Bahrain MMA team in South Africa

Manama : Bahrain’s amateur Mixed Martial Arts team is set for action today in the First African Open Amateur Mixed Martial Arts competition, hosted by Johannesburg in South Africa and organised by the International Federation of Mixed Martial Arts which concludes tomorrow.

The Bahraini squad comprises - Abbas Khan, Hamad Mattar, Hamza Zrira, Hussain Abdulla, Maher Hamed and Nayef Fikri who will compete in weight divisions between 56kg and 77kg and are coached by Renat Abu Ahmad.

This is the third participation by the team this year after previously taking part in the European Open Amateur Championship in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, during which Hussein Ayad won a bronze and in Singapore in June.

Other teams in the fray are hosts South Africa, Russia, India, Congo and Ghana, where these teams representing 35 fighters in five weights categories for women and nine for men.

A final medical was held yesterday for the fighters and examination for of weights before the bouts get underway..

Bahrain’s coach Abu Ahmad said, “The team is ready for competition and have finished all preparations and we aim to achieve positive results in this tournament and fly the flag high for MMA Bahrain.”