IMMAF ’disappointed’ in Swedish MMA Federation, responds to ’unfounded allegations’

A few weeks ago, the Swedish MMA Federation passed a vote to officially leave the International MMA Federation during an extraordinary general meeting where Frontkick reporters participated as spectators. A decision to join rival organization Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts instead also went through with a vast majority of votes.

During the meeting, SMMAF president August Wallén offered insight into some of the issues prompting their decision to recommend cutting all ties with IMMAF, a body that organizes international amateur MMA championships for national teams that was actually founded by Wallén himself in 2012.

Wallén was the first president of the International MMA Federation and would later be named honorary president. During the SMMAF EGM, he explained his concerns regarding democracy, transparency and safeguarding for athletes. George Sallfeldt, a former vice president of IMMAF, backed Wallén up as he participated in the meeting to share his concerns regarding the federation’s financial situation and questionable spending.

Jörgen Hamberg, a longtime coach of the Swedish national team and former SMMAF board member, went as far as to call IMMAF a ”big scam” while also accusing its president Kerrith Brown of making ”dirty financial decisions” during an interview with Frontkick.

“He puts the money somewhere else. They dismantled the democratic system in IMMAF, moved the finances from a Swedish bank to a bank with less transparency, and refused to account for the economy. It feels like it’s all a big financial crime,” Hamberg told Frontkick’s Tobias Lindkvist.

IMMAF ’disappointed’ by SMMAF joining GAMMA, accuses Wallen and Sallfeldt of failed ’takeover’ attempt

Frontkick reached out to multiple people within the IMMAF organization including the president Kerrith Brown, in order to get their side of the story. IMMAF CEO Densign White responded in an email to answer some of our questions.

”We are disappointed with the decision taken by the SMMAF to terminate their membership of IMMAF. Our main concern is for the negative impact that this will have on their athletes. However the decision has been made and we wish them well in their new home of GAMMA,” White wrote.

White also commented on issues raised by Wallen and Sallfeldt, offering an alternative explanation to their fallout.

”Last year in June 2023 the IMMAF members in an EGM voted unanimously to remove August Wallén and George Sallfeldt from the IMMAF, so upset were they that these two individuals would undermine the leadership and the federation with unfounded allegations in public.”

”IMMAF is a democratic and transparent organisation and I would challenge you to find another international federation that has a better record than we do in this regard”

According to White, they were basically attempting a takeover that failed.

”The bottom line is this, August and George and others were attempting a takeover of IMMAF and they failed. They failed because the vast majority of our members know who has been doing the work in IMMAF the past 10 years and it was not them,” White wrote, adding:

”You can find the minutes from that meeting on the IMMAF website as well as the IMMAF safeguarding policy that you asked about.”

The issue of safeguarding was raised since a convicted rapist of a minor was appointed head coach of the Bulgarian national MMA team, and subsequently went on to attend three youth world championships with IMMAF allegedly dismissing concerns as rumors despite there being a number of online news articles in Bulgaria reporting on the matter.

GAMMA is backed by ONE Championship. What about IMMAF? Are they still sponsored by the UFC?

Another issue raised by Sallfeldt has been IMMAF’s relationship with the UFC. Sallfeldt originally landed a sponsorship agreement after negotiations with former UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, with the UFC pledging a million dollars annually to IMMAF as a way of investing in the future of MMA.

However, according to Sallfeldt, the UFC also started raising concerns with the IMMAF’s accounting and later halted their involvement after their initial 10-year agreement had come to an end. White would neither confirm nor deny this as he chose not to respond to our questions regarding the UFC, simply stating:

”There is nothing further that we would like to add except to say that IMMAF is a democratic and transparent organisation and I would challenge you to find another international federation that has a better record than we do in this regard.”

While it’s surely a bit weird for IMMAF to emphasize how transparent they are while simultaneously dodging important questions, it should be noted that IMMAF does actually provide a whole lot of transparency on their official websites including annual reports, minutes from board meetings as well as an internal Q&A with Densign White from June of 2023 that actually provided answers to multiple burning questions at the time. In that Q&A, White addressed the UFC situation briefly and basically said that IMMAF were actively trying to re-up the agreement, but that chances to land a new deal would be lowered by what he called ”continuing undermining of IMMAF”.

”Co-operation with the UFC has not been terminated,” White stated in June of 2023. ”We have weekly meetings with the UFC. There is still the possibility that they could sponsor IMMAF in 2024. However, if there is this continuing undermining of IMMAF by a minority of members this opportunity will diminish as will our recognition with SportAccord.”

IMMAF rival GAMMA is backed by ONE Championship in a ”multi-year seven-figure partnership”. The Swedish MMA Federation has argued that GAMMA’s sponsorship money are being spent more wisely, with cheaper membership costs and championship starting fees as well as hotels and transportation for all athletes.

At this point, we’ll just have to sit back and watch the development of both IMMAF and GAMMA to see whether or not the Swedish MMA Federation and its voting members made the right decision to switch organizations. The Swedish national MMA team is expected to be represented with several athletes at the 2024 GAMMA world championship in Jakarta, Indonesia later this year.

Here’s every question Frontkick asked, and the full answer we got from Densign White

For transparency, we’ll list every question we posed as well as the full statement we got from Densign White. Press ”Next” to continue reading!

ASHAH TAFARI:

”Hello Mr. Brown and IMMAF,

My name is Ashah Tafari and I’m a combat sports reporter from Sweden representing news outlets Frontkick.online, MaximumSports.se, Käftsmällspodden and my own social media platforms Svensk MMA.

Yesterday, I digitally attended SMMAF:s extra annual meeting where a majority of attending members voted to formally leave and cut all ties with IMMAF and subsequently apply for membership in GAMMA instead.

During the meeting, SMMAF president and former honorary president of IMMAF, August Wallén, and former IMMAF vice president George Sallfeldt provided background from their point of view and insight to events that led to their decision to put this up for a vote, which was passed.

Now, I want to know more about what’s been going on here and not only get the critics’ side. Hence, I want to give IMMAF the opportunity to answer a couple of questions as well as providing additional comments and information as you see fit.

Keep in mind, I don’t have any horse in this race. But after months of hearing issues and complaints regarding IMMAF, I want to take a closer look at what’s been going on and at the same time making sure that I do so with a balanced approach. Most of my questions stems from concerns raised from SMMAF or Sallfeldt, where I now want to explore your side of those supposed issues.

1. What are IMMAF stance on Sweden leaving your federation and joining GAMMA?

2. It was stated that the UFC has stopped paying out the annual $1 million dollars due to concerns regarding transparency and bookkeeping. Is this true? Does the IMMAF still have any partnership with the UFC and if so, what is the nature of your agreement today?

3. George Sallfeldt, essentially a co-founder to IMMAF alongside August Wallen, was denied access to the books. Why was the sitting vice president denied this?

4. A vote to investigate IMMAF’s finances was passed but later tossed according to Sallfeldt, who was then ousted from IMMAF. Does the IMMAF have something to hide? Why fight against transparency in this matter?

5. It’s been said that IMMAF was basically broke following the Words in Serbia. Is this true and if so, how could that have happened while getting millions of dollar from the UFC and even getting an advance the year before?

6. SMMAF is not the only federation to raise concerns over IMMAF and looking elsewhere. Ricky Wright of Wales has been a vocal critic too despite MCing earlier events. Do you at all reflect about potential mismanagement of IMMAF driving federations away? Does IMMAF recognize any of the issues put forward and do you have some sort of action plan in place to clean up your organization? Or is it all just a big hoax in your mind from people speaking out for personal reasons?

7. What is your comment on safeguarding issues as you are essentially accusing of hiding the fact that IMMAF let a convicted child rapist coach a youth championship? Did you do anything wrong and what steps if any have been taken to prevent a similar incident in the future?

8. Has IMMAF been doing what you’re supposed to as the premier international MMA federation? What do you want to say to members still supporting you, and others considering leaving?

Thanks,
Ashah Tafari”

DENSIGN WHITE:

”Dear Mr Tafari,
Thank you for your email. We are disappointed with the decision taken by the SMMAF to terminate their membership of IMMAF. Our main concern is for the negative impact that this will have on their athletes. However the decision has been made and we wish them well in their new home of GAMMA.
Last year in June 2023 the IMMAF membership in an EGM voted unanimously to remove August Wallen and George Sallsfeldt from the IMMAF, so upset were they that these two individuals would undermine the leadership and the federation with unfounded allegations in public.
The bottom line is this, August and George and others were attempting a takeover of IMMAF and they failed. They failed because the vast majority of our members know who has been doing the work in IMMAF the past 10 years and it was not them.
You can find the minutes from that meeting on the IMMAF website as well as the IMMAF safeguarding policy that you asked about.
There is nothing further that we would like to add except to say that IMMAF is a democratic and transparent organisation and I would challenge you to find another international federation that has a better record than we do in this regard.
Regards
Densign”