Pertacami Chairman Tommy Paulus conveyed this information after the closing of the GAMMA World MMA Championship 2024 in Tangerang, Banten, on Saturday (December 14), where Indonesia secured one gold medal from female MMA athlete Bayu Peni Hendrasswari.
"We have devised several programs, including the development of a training camp planned for next year," he remarked.
Paulus explained that the national training camp will be designed to help Indonesia produce more MMA athletes who are specialized in the sport, considering that the country has been represented mostly by athletes from kickboxing, boxing, Muay Thai, and wushu at senior-level MMA competitions.
For that reason, the Pertacami chairman highlighted that athletes would have to earn their right to join the training camp through a stringent selection process.
"The national training camp I mentioned will be dedicated to training only MMA athletes. Perhaps we will apply a contract system for the athletes," he stated.
In addition to the training camp plan, he said the Pertacami will also evaluate the athletes competing at the recently concluded world MMA tournament, alluding to the failure to achieve the target of three gold medals for Indonesia.
"I will focus more on recruiting junior or senior athletes to prepare for the fifth iteration of the GAMMA World MMA Championship that will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil," he said.
Despite the underwhelming result, Paulus extended his appreciation to all athletes who represented Indonesia at the tournament that drew participation from around 600 athletes from 63 countries.
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Translator: Arindra M, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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