Bahrain excel at MMA Euro Open

Team Bahrain made history once again. After rising up to the number one spot in the world MMA rankings, the squad put on a collective performance for the ages, winning five senior golds and one junior gold at the IMMAF-WMMAA European Open. The tournament concluded yesterday, with Bahrain topping the table for most gold medals, alongside Russia, who had more silver medals.

The squad counted on the presence of HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, whose continued efforts made the achievements possible. The European Open was up for grabs at the beginning of last day, but Bahrain made sure to make a run at top, winning all of five finals that the squad were involved, topped by an incredible first-round knockout by Pasha Kharkhachev, who is reigning world champion at Super Heavyweight and new European champion in this weight class.

At Heavyweight, Shamil Gaziev was also dominant, overwhelming Gadzhimurad Bagaudinov, from Russia, en route to a second-round TKO, after ground and pound strikes from mount position. Bantamweight Magomed Idrisov came out victorious against Spain’s Alvaro Ucendo, while Featherweight Abdulmanap Magomedov beat Artem Afanasenko, from Ukraine, to claim the gold medal in their respective weight class.

Finally, Ramazan Gitinov went the distance but overwhelmed Evgeny Morozov, from Russia, to win the Welterweight gold medal by unanimous decision. The historic result means Team Bahrain holds on the hard-earned top spot at the world rankings, as the squad looks forward to more success at home when the entire world of mixed martial arts will meet in November for the World Championships, in Isa Town, during the International Combat Week.