Team KHK MMA wins 1 gold, 3 silvers at IMMAF Africa Open

Manama : Bahrain’s Khalid Hamad Khalifa Mixed Martial Arts (KHK MMA) team member Hamza Zrira (four wins-one loss) picked up a gold medal as he defeated South Africa’s Katiso Matime (3-11) in the final of the 61kg bantamweight bout on the main card of the 2017 First IMMAF Africa Open Championships at the Brakpan Indoor Sports Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, which concluded on Saturday following a triangle choke submission after two minutes 40 minutes of the first round.

The KHK MMA team also picked up three silvers through Ramazan Gitinov of Russia, Nayef Fikri of Bahrain and fellow Bahraini Hussain Ayyad.

Gitinov (1-1) was beaten on a technical knockout in the third round (1:03) by Democratic Republic of Congo’s Eliezer Kubanza (2-0) in the 77kg welterweight division, while South Africa’s Nkosi Nedebel (6-1) in the 70kg lightweight division beat Bahrain’s Nayef Fikri (2-3) in the second round (2:20) by a technical knockout.

Ayyad (9-6) followed up his bronze medal at the European Open Amateur Championship in the Bulgarian capital Sofia earlier this year, with a silver after being defeated by an unanimous decision over three rounds by South African Wade Kerspuy (5-2) in the 56kg flyweight division.

The bout for the 66kg featherweight title between KHK MMA Russian team members between Abdulmanap Magomedov (3-0) and Gamzat Magomedov (1-0) was cancelled as the latter failed a medical.

In one other bout for the light heavyweight 93kg title, South African Frikkie Benderman (2-0) defeated compatriot Dmitri Fogg (3-2) on a split decision over three rounds.

The Bahrain team were coached by Renat Abu Ahmad and this is the third participation by the KHK MMA team this year after previously taking part in the European Open Amateur Championship in Bulgaria and Singapore in June.