Team Bahrain power through to MMA Super Cup semis
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Team Bahrain powered through to the semi-finals of the first-ever Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Super Cup last night as BRAVE International Combat Week got underway at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town. Team Bahrain claimed their berth in the last four after being the first to take five wins against Team Tajikistan in their quarter-final match-up.
Joining the home team in the semi-finals were Team Kazakhstan, Team Mexico and Team Ireland. The Bahrainis next face-off with the Kazakhs at 6 pm this evening, while the Mexicans take on their Irish counterparts at 3 pm.
Team Bahrain scored a convincing victory over their rivals and enjoyed an impressive start, with back-to-back wins from their female fighters in Flyweight Aieza Ramos Bertolso and Bantamweight Bianca Basilio. Aieza defeated Tajikistan’s Anisa Karimova while Bianca won with an impressive submission against Shohona Ghozoeva.
After splitting the next four bouts, Middleweight Sultan Omarov secured the Bahrainis’ place in the semis with a decision win over Tajikistan rival Khalid Tolibzoda. Despite having officially qualified, Team Bahrain decided to go ahead with their remaining two fights in the evening.
Bahraini Light Heavyweight Gadhi Gadzhiev went on to win against Abdullokh Nazarov and then Bahrain’s Sultan Gapizov took a decision to win over Anvar Langarchiev to end the match 7-2. The Bahrainis will now hope to carry their momentum on to the next stage.
The next lock horns with Team Kazakhstan, who enjoyed a clean 5-0 sweep of their rivals Team Balkan Champions. Their fifth win was clinched by Neimat Assadov against Danilo Ristic. Meanwhile, it was a tough battle between Team Ireland and Team Oceania in yesterday’s opening quarter-final match-up of the MMA Super Cup.
The Irish eventually won 5-4. The first bout was claimed by Ireland’s Eabha Cruise with a submission against Oceania’s Alisha Burtt. But Oceania eventually fought back and forced a 4-4 tie. Ireland finally booked their tickets to the last four after Gustavo Lopes Borges managed to pull off an incredible kneebar on Oceania’s Larry Adnan with one second left on the first round clock of their bout. They will now take on Team Mexico, who needed to battle hard against Team Arab Champions for a 5-4 win to march through.
The South Americans enjoyed a strong start after Andrea Guzman collected a technical knockout victory against Arab Champions Maha Houimel. Mexico’s triumph was capped by Anthony Ramirez Amado’s decision to win against Osama Raddad to advance to the semi-finals.
The MMA Super Cup is the first-ever nation vs nation amateur MMA tournament in the world, where the best team in the world will compete to prove themselves amongst the top amateur MMA nations. According to the tournament system, the competitions will be held in the single elimination. Following today’s semi-finals, the final match takes place on Saturday.
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