A veteran in the regulatory side of Mixed Martial Arts, Guilherme Bravo took on the important role of Head of Refereeing at the 2024 IMMAF European Championships held in Serbia from March 29 to April 6, and has now been appointed as the new Director of IMMAF Regulatory Affairs.
In his new role, Bravo will align IMMAF events organization with international MMA protocols and elevate them to a world-class standard. He is also tasked with overseeing the training of officials, instructors, and leaders for events, updating referee protocols and improving judging processes.
Empowered by his invaluable experience of officiating around the world, Bravo took up the responsibilities of overseeing and educating the officials who came from around the world to be part of the European Championships and is now in prime position to continue his work throughout the entire IMMAF system.
After the event, reflecting on the intensity of the IMMAF European Championships, Bravo described the atmosphere as both « crazy and amazing, » particularly noting the frenetic pace of the first day, which featured a staggering 90 fights.
IMMAF has been changing the landscape of MMA officiating for years now and Bravo expressed enthusiasm for the organization’s unique capacity to educate officials from diverse regions worldwide.
“A very important aspect of the IMMAF ecosystem is the fact that the work that we do reverberates around the world. In the past, we had very few judges and referees giving courses, and they would always be limited to their own regions. But through IMMAF, you can teach young referees and judges from around the world. Once they are back in their countries, they can take these lessons and apply them in a practical way as well as eventually being able to teach them as well’’.
While concluding, Bravo stressed the importance of having referees and judges go through the experience of officiating on a platform like IMMAF.
“The IMMAF provides a learning platform not just for young, amateur fighters, but for judges and referees as well. You can see how much difference it makes for them, once they get called into big professional shows. When they put the time in officiating IMMAF bouts, it provides them with invaluable experience that they can carry through the professional ranks and make the sport greater because of that’’.
