Upon initially hearing that BAMMA 26 - which was due to take place in Dublin's 3 Arena on June 4th - had been postponed until September, Irish MMA fans could be forgiven for reacting with frustration, as with Chris Fields fighting for the BAMMA World light heavyweight title as well as top SBG prospects James Gallagher and Dylan Tuke getting another chance to impress, it was set to be a great night of fighting.
However, having read the statement officially released by the organisation, it is clear that this news is very positive for the future of MMA in Ireland.
Having consulted with the Irish sporting, medical, and political community, a decision was reached to bring in new safety measures that require every fighter competing at the event to submit medical scans and be cleared to compete.
After consultation within the Irish sporting, medical and political community, a consensus has been reached that it is vital to introduce these scans for the BAMMA 26 event.
With this in mind, and to allow the facilitation of these scans for ALL fighters, a decision has been made to move the BAMMA 26 event from June 4th to September 10th. This will leave 3 months of preparation for fighters to organise scans and for them to be reviewed by relevant medical experts.
Following the tragic death of Joao Carvalho last month there were calls for changes to the way that promotions in Ireland were being run, and now we have seen a positive move to help better ensure the safety of athletes who will fight in Ireland.
For the fighters it will be an inconvenience for sure, but it is unlikely that anyone will have a problem with the reasoning behind the postponement especially considering that by introducing this system now, the standards are set for events in the future.
BAMMA 26 will now take place on September 10th, still at Dublin's 3 Arena, and the card is still very exciting.
The BAMMA 26 Card in full:
Paul Craig vs. Chris Fields 205 lbs
Rany Saadeh vs. Andy Young 125 lbs
James Gallagher vs. Sean Tobin 145 lbs
Alan Philpott vs. Aaron Blackwell 135 lbs
Paul Redmond vs. Jack McGann 155 lbs
Andy DeVent vs. Ronan McKay 185 lbs
Adam Jahovic vs. Dylan Tuke 145 lbs
Richard Edwards vs. Lloyd Manning 145 lbs
Mark Andrew vs. Blaine O’Driscoll 135 lbs
Myles Price vs. Declan Larkin 155 lbs
Patrick Wixted vs. James McErlean 145 lbs
Jordan James vs. Philip Mulpeter 170 lbs
Keith McCabe vs. Aidan Brooks 170 lbs
Glenn Irvine vs. John Redmond 185 lbs
[via MMALatestNews.com]
