Wikipedia:WikiProject Mixed martial arts/MMA notability

This is an essay on notability. It contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how notability may be interpreted within their area of interest. This information is not a formal Wikipedia policy or guideline, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

Shortcut WP:MMANOT

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).

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.

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.

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 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.

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)