MMA – BAHRAIN’S reigning world champion Gimbat Magomedov and compatriot Magomed Sheikhov both advanced to the quarter-finals yesterday in their respective weight classes at the 2025 IMMAF World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The prestigious International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) event is being held as one of the main attractions of BRAVE International Combat Week, under BRAVE Combat Federation.
Magomedov got his bid underway for an historic third straight world title with a victory against Yerkebulan Myngbossyn of Kazakhstan in the senior men’s super welterweight 79.4kg category.
Magomedov took the round-of-16 clash by unanimous decision, punching his ticket to the elite eight where he will face off with Patrik Bilic from Croatia today. Bilic won his bout yesterday against Islambek Umachanov from the Czech Republic by forfeit.
Magomedov was the world champion in the same weight-class last year, which was his maiden world title at the senior men’s level. The 22-year-old had earlier clinched world gold in 2023 in the junior men’s welterweight 77.1kg category.
Also yesterday, Sheikhov powered through to quarters of the senior men’s flyweight 56.7kg division. He literally didn’t need to break a sweat to secure a victory against Nebu Hadnezar from Indonesia, who failed to make weight.
Sheikhov will next take on Qudrat Safi from England today. Safi won his round-of-16 contest yesterday against Akaki Chikhashvili from Georgia by triangle choke submission.
Meanwhile, two other Bahrainis stepped into the cage yesterday in the junior men’s classes, but both lost their opening fights.
Abdulla Ismaeel bowed out of the strawweight 52.2kg category following a technical knockout defeat against Bekzhan Nazarov of Kazakhstan in the round of 16.
Bahrain’s Tamim Seroor, on the other hand, lost by submission to Tamaz Shavadze from Georgia in the flyweight 56.7kg division’s last 16. Shavadze triumphed with a rear-naked choke.
Aside from Magomedov and Sheikhov, also set to battle for Bahrain today are reigning world champion Gadzhi Gadzhiev and Arsen Suleimanov.
Gadzhiev is competing in the senior men’s super middleweight 88.4kg. Like Magomedov, he is gunning for a third successive world crown. Gadzhiev gets his medal bid underway against Mario Stefan from Angola, who defeated Mbongo Mounoume from Cameroon yesterday with a rear-naked choke submission.
Gadzhiev is aiming for a hat-trick of world titles this year. The 23-year-old clinched the super middleweight crown in 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, after winning light heavyweight 93kg gold in 2023.
Suleimanov, on the other hand, will be fighting in the junior men’s light heavyweight 93kg category. He will be locking horns with Volodymyr Mukan from Ukraine for a place in the semi-finals, where the winner will take on Denys Lushpaiev, also from Ukraine.
Fights continue every day this week until the junior finals on Wednesday and the senior finals on Thursday, the concluding day of the championships.
This year’s worlds mark the second edition of the IMMAF event where champions will be awarded official title belts.
Last year, the kingdom’s national team ranked first amongst Arab nations in Tashkent, where they came away with four medals, including two gold, one silver, and one bronze. Magomedov and Gadzhiev were the gold-medallists, Sheikhov captured the silver, and Sultan Gapizov won bronze in the senior men’s super heavyweight +97kg category.
The kingdom’s delegation in Tbilisi is headed by Bahrain MMA Federation (BMMAF) president Mohammed Qamber, and it includes a number of BMMAF board members, and coaches Eldar Khan, Sharap Gitinov, and Renat Iusubov.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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