THE Bahrain Open MMA Championship was held at the Bahrain Table Tennis Association gym in Isa Town.
It was organised by BMMAF under the supervision of Bahrain Combat Sports Council (BCSC) and attended by Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, first vice-chairman of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and president of Bahrain Olympic Committee, Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, president of BCSC, Youth and Sports Minister Aymen bin Tawfiq Al Moayed and several other senior officials.
“Our continued support to MMA is part of our efforts to develop this game in an effort to form national teams that are able to compete for top honours,” said Shaikh Khalid.
He noted Bahrain’s accomplishments in this sport in 2019 included winning the Asian Championship and African Championship titles and finishing second in the European Championship and the World Championship, thanks to which Bahrain has topped the general standing of the IMMAF-WMMAA.
“Such results have made history, but obviously we want to achieve more,” he added.
The event saw the participation of 33 fighters representing 10 countries - Saudi Arabia, US, Spain, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria and Morocco, besides hosts Bahrain.
Shaikh Khalid also met Bahraini fighter Hussain Ayyad on the sidelines of the event to check on his recovery following a severe injury he sustained during Brave 29.