His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport, Honorary Chairman of the Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts Federation (BMMAF), Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee for the BRAVE International Combat Week and the 4th edition of the Mixed Martial Arts World Championship, assured that yesterday was a significant day in the history of the Mixed Martial Arts Sports, with the qualification of four Bahraini fighters to the semi-finals, after presenting admirable levels of play.
His Highness said: "The quarter-finals were very strong, with some caution from the fighters and their keenness not to make mistakes that might give the opponent the chance to take full control of the game and gain an opening to end the match to his advantage, this made the players very caution at the beginning of the bouts, but that changed when they got to know the abilities of each other.

His Highness added: "I followed the bouts of the world fighters, and focused directly on the capabilities they possess. It was impossible to predict who would be champion due to the high levels of play and tremendous physical capabilities of the fighters, which reflect a fierce competition for the advanced positions. and this is what we aspired to see, a strong tournament with honest competition reflecting the extent of development mixed martial arts sport has reached".

"Hussain 'Ayad, Hamza Mohammedov, Abdul-Manaf, and Murtadha Ali have qualified to the semi-finals of the World Championship, which is expected because of the great abilities of these brave fighters. We hope to continue to provide high-levels before the semi-finals, and ensure that Bahrain gains advanced positions to enhance achievements by Bahrain's mixed martial arts sport, which is now a strong contender in various international tournaments".

His Highness praised the participation of Bahraini female players and said: "We have been keen to involve the female players of our team, Fatima Burshaid and Hind Rizk, in order for them to gain more experience and interaction with fighters from different countries of the world, and to get used to the atmosphere of global events, in the hope of achieving positive results in the upcoming competitions.

"In the future, we seek to host and organize more competitions of mixed martial arts to reaffirm Bahrain's status as an important center for this sport in the Middle East."

His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Khalifa witnessed part of the fighters' presentation of the BRAVE International Combat Week, which was held at the Avenues Mall on Wednesday evening.
His Highness briefed the participants on the latest preparations, which reflects strong competition in the championship, The BRAVE International Combat Week will be held on Friday at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium.

The men's competition on Wednesday witnessed excitement and rivalry between the players, with Swede Sirdar defeating Kazakh Dastan, Kazakh Yarnaz deafening Indian Shiva, American Sian defeating Italian Giacomo, Kazakh Olzaz defeating Russian Valeri, Kazakh Den Islam defeating Australian Abzi Mahdawi, Albanian Florian defeating Brazilian Carlos, American David defeating British Ashley, Albanian Armal defeating Czech Jacob, Bulgarian Asakov defeating Kazakh Zhan, Frenchman Sola defeating Finnish Niko, American Benjamin defeating Swede Oscar, American Christian defeating Italian Dario, Icelander Bennorn defeating New Zealander Stacey, Swede Khalid Lalam defeating Australian Andreu, Belarus Pavel defeating Kazakh Kudabergen, Australian Jossip defeating American Darian, Swede Anton defeating Danish Thomas, Polish Pavel defeating Swede Christopher, Kazakh Lev defeating Lebanese Jaddad, and Welsh Ryan defeating Czech Jindred.

Women bouts witnessed exciting matches, where results were as follows:
Hungarian Alexandra defeating Kazakh Gulmera, New Zealander Hannah defeating Romanian Ralokah, Swede Ana Estivik defeating Welsh Emily, Mexican Sarah Kova defeating Welsh Alesh, Brazilian Michelle Olivera defeating Romanian Jeta Loliya, Finnish Anette defeating Indian Nishiganda, Finnish Carolina defeating South African Kila, Welsh player Dania defeating Italian Alarya, Italian Fabiana defeating Lebanese Nasser, Finnish Jamia defeating American Fotini, British Joannie defeating Italian Arzico, German Julia defeating Bulgarian Azabli, and in the last confrontation British Casey defeating Indian Devia.

Bahraini Hind Rizk Losses
Our national team player Hind Rizk lost against Kazakh Ian Torsian, although Hind Rizk had a good run in the game.
Our national team Hind Rizk confirmed that she had sought to defeat the Kazakh player, noting that the bout was difficult.

Bahraini Gumzat defeats Belarusian Artsem
Bahrain's Gumzat Mohammadov scored a remarkable level in his bout against Belarusian Artsem Arishka to gain victory.
Gumzat was very pleased with the win and the qualification, noting that he will seek to continue to shine and reach to the podium.

Murtadha Ali, our team player shines
Our national team player Murtadha Ali shined against his Australian counterpart Sam Lawson, where Murtadha presented a high level of fighting and came out as the winner, qualifying for the next round.
Murtadha Ali expressed his great happiness with this victory, which came with the support and follow-up of His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, indicating that he will seek to continue to shine in the next round.

Shock after the loss of Bahraini Shamil Gimbatov
Bahrain's Shamil Gimbatov left the competition after losing to Australian Cody.
The Bahraini team was shocked after the loss, especially as the indicators were pointing to a deserved win for Bahrain's Shamil, but the decision was in favor of Cody.
Despite the Bahraini team's protest to the jury, things did not changed.

'Ayad shines and qualifies for the semi-finals
Bahrain's Hassan 'Ayad achieved a deserved victory against Irish Dylan Kennedy, thus reaching the semi-finals on Thursday at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium. 'Ayad continues his successful advancement in the tournament, hoping to move beyond the semi-final today to continue his path towards the gold.

Abdul-Manaf continues to soar in the championship
National team player Abdul-Manaf Megadov continued his high rise to the semi-finals after crossing a tough barrier yesterday to beat Kazakh Mireh Zubanov, after a tough game won by our player, thus reaching the semi-finals on Thursday.

Source: BNA