Bali hosted the Soma Fight Night ©GAMMA

The Indonesia member federation of Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) worked alongside Soma Fight Club in Bali to hold a GAMMA judges and referee workshop the day before the first official mixed martial arts (MMA) bout in the region.

Zuli Silawanto, head of GAMMA Indonesia’s Referee Committee, and Wallie Teo, Bali’s representative, educated the participants on GAMMA’s latest set of rules and regulations.

Once the workshop was completed, those involved were accredited as GAMMA Indonesia referees and judges.

The next day saw the newly accredited officials apply everything they had learnt by refereeing and judging the bouts at the sold-out Soma Fight Night in the Kuta Arena.

Boxing, MMA and K1 were the three MMA forms of combat that took place under GAMMA PRO rules.

Officials were trained in the lead up to the Soma Fight Night ©GAMMA
Officials were trained in the lead up to the Soma Fight Night ©GAMMA

GAMMA believes the officials gained valuable practical experience and say they hope this will be the first of many future MMA events to be scheduled in Indonesia with high class officiating.

In December, GAMMA and GAMMA Indonesia hosted the inaugural GAMMA Indonesia Striking MMA exhibition and GAMMA Indonesia Striking MMA referee and judge training programme to improve participation in the country.

The next major scheduled GAMMA competition is the World Championships, due to be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from March 23 to 27, where Indonesian athletes are expected to compete.