Bahrain’s world champions Gadzhi Gadzhiev and Gimbat Magomedov will be defending their titles at the upcoming 2025 IMMAF World Championships.
The prestigious International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) event is set to be held from Saturday to October 2 in Tbilisi, Georgia, as one of the main attractions of BRAVE International Combat Week (BICW).
Gadzhiev and Magomedov will be spearheading Team Bahrain amongst the best amateur fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA), who will collide for honour and supremacy.
The pair will be joined in the competition by Bahrain’s Magomed Sheikhov in the seniors events, while two youngsters will be competing in the juniors, including Tamim Seroor and Abdulla Ismaeel.
The Bahraini quintet were all part of the athletes’ roster published by organisers.
Both Gadzhiev and Magomedov are aiming to hold on to their tags as world champions for another year running.
Gadzhiev has been crowned a world gold-medallist for the past three years.
He clinched the senior men’s super middleweight 88.4kg division title last year in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, after winning the senior men’s light heavyweight 93kg crown in 2023.
Gadzhiev was also the world champion in the junior men’s light heavyweight 93kg class in 2022.
Gadzhiev in action during last year’s worlds
The 23-year-old will this year be taking to the cage once again amongst the 88.4kg competitors, and is considered amongst the favourites to step onto the podium.
Magomedov, on the other hand, will be fighting in the super welterweight 79.4kg category as he aims for his third straight world crown.
He was the world champion of the same weight-class last year, which was his first world title amongst senior men.
The 22-year-old had earlier clinched gold in 2023 in the junior men’s welterweight 77.1kg category.
Sheikhov, meanwhile, will be going for gold in the senior men’s flyweight 56.7kg category, where he bagged the silver medal at last year’s worlds.
Amongst the kingdom’s junior men’s mixed martial artists, Seroor will be contesting the flyweight 56.7kg division, while Ismaeel will be competing in the strawweight 52.2kg class.
Both 19-year-olds will be marking their participation in the worlds for the second straight year.
Team Bahrain will be aiming to continue their strong showing in top international MMA events in Tbilisi.
Action gets underway with the round-of-32 bouts in each class on Saturday.
That will be followed by the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals over the following three days, with the junior finals to be held on October 1 and the senior finals on October 2, the concluding day of the championships.
This year’s worlds marks the second edition in which IMMAF world champions will be awarded official title belts in recognition of their victories.
In 2024, the kingdom’s national team ranked first amongst Arab nations in the Tashkent competition after also coming away with a bronze medal to go with the two gold and one silver.
The bronze was claimed by Sultan Gapizov in the senior men’s super heavyweight +97kg category.
BICW is set to feature the sport’s most prestigious celebrations, in partnership with the IMMAF.
For the first time, Georgia joins the elite roster of nations featuring Bahrain, Serbia, Colombia, and Pakistan that have staged the world-renowned BICW.
“BRAVE International Combat Week is more than just an event; it’s a global movement that unites athletes, fans, and nations through the spirit of MMA,” said BRAVE CF president Mohammed Shahid.
“We are proud to bring this celebration to Georgia, a country with a rich fighting tradition and passionate supporters.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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