By Caoilte de Barra
Day 4 of the 2021 IMMAF World Championships has concluded in the Jiu-Jitsu Arena In Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi. The rescheduled tournament is hosted by the UAE Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Federation, with backing from the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and in partnership with Palms Sports, and took place in the Jiu-Jitsu Arena in Zayed Sports City, near UFC Fight Island (Yas Island).
Atomweight action kicked things off in Cage 2 with Ireland’s Nadine Abbott Bisset impressing again. She added another finish to her record, booking her slot in the final against Finland’s Jenna Horto.
At Women’s Featherweight, New Zealand’s Michelle Montague collided with Bahrain’s Sabrina Laurentina De Sousa. The high-level three rounder saw both fighters have their moments but in the end, it was the reigning Featherweight World Champion that came out on top. In the other semi-final, Norway’s Cecilie Bolander extended her streak of armbar victories by finishing Kazakhstan’s Zhansaya Yermagambetova in the first round.
In the Men’s Lightweight division Kurban Idrisov of Bahrain advanced to the final, winning a Unanimous Decision against Kazakhstan’s Neimat Assadov. He meets RMMAU athlete and 2021 European Open gold medalist Salamat Isbulaev in a highly anticipated final.
In Cage 3, we saw a big upset as Bahrain’s Pasha Kharkhachaev exited the competition after losing a Unanimous Decision to RMMAU’s Shamsutdin Makhmudov. He will face the 2019 World Silver medalist Kazakhstan’s Rassul Khatayev in the final on Saturday. Khatayev was impressive today after he won via an ankle lock.
One of the highlight moments of the day was when RMMAU Muhamed Afandi Asipov scored a spinning back kick KO to send him soaring to the Junior Middleweight final tomorrow.
Bahrain’s Rasul Magomedov will fight in his third final in six months and aims to add another gold medal to his collection. He will meet RMMAU athlete Shamil Kurmagomedov for the first time tomorrow in the final.
Upon completion of the fights, each finalist squared off in the cage ahead of their respective bouts over the next two days.
With Day 4 in the books, we go from four cages to one and see our first set of finals take place on Friday. The Junior finals kick off tomorrow from 5 pm GST (UTC+4) live at immaf.tv. For all information regarding the brackets and the schedule visit My Next Match.
