The Russian MMA Union recently
announced that new steps have been taken to actively develop home grown amateur
talent among women.
Until
now, the sole focus of the government regulatory body has been in men’s MMA,
and with world leading success as tens-of-thousands of athletes compete across
the nation each year in a bid to reach the national
championship finals, in what is the world’s most extensive domestic competition
circuit for amateur mixed martial artists.
“For the first time, women will take part in the Russian MMA
Championship,”Radmir
Gabdullin announced, President of the Russian MMA Union.
National finals set to take place from 2-6 May in Moscow.
He
added, “One of the main
areas of work of the united international federation (IMMAF –
WMMAA) is the way to
recognize MMA as an Olympic movement. To follow the Olympic Charter, one of the
criteria of which is gender parity of sports. Therefore our task is to create
in Russia training and competitive conditions for female athletes.
Women
have previously competed for Russia on the international amateur platform, and
have earned medals to boot. At the 2016 IMMAF European Open, the MMA Federation
of Russia (counterpart to the Russian MMA Union) dispatched strawweight competitor Svetlana Kotova, who
was awarded bronze after a semi-final defeat to former IMMAF World and European
Open champion, Alexandra
Toncheva.
Kotova
returned for the historic IMMAF – WMMAA Unified World Championships in 2018, as
Russia produced a combined national team for the first time under both the
Russian MMA Union and Russian MMA Federation with record
breaking success.
Above: Kotova is overcome with emotion upon making history for
women’s MMA in Russia
This
time competing in the new women’s atomweight division, Kotova made history as
the first Russian woman to win a bout at the amateur world championships, after
battling to a unanimous decision triumph and securing a bronze medal over
Ireland’s Aeilish
O’Hanlon. In addition, lightweight standout Polina Kobzeva earned
the women’s 155lb silver medal, making history as the first woman to represent
Russia in the finals of the amateur world championships.
Above: Kobzeva (left) faced off against New Zealand’s eventual gold medalist and two-time world champion, Gase Sanita
Gabdullin expressed high expectations for further international success under the Russian flag, as the new initiative gathers momentum. He cited, “We have a lot of athletes in Russia who can claim the world championship.”
