Ayyad wins bronze after thrilling fight

Manama : The Judging Panel of the European Open Championships of Amateur MMA ended Bahraini participation after awarding victory to Bulgarian fighter Nikolay Ivaylov in his fight against National team and Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa Mixed Martial Arts Organisation (KHK MMA) fighter Hussain Ayyad in the 56kg category semi-finals.

The event organised by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation is set to end today in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. Ayyad delivered a strong performance against the Bulgarian by going the full distance, but was denied victory by the judges.

This was similar to last year in Prague’s championship which denied Hamza Zrira from reaching the semi-finals in his participation.

Despite Ayyad’s defeat, the fighter won the bronze medal according to the rules and regulations of the championship, which grants a medal to the semi-finalists.

Colonel Khalid Abdulaziz Al Khayat, President of the Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts Association said: “We thank His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Honourary President of the Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts Federation, Founder of Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa Mixed Martials Organisation (KHK MMA), for following up on this championship and we congratulate Hussain Ayyad for achieving bronze, which comes due to the support of Shaikh Khalid to Bahraini MMA, and contributed to the Kingdom of Bahrain achieving many titles and achievements in foreign participations.”

He added: “We achieved many goals in this participation, such as refining the skills of the fighters and raising their abilities to prepare for upcoming participations. The federation is following the plans set by Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, which focuses on strengthening Bahrain’s presence and participation in international championships, “ and praised the performance of Ayyad at the championships.