth. Because we can make a lot of noise about what people should do, what the safety levels should be, but no one needs to listen. We’re not recognized. They can just turn around and say, “Who are you to tell us what to do?”

MMAjunkie: So you’re saying that gaining the authority you need to regulate the sport worldwide, at all levels, amateur and pro, that will come from being recognized and included in the Olympics?

White: I don’t know how else to make it happen. If we’re not going to be recognized as an Olympic sport, you tell me, who are else are we going to be recognized by? What other international umbrella organizations are there out there that can give us the recognition that we need, and that will give us credibility with national committees and governments around the world?

MMAjunkie: Tell me about the UFC’s support for this. The UFC provides funding for the IMMAF, isn’t that right? Does that mean it supports this push for Olympic recognition?

White: Of course. We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the support of the UFC. They have funded the IMMAF since its inception in 2012, and they continue to fund us. It’s not just the funding. They give us support and advice. We produce film of all our events, and we give it to them, and they put it on UFC Fight Pass. It’s a fantastic relationship we have with the UFC, and we couldn’t have done what we’ve done without their funding and support.

MMAjunkie: Do you have similar relationships with any other promoter?

White: Not really. There are some smaller organizations that we work with, like BAMMA in the U.K. They support our U.K. federation, and they do a lot of shows in Ireland as well, with our Ireland federation. But we’re just starting to branch out to other organizations, and that’s something we’re trying to develop.

MMAjunkie: At least here in North America, there seems to be limited interest in amateur MMA. Athletes in this sport seem to want to go pro quickly. Who are the people competing in your events? Why do you think they want to compete in IMMAF tournaments instead of fighting as professionals?

White: They’re young people. The average age is probably around 23, 24. They’re just great athletes who may have come to MMA from other sports, or maybe they started in MMA from Day One. It’s a great opportunity for them to learn their craft, serve an apprenticeship, if you like, before they decide if they want to go pro.

We’re planning to have five or six tournaments a year, so an athlete, if they wanted to, could easily have 15 or 20 fights per annum. Whereas a pro fighter, they get maybe two or three fights. So here they can build their experience. I actually feel that the amateurs we’re going to produce will end up being far superior to some of the fighters on the pro shows, because they’ll have been fighting at the international level and at a world class level, and they’ll be more educated on the sport, more disciplined.

MMAjunkie: This seems like a long battle. Karate only recently got added to the Olympics for 2020, and as I understand it, that’s a fight they’ve been waging for decades. How long do you see this taking?

White: It’s going to take a long time. We’re under no illusions about that. We’re not going to be in the 2020 Olympics. Those sports have already been decided. 2024 is probably too early, though it depends on which country wins the bid for 2024.

One of the things IOC has done is changed the way new sports can get into the program. They’ve given countries that have won the bids the ability to choose some of their own sports that they would like to see included in the Olympics. So Japan, who are hosting the 2020 Olympics, chose karate, for example, because that’s one of their traditional sports. That’s why karate is in.

For 2024, the three places bidding right now, off the top of my head, are Rome, Budapest and Los Angeles. If Rome or Budapest wins the bid, then MMA is not going to be in the 2024 Olympics. No chance, because MMA is not a big sport in those countries. If Los Angeles wins, then I’d say we do have a chance, because MMA is so popular and has such a high profile in the United States.

MMAjunkie: And what if this fight to get into the Olympics is unsuccessful?

White: Even if we don’t get into the Olympics, it’s not the end of the world. But I think getting recognition through WADA, through SportAccord, that is important. Because then, national Olympic committees will start to support our bodies across the world, and then they’ll start giving them funding. They can have proper testing, proper medical support. It’s a good thing, even if we don’t make it into the Olympics.