Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) Watt Chamroeun considers the inclusion of mixed martial arts (MMA) in the Aichi Nagoya Asian Games 2026 in Japan a good sign for Khmer traditional mixed martial arts to strengthen its potential to compete on the international stage.
Mr. Watt's mention is because the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Aichi Nagoya Asian Games Organizing Committee (NINAGOC) have decided to officially include MMA in the Aichi Nagoya Asian Games 2026 in Japan, according to its notice, which was sent to the Olympic Committees of the OCA's member countries in Asia on March 2.
According to the same notice, the Aichi Nagoya Asian Games in Japan from September 19 to October 4, 2026, will consist of MMA competitions in both the men's and women's divisions, in which the modern MMA fighting spirit consists of competitions under 60 kg, under 71 kg in the men's division and under 51 kg in the women's division. Women's section.
At the same time, Mr. Watt Chamroeun, who is also the President of the Cambodian Mixed Martial Arts Federation, said that Cambodia, under the initiative of Prime Minister Hun Manet, has just started organizing the 1st Khmer Mixed Martial Arts Tournament 2024 from October 18 to 20 to preserve and develop the Khmer Martial Arts Classics of Donta for future generations.
In this regard, Mr. Watt Chamroeun understands that the inclusion of MMA in the Asian Games for the first time in Japan 2026 will be an important part in helping to promote the development of traditional Khmer mixed martial arts as well as martial arts practitioners in various combat sports in Cambodia to strive to strengthen their abilities and advance to compete on the international stage.
"The inclusion of MMA in the Asian Games is a good sign for our mixed martial arts and helps our traditional national identity sports, such as Khmer martial arts practitioners, lion martial arts, wrestling, Khmer martial arts, and other martial arts to have the opportunity to compete on the international stage through the inclusion of MMA in the Asian Games."
He added: "If the MMA category is included in the Olympic Games the next day, it has more avenues for us because Cambodia has a lot of potential and resources of combat sports and we can build outstanding capabilities the next day."
However, Mr. Watt Chamroeun urged the Cambodian mixed martial arts team to strengthen their capabilities to have a chance to participate in the Asian Games, believing that the Cambodian athletes can compete with them as they have also won 1 gold, 5 silver, and 9 bronze medals from the 2nd Asian Mixed Martial Arts Championship 2024 as the host country to be ranked 5th out of 15 participating countries.
"Our mixed martial arts team has won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Championships hosted by Cambodia, so we need to strengthen our potential and maintain this technical work to reach the Asian Games," Watt stated.
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