World Martial Arts Championship

The World Martial Arts Championship (WMAC) is an El Kadsreian combat sports promotion. Founded in 1998 by a team from Latikuu that included France Ryan, Haruto Awashima, Jon J. Govic and Peter Kong, its events have featured mixed martial arts (MMA), submission grappling, kickboxing, fencing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, karate, judo, taekwondo and Muay Thai bouts, as well as displays of strength and martial arts skills.

The promotion was born out of Latikuu's involvement in the TV series WMAC Masters, a production of and Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment focused around the fictional World Martial Arts Council, which proved to be successful in Aritonazca. The promotion's first event, WMAC 1: A New Beginning was held on February 6, 1999 at the Kadsre Dome in El Kadsre City, El Kadsre; they have since gone on to hold hundreds of events across Aritonazca and the world. It is Aritonazca's largest MMA promotion; with parent company Latikuu Edacra having parlayed its entry into the world of combat sports into a best-selling trading card game, WMAC Brawlers & Battlers, and appearances from WMAC fighters in its various franchises.

History
The WMAC concept originated in WMAC Masters, an American live-action television show produced by Norman Grossfeld featuring choreographed martial arts fights. It was created and produced by 4Kids Productions (later known as 4Kids Entertainment) in conjunction with Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment (best known as the co-producers of the Saban's Power Rangers franchise), and syndicated by The Summit Media Group (4Kids and Summit Media were divisions of licensing agency Leisure Concepts Inc., later becoming the now-defunct 4Licensing Corporation). WMAC, in the series, stood for the fictional World Martial Arts Council, where the best martial artists compete for the ultimate prize, the Dragon Star; a trophy that served as proof that its holder was the best martial artist in the world.

In 1998, Latikuu arranged with 4Kids Entertainment to spin off the WMAC concept into a fully-fledged martial arts promotion company. A team from Latikuu was formed - comprised of Latikuu marketing director France Ryan, martial arts consultant Haruto Awashima, boxing promoter Jon J. Govic and semi-retired martial artist Peter Kong - to create the organization. The new WMAC was re-christened the World Martial Arts Championship to give it a more professional edge.

The debut event of the World Martial Arts Championship, WMAC 1: A New Beginning, was held on February 6, 1999 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Kadsre Dome in El Kadsre City, with the main event being a Heavyweight title fight between Aquarian mixed martial artist Kinji Satake and El Kadsreian boxer Vinnie Proctor. The card showcased various kinds of martial arts and combat sports, including submission grappling, kickboxing, Muay Thai, karate and fencing.

On October 16, 2005, WMAC held its first event in the United States, WMAC Fight Night: American Holiday, at the in, headlined by a Dragon Star bout between Ty Rackham and Alofa Masoe. was chosen because its athletic commission was the first to approve WMAC's rule sets. The event was the start of the promotion's expansion into the United States, opening offices in, and  and starting to hold close to 5 annual events in the country.

On February 6, 2009, WMAC 10th Anniversary Brawl at the Kadsre Dome was co-headlined by an exhibition bout between Kinji Satake and Rui Drabek and a fencing match between Aidin Livni and Sancho Galarza.

In 2015, WMAC held it's first all-women's event, WMAC Fearless. The event was headlined by a rematch between WMAC women's flyweight champion Beatriz Martins and former women's flyweight champion Tessie Otomo. The event also marked the MMA debut of former El Kadsre City W.F.C. and El Kadsreian women's national football team forward Daphne Loder.

Mixed martial arts
WMAC currently mixes the "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts" with rules common in Asian MMA promotions, for example it used Pride Fighting Championships' rules on soccer kicks for several years before declaring the move illegal.

Kickboxing and Muay Thai
WMAC uses the Global Kickboxing Rule Set and the Global Muay Thai Rule Set. In kickboxing, fighters wear boxing gloves, with athletes weighing at or below 65.8 kilograms (bantamweight) wearing 8-oz gloves and athletes weighing above wearing 10-oz gloves. In Muay Thai, fighters wear 4-ounce mixed martial arts gloves. Matches vary in maximum length, depending on whether it is for a championship title. In all fights, each round can be no longer than five minutes. Most fights have a maximum of three rounds, with one minute breaks in between, but championship matches have a max of five rounds. WMAC Muay Thai allows elbow strikes, clinch fighting, sweeps and throws.

Submission grappling
WMAC utilizes the Global Submission Grappling Rule Set. Matches consist of a single 10 minute round. Victory can be obtained by submission, verbal tapout, referee stoppage "due to imminent danger", request for stoppage by cornerman, or by judges' decision. Three judges score the bout by the number of catches, or "legitimate" submission attempts. If there are an equal number of catches, the grappler who was awarded the last catch will be named the winner. If there are no catches, the judges will award victory to the athlete who showed more aggression. Yellow cards are issued to grapplers who stall. Once an athlete is issued a yellow card, the only way that athlete can win is by submission.

Weight divisions/Current champions
Aside from the usual mixed martial artist weight divisions, the WMAC also offers the Dragon Star division, which pits the champions of two different weight divisions - or even two different combat/martial art divisions - against each other, with the winner receiving the Dragon Star, a trophy that proclaims that its holder is among the best martial artists in the world.