Uzbek Interior Minister Aziz Tashpulatov Appointed Head of the MMA Association of Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Aziz Tashpulatov, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the country’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Association, the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan reported.

Tashpulatov succeeds Defense Minister Bahodir Kurbanov, who had led the association since August 2020. Earlier this year, in April 2025, Tashpulatov was also elected Chairman of the Uzbekistan Volleyball Federation.

The Mixed Martial Arts Association of Uzbekistan was established in 2019.

Its first president, Otabek Umarov, noted at the time that the organization was created to support fighters who had previously trained and competed solely on their own initiative.