Wikipedia:WikiProject Mixed martial arts/MMA notability

MMA notability, also known as WP:MMANOT, is an essay to give some guidance on points to consider when discussing the notability of the subjects of mixed martial arts (MMA) articles. It is a specific supplement to the overall policy of Wikipedia:Notability relating to mixed martial arts and in no way supersedes it.

These guidelines were created by WikiProject Mixed martial arts to help assess the notability of the subjects of articles. Feel free to discuss improvements on the project talk page or the discussion area for this page (WT:MMANOT).

General points

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Reliable sourcing is the most important factor. Assertions of notability must be sourced from somewhere other than the individual or organization under discussion (see secondary sources); if referencing a title, the organization which sanctioned the event would be the first stop; if the subject of an article is an author, the publisher or ISBN of the subject's work should be given. A lack of any sources after looking around is a warning sign that an article may not be notable enough for inclusion.

Google and other search engines are a useful tool for finding sources, and may sometimes be persuasive (very high or very low result counts), but is not proof of whether or not something is notable (see WP:Google test). Using quotes around the search ("mixed martial art fighter") will look for only exact matches and using -Wikipedia at the end will remove self references.

Organizations

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The methodology used to establish the list of notable organizations is given in the section listing notable organizations.

Criteria supporting notability

  1. Subject of multiple independent articles/documentaries--articles should be from national or international media, not just local coverage.
  2. Promotes a large number of events annually--the more fights it has sanctioned, the more notable.
  3. Has actively been in business for several years - the longer the organization has been around, the more notable.
  4. Large number of well-known and highly ranked fighters.

Criteria supporting deletion

  1. Has only promoted a single event.
  2. Short history as an organization.
  3. Few notable fighters fight in their events.
  4. Fights are no-holds-barred, or rules are much less restrictive than the unified rules of martial arts
  5. Promoted fights are not licensed by state or regional governing bodies.

Fighters

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Amateur MMA fighters are not considered notable (unless they can pass WP:GNG under other criteria).

Criteria supporting notability

  1. Been ranked in the world top 10 in their division by either Sherdog (Sherdog.com) or Fight Matrix (FightMatrix.com).

Criteria supporting deletion

  1. Only amateur bouts
  2. Few fights for top-tier organizations

Individual events

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Individual events are not inherently considered notable because, on the whole, the coverage they receive is routine in nature (consisting of the event announcement, who is going to take part, and the results). To be considered for a standalone article, the article will need to demonstrate the event's lasting effect using references from reliable and diverse sources that are both independent of the subject and show that the duration of coverage lasted beyond the end of the event. Should an event be evaluated as lacking in individual notability, alternatives to deletion (such as merging) should be preferred over outright deletion in accordance with WP:PRESERVE.

Current list of notable MMA organizations and promotions

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This list is subject to change as organizations grow, merge, or go out of business. Changes in this list should be made by consensus after discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Mixed martial arts/MMA notability. The list is divided into two tiers. The top tier is the highest level. The organizations in this list were determined by looking at independent world rankings of male MMA fighters in June, 2010, and the Unified Women's Mixed Martial Arts world rankings of female MMA fighters in October, 2012. Active organizations with multiple male fighters ranked in the top 10 in any of the 9 weight classes, or at least three female fighters ranked in the top 5 (regardless of weight class), were placed in the top tier. Organizations with two female fighters ranked in the top 5 were placed in the second tier. Defunct and other active organizations were placed based on consensus agreement. The last consensus agreement on this topic was to change the required number of ranked fighters to six for a top tier organization (see here-1). Bellator men and women added to top tier from 2022 and 2021 respectively based on consensus agreement (see here-2)

Top Tier
Promotion Men Women Events Source
Bellator MMA
(Men Top Tier: 2009 through 2015 and 2022 onwards)
(Women Top Tier: 2021 onwards)
X X Events 2009 – 2021
Invicta Fighting Championships X Events 2012 – 2021
Shooto (Top Tier: 1989 through 2011, events held in Japan only) X Events 1989 – 2021
Ultimate Fighting Championship X X Events 1993 – 2021
Top Tier - Defunct
Promotion Men Women Events Source
Affliction Entertainment X 2008 – 2009
Dream (mixed martial arts) X Events 2008 – 2012
Fighting Network Rings (Top Tier: 1995 through 2002)
(events held in Japan, Holland, USA and Russia only)
X Events 1995 – 2014
Jewels (mixed martial arts) (Title bouts and tournament winners only) X Events 2008 – 2013
Pride Fighting Championships X Events 1997 – 2007
Strikeforce X X Events 2006 – 2013
World Extreme Cagefighting X Events 2001 – 2010
World Victory Road X Events 2008 – 2010
Second Tier
Promotion Men Women Events Source
Absolute Championship Berkut X X Events 2012 – 2018
Bellator Fighting Championships (Second Tier: since 2016 – 2021) X X Events 2009 – 2018
Cage Warriors X X Events 2002 – 2018
Deep (mixed martial arts) X X Events 2001 – 2018
Jungle Fight X Events 2003 – 2018
King of the Cage X X Events 1999 – 2018
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki X X Events 2004 – 2018
M-1 Global X Events 1997 – 2018
ONE Championship X X Events 2011 – 2018
Pancrase X X Events 1993 – 2018
Professional Fighters League X X Events 2012 – 2018
Rizin Fighting Federation X X Events 2015 – 2018
Titan FC X X Events 2005 – 2018
Second Tier - Defunct
Promotion Men Women Events Source
BAMMA X Events 2009 – 2018
Cage Rage Championships X X Events 2002 – 2008
Elite Xtreme Combat X X Events 2007 – 2008
Maximum Fighting Championship X Events 2001 – 2014
Palace Fighting Championship X Events 2007 – 2009
Shark Fights X Events 2008 – 2011
Tachi Palace Fights X Events 2009 – 2018
Ultimate Challenge MMA X X Events 2008 – 2018
Universal Reality Combat Championship X Events 2002 – 2018