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FIVE YOUTH CHAMPIONS BECOME JUNIOR CHAMPIONS ON DAY 5 OF 2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
[16 February 2023. Belgrade] The first day of the 2022 IMMAF World Championships Finals have come to a close at the Stark Arena, in Belgrade. After the 2022 IMMAF Amateur MMA Awards, 32 junior athletes competed for the coveted IMMAF gold medals. Fans witnessed sixteen exciting bouts, followed by the medal ceremony.
Youth world gold medalists Abigail Alvarez [USA], Anastasiia Holinko [Ukraine], Oleksandr Huliaiev [Ukraine], Sani Brännfors [Finland], Gadzhi Gadzhiev [Bahrain] all added junior world titles to their collection.
Yersultan Shakenbay [Kazakhstan] extended his undefeated record and became a two-weight world champion after winning each of his bouts via finish in the competition after making the move to flyweight in 2022.
Ukraine had one other gold medalist in Ivan Yuschenko [Ukraine], after he outpointed Spartak Mikayelyan [Armenia] in a close contest that had the judges split.
Tajikistan ended the day with three gold medals. Manizha Samadova became the nation’s first-ever IMMAF women’s world champion after defeating Esmira Mammadova [Azerbaijan]. Otabek Rajabov had his moment in the spotlight after falling short at last year’s World Championships. The 2022 Asian champion showcased his high-level wrestling in his bout with Jake Ngai [Ireland] to take gold.
This historic day saw Israel win gold for the first time through Shaked Nisiman, who showcased some superb grappling to edge Ugiloy Jumanova [Tajikistan] on the scorecards.
Uzbekistan and the Czech Republic were also on the medal table. Tagir Machmudov [Czech Republic] defeated Rafael Kveldstad [Sweden] via split decision, adding to his success from the last set of the European Championships.
Asborek Anvarjonov and Muhammad-ali Turg’untoshev were the medalists for Uzbekistan, putting them fourth on the junior medal table.
Tomorrow sees the week come to a close with the senior finals as Sabrina De Sousa and Ramazan Gitinov look to become three-time world champions which are set to begin at 5 pm local time. Bouts will be available to watch live and on-demand on IMMAF’s OTT platform, immaf.tv, from $9.99 for the Championships Pass.
A full list of medalists and results can be found on Smoothcomp. IMMAF is providing live coverage on www.immaf.org, besides the highlights on IMMAF Twitter account and Instagram profile.
The World Championships feature as part of IMMAF World Championships Week, an eight-day spectacle promoted by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation, Serbian MMA Federation and BRAVE Combat Federation in conjunction with BRAVE Serbia International Combat Week 2023. This is the biggest event in the international governing body’s 11-year history.
About IMMAF:
Founded in 2012, the purpose of IMMAF is to further the development, recognition, and regulation of the sport of MMA (mixed martial arts), enabling amateur competition through the organisation of national MMA federations around the world. With a eight-year track record of organising international amateur Championships and developing the sport globally, IMMAF's membership today includes 117 National Federations worldwide with National Olympic Committee recognition in 49 countries. IMMAF has advanced programmes for education and certification of MMA coaches, referees and other technical officials, as well as expert committees for anti-doping, medical, regulation and youth development,. IMMAF is the only legitimate international governing body for MMA, approved by WADA, working to gain sport recognition and see MMA into the Olympic Games. immaf.org
