UFC to be official sponsor of 2015 World Wrestling Championships, USA Wrestling reveal

USA Wrestling have named UFC as an official sponsor for the 2015 World Wrestling Championships ©USA Wrestling

USA Wrestling have announced Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be an official sponsor for the 2015 World Wrestling Championships, which are set to take place from September 7 to 12 in Las Vegas.

UFC which claims to be the world's premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation have based their headquarters in the city and recently extended an agreement with USA Wrestling to help promote both wrestling and MMA.

“We are thrilled to sponsor the 2015 World Wrestling Championships and welcome wrestling competitors and enthusiasts from 100 countries to Las Vegas,” said Lou Lauria, UFC vice-president of federation relationships and corporate social responsibility.

“Wrestling is a key member of the combat sports community and UFC will continue to support the development of men’s and women’s amateur sports globally.”

Earlier in the year UFC had struck a similar agreement with British Judo to help support the 2015 European Judo Championships in Glasgow, but their partnership caused the European Judo Union (EJU) to strip British Judo of the event.

It was deemed that the sponsorship failed to meet the EJU’s values with UFC deemed a threat to the sport, with judokas tempted to switch to take up MMA.

USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender though spoke positively about their partnership for the World Wrestling Championships and views it as an opportunity, rather than a risk.

“We’ve already enjoyed a growing partnership with UFC and this is a natural extension,” he said.

A similar partnership between British Judo and UFC, caused the former to be stripped of the European Judo Championships ©Getty Images

“We’ve had numerous athletes that have gone on from our National and Olympic teams to great success in UFC, including trailblazing athletes like two-time Olympians Dan Henderson and Daniel Cormier and Olympic champion Henry Cejudo.

“With UFC located in Las Vegas, it made a lot of sense for both organisations to partner on this historic event.”

United States are set to host the World Championships for the first time since 2003 with competition, which is due to be held in the Orleans Arena, providing the world’s top wrestlers with the potential to seal Olympic qualification as well as add to their medal collections.

Over 800 wrestlers are expected to take part in six days of intensive competition, featuring the Olympic disciplines of Greco-Roman, and men’s and women’s freestyle.

In total 108 Olympic berths will be decided at the Championships, with the top six from each weight category set to advance automatically to Rio 2016.