Shaikh Khalid vows to continue supporting MMA

HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa has said that the continued sponsorship for MMA comes as part of our efforts to develop this game in an effort to form national teams who are able to compete for top honours.

This came as the First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, and Bahrain Olympic Committee President was speaking as he attended the Bahrain Open MMA Championship that took place at the Bahrain Table Tennis Association’s GYM in Isa Town. Under the patronage of HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the event was organised by BMMAF with the supervision of Bahrain Combat Sports Council (BCSC).

The event witnessed the attendance of HH Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of BCSC and Aymen bin Tawfiq Al Moayed, Minister of Youth and Sports as well as many other high ranking officials. HH Shaikh Khalid noted Bahrain’s recent accomplishments in this sport in 2019, including winning the Asian Championship and African Championship titles before 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 are historical, but obviously we want to achieve more,” he added. 33 fighters have participated in the event representing 10 countries, including Bahrain, Saudi, USA, Spain, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria and Morocco. HH 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.