The formation of a New Zealand Mixed Martial Arts Federation and its inclusion in a global governing body is being hailed by two of its members as a giant leap forward for the sport.
New Zealand joins 20 other countries as part of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation, which is the largest in the world.
It also sanctions the Ultimate Fighting Championship in countries which do not have athletic commissions.
NZMMAF president Terry Hill said to be accepted was a major step for the development of MMA in New Zealand.
''As a national federation, our role is to protect the safety of fighters, grow the sport in New Zealand and give fighters the chance to compete professionally,'' Hill said.
He said the New Zealand federation had been in contact with the UFC and it was interested in coming here in 2014-15.
On a national level, the New Zealand federation would regulate the industry and set strict guidelines for running promotions along international standards, Hill said.
Hill, who has been involved in the New Zealand combat scene since the late 1970s and officiated at the country's first MMA fight night in Auckland in 1993, said the NZMMAF had about eight of the country's best promoters joined up and many more showing interest.
The 15-person New Zealand federation is a broad collaboration involving a range of amateur and professional coaches, fighters, officials and businessmen from across the country. Four of those come from Dunedin.
Team Hammerhead coach and promoter Matt Toa joins Howie Booth, Apii Taia and Gary Chalklin in the federation. Toa said to be at the ''coal face'' of an exciting time in MMA was a great honour.
He said the New Zealand board's inclusion in the IMMAF meant it would be much more accessible for New Zealand-based fighters to get on UFC shows once they came to New Zealand.
Toa said he had been in talks with Tom Wright, the UFC director for Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
''We are training our fighters on the assumption that the UFC will be in New Zealand by 2015,'' Toa said.
The IMMAF will hold an MMA world championship in July next year. It will be competed across eight weight divisions, and run alongside the UFC fan expo in Las Vegas.
Both Toa and Hill said a team to represent New Zealand would be picked. Only amateur fighters would be eligible.
The IMMAF was formed in February last year. It is a non-profit organisation, and with 40 more requests from other countries, it is expected that by the time of the world championships, at least 50 countries will be signed up.
The UFC is the biggest MMA promotion in the world. In 2001, it was bought by American businessmen Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, along with business partner Dana White, for $US2 million. From a fledgling promotion in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the UFC has become the cash cow of MMA, slowly buying out many of its competitors.
It now effectively has a monopoly on big-time MMA promotions. No-one knows its exact wealth, but Forbes magazine estimates the UFC to be worth more than $US1 billion ($NZ1.27 billion).
