Aggrelin
| ISIN | 🆔 |
|---|---|
| Industry | Martial arts promotion |
| Founded 📆 | 2009 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , , |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Owners | Andreas Ramsauer Heinz Einsiedler |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | www |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Aggrelin is a German Martial arts organization that promotes the homonymous fight series in Bavaria and Austria. Fights take place according to MMA, boxing and kickboxing rules with a focus on professional MMA matches. All fights take place in a cage of a 6 by 6m diameter. Aggrelin is one of the early pioneers in the Bavarian MMA-Sport[1] and has reached popularity in Germany and neighboring countries[2] with over 25 professional MMA-Events.[3] Due to the "trial and error" phase as a German pioneer in a controversially discussed sport, Aggrelin experienced several scandals and the fight series faced public criticism many times.
The early days 2009 - 2014[edit]
The first business years of Aggrelin were marked by numerous struggles about permissions, as parts of Munich politicians aimed to completely ban MMA fights due to their alleged brutality.[4]
The first Aggrelin event took place in April 2009 in the – meanwhile demolished– "Badeanstalt München", in Munich, under the title "Munich‘s First Cage Fight". From a sports perspective, the event went quite smoothly, albeit under police surveillance. Although the event played out in a very disciplined way according to local police, the Munich authorities eventually bowed to increasing political pressure that was further enhanced by the German party "Freie Wähler" who filed an urgent motion ("Eilantrag") at the Bavarian Parliament on May 6th, 2009 with the goal to forbid MMA events in Munich. The Bavarian Parliament decided during a public session on July 15, 2009 not to ban cage fights directly, but remained open to inquiries about possible legal remedies.[5][6]
Due to the above discussions, the Munich authorities banned all striking on the ground, i.e., "ground and pound", for MMA events in the city of Munich. As ground and pound to the head/body of the opponent constitutes an essential part of mixed martial arts that athletes prepare for specifically, this ban can be regarded as a major setback for the Bavarian MMA sport at the time.[7]
In spite of the ban on Feb. 27th, 2010, Aggrelin decided to organize a second event (Aggrelin 2) in Karlsfeld (near Dachau). Although the event was held outside of the city of Munich, the local authorities restricted the rules of the event in a similar way like the Munich authorities.[8] Consequently, the fights took place without any strikes to the ground and were not positively received by the audience nor the local authorities. Subsequently, Aggrelin performed a "tactical retreat" from the MMA scene after such a failure.
Just over three years later Aggrelin returned to the stage. With legal assistance, the organizers managed to obtain the necessary permissions for Aggrelin 3 on March 28th, 2013[9] where strikes on the ground were declared legal. Like the three following events (Aggrelin 4,[10] 5[11] and 6[12]), it took place in the "Theaterfabrik" in Munich's Optimolwerke. Just as before, the Munich authorities closely observed the events and frequently sent representatives to the respective venues to check compliance with all official requirements.
Growth and expansion 2015 - 2018[edit]
From 2015 onwards, the collaboration with the Munich authorities has improved significantly. Aggrelin no longer has had difficulties to obtain permission to conduct events including ground and pound. In addition, the major regional newspapers started to regularly report on Aggrelin events.[13]
Starting with Aggrelin 7 (April 12th, 2015)[14], the event series moved into the "Backstage", a larger venue located centrally in Munich. Here, the promoters organized nine events between 2015 and 2018.
Moreover, Aggrelin organized events in four other Bavarian cities: Rosenheim, Nuremberg, Starnberg and most recently Ingolstadt[15]. Particularly Aggrelin 12 (May 29th, 2016) took place in Bavaria's second-biggest city, Nuremberg. According to local press, it was the first time that an official, major MMA-event was held in that region.[16]
The international debut took place with Aggrelin 14 at the "Republic" (now "Szene Salzburg") in Salzburg, Austria on December 16th, 2016. In December 2017 (Aggrelin 22) and September 2018 (Aggrelin 25) the fight promotion held another two events in Salzburg, Austria.[17][18]
Current developments[edit]
Since mid-2018, the sport of MMA has become more and more mainstream in Germany, which also shows in increased free-TV coverage.[19] Aggrelin recognized this trend and moved, in its home base Munich, to a bigger venue, the "Reithalle", starting with Aggrelin 27 on February 10th, 2019.[20] Aggrelin 28 will take place at the LKA Longhorn in Stuttgart on May 19th, 2019. This will be the organization's first event in a German state other than Bavaria.[21]
Scandals[edit]
Aggrelin faced quite the scandals over the years, and many critics questioned the promotion's professionalism. During the main event at Aggrelin 19, one of the fighters attacked the main referee with his fists immediately after the fight. The video went viral via the international specialized press and was mentioned by well-known US-American MMA-blogs and the international entertainment media.[22][23] In order to prevent such future mishaps, Aggrelin introduced the "Bavarian MMA Ethics Codex". According to this document, fighters could be disqualified retroactively due to unsportsmanlike behavior or political statements.
Another tense chapter in the promotion's history was when the management removed two fighters from the fight card scheduled for Aggrelin 24 (June 3rd, 2018) in Munich, due to rumors surrounding both fighters about deep ties to the right extremist scene. In spite of the promoter's proactive removal, there was a fair amount of public criticism.[24]
Travels to China[edit]
In 2016, Aggrelin composed a team of five fighters and sent them as the "German team" to compete against a local team in China. All five fighters had previously fought during one or more Aggrelin events. The fights were organized by the Chinese promoter Wu Ling Feng (WLF) and broadcasted to an audience of double-digit millions in the Chinese TV.[25]
Rules[edit]
Aggrelin's MMA ruleset is strongly aligned to the widely accepted Unified Rules of MMA, yet it has several twists due to requirements by the local authorities and laws. For example, Aggrelin does not allow any kicks to grounded opponents, whereas the Unified Rules allow kicks to a grounded opponent's legs.
Weight classes[edit]
Aggrelin uses the same weight classes in all disciplines as follows:
| Flyweight: | - 57,00 kg |
| Bantamweight: | - 61,00 kg |
| Featherweight: | - 66,00 kg |
| Lightweight: | - 70,00 kg |
| Welterweight: | - 77,00 kg |
| Middleweight: | - 84,00 kg |
| Light Heavyweight: | - 93 kg |
| Heavyweight: | + 93 kg |
Additionally, individual weight classes, i.e., Catchweight fights, can be agreed upon.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Interview with one of the founders about the promotion". merkur.de.
- ↑ "Das sind die 5 besten Veranstalter 2017 - Martial Arts". German Fight News (in Deutsch). 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ Sherdog.com. "Aggrelin Fights, Fight Cards, Videos, Pictures, Events and more". Sherdog. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Verbot von sog. "Cage Fights"" (PDF). RatsInformationsSystem der Stadt München. 2009.
- ↑ "Freie Wähler Roßtal: Verbot sog. Cage Fights". www.fw-rosstal.de. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Dringlichkeitsantrag: Verbot sog. Cage Fights | polit-x.de". polit-x.de. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Schläge bis zum Tabubruch". sueddeutsche.de (in Deutsch). 2012-07-06. ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ Schiegl, Gregor (12 March 2010). "Blutiges Spektakel im Bürgerhaus" (PDF). Dachauer SZ. 59: R4 – via http://eva-gottstein.de.
- ↑ Sherdog.com. "Aggrelin 3 - Cage Fight Munich 2". Sherdog. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ "Kruschinske und Wittmann siegreich". www.gnp1.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ "Klartext 52K – Im Käfig". www.klartext-magazin.de. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ https://www.sherdog.com/events/Aggrelin-6-Cage-Fight-Bavaria-41109
- ↑ "Medizin-Student und MMA-Kämpfer Lukas (21) - »Im Käfig bin ich kein Mensch mehr". bild.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ Sherdog.com. "Aggrelin 7 - Backstage Brawl". Sherdog. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ "Ingolstadt: Heimkampf im Käfig - MMA: Viele Lokalmatadoren erfolgreich". www.donaukurier.de. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ "MMA in Nürnberg: So waren die Cage Fights im Löwensaal". www.nordbayern.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ Salzburg24. "Harte Cage Fights im Salzburger republic". www.salzburg24.at (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Cage-Fight in der Salzburger Innenstadt". krone.at (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Kampfsport - GMC 16: Stephan Pütz kündigt dominanten Sieg an". www.ran.de (in Deutsch). 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ "Aggrelin 27: Riedl mit K.o.-Erfolg, Magamschapiev und Schmidt überzeugen". www.gnp1.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ https://www.gnp1.de/mma/mma-deutschland/news/aggrelin-kommt-am-19-mai-nach-stuttgart/
- ↑ Harkness, Ryan (2017-09-11). "German Fighter Decks Referee For Not Stopping His Fight". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ Mills, George (2017-09-12). "Furious MMA fighter attacks referee after EYEBALLS almost squeezed out of his HEAD". Dailystar.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ Schmidt, Thomas (2018). "Neonazis dürfen bei Kampfsport-Event nicht auftreten". sueddeutsche.de (in Deutsch). ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
- ↑ "Kampfsport - MMA-Abenteuer in China mit 40 Millionen Zuschauern". www.ran.de (in Deutsch). 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
External links[edit]
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