- Team Kazakhstan to face Balkan Champions in the Quarterfinals
- IMMAF Rising Star Ayan Tursyn to represent at flyweight
- “We expect a surprise from the Balkans Team, but we are ready for it”
Team Kazakhstan is pitted against the Balkan Champions at the MMA Super Cup in Manama on 9, 10 and 12 March 2022, broadcast on immaf.tv.
Organised by BRAVE as part of BRAVE International Combat Week, the MMA Super Cup presents the 6 strongest, national amateur MMA teams in the world, according to the IMMAF World Amateur MMA rankings plus 2 wildcard teams. The teams will be facing off to determine the greatest nation(s) in MMA and for the opportunity to win cash prizes of US$100,000, US$75,000 and US$50,000 for first to third place respectively. The prize money is intended to fund the development of the next generation of MMA athletes in the winning nations through their IMMAF affiliated national federations.
Team Kazakhstan is currently ranked at #3 in the World Amateur MMA Rankings and has prominence in the IMMAF medals tables.
Rising star Ayan Tursyn is Kazakhstan’s most pronounced athlete on the squad. Competing at flyweight for the MMA Super Cup, Tursyn has previously achieved the following IMMAF medals at atomweight and strawweight: 2017 Asian Silver, 2017 World Bronze, 2019 Asian Gold, 2019 World Silver and 2021 European Silver. Bantamweight Antonina Kotlyarevskaya is the other woman on the squad and boasts achieving second place in the lightweight division at the 2019 Asian Championships.
Other IMMAF medallists representing Kazakhstan are bantamweight, Zhanibek Tynyshty, who stands as 2019 Junior World Bronze medallist and2021 European Gold medallist; featherweight Anatoliy Zolotykh who won Junior Gold at the 2019 European Championships and championed at the 2019 Asian Championships; 2019 Asian Silver medallist, lightweight Neimat Assadov; and heavyweight Rassul Khatayev, who took silver at the 2019 World Championships.
Team Kazakhstan’s full athlete line-up is as follows:
Men:
● Bantamweight (135lbs): Zhanibek Tynyshty
● Featherweight (145lbs): Anatoliy Zolotykh
● Lightweight (155lbs): Neimat Assadov
reserve: Yerkin Begenov
● Welterweight (170lbs): Zhaxybek Aimakhanov
reserve: Daniil Gubin
● Middleweight (185lbs): Vakhid Timerbiyev
● Light Heavyweight (205lbs): Alik Domnich
● Heavyweight (265lbs): Rassul Khatayev
Women:
- Flyweight (125lbs): Ayan Tursyn
reserve: Karina Sissenova - Bantamweight women (135lbs): Antonina Kotlyarevskaya
Team Coaches: Bayan Zhangalov, Nurlan Mamyraliye
Kazakhstan Mixed Martial Arts Federation (KAZMMA) Head Coach, Bayan Zhangalov, said:
“Our team is fully ready to perform at the MMA Super cup. We have been working non-stop from competition to competition. Our main rival is the Bahraini team. However, the Super Cup will also see the participation of other strong teams such as Tajikistan and unified teams from the Balkans and Arabic nations. In the first match, we are set to face the Balkans Team. We expect a surprise from the Europeans, but we are ready for it.”
The MMA Super Cup takes place under IMMAF Amateur MMA Rules and World Anti-Doping Agency rules. All competitors will be medically precleared by Safe MMA.
The MMA Super Cup takes place between March 8 to March 12, during BRAVE International Combat Week, with BRAVE CF 57 taking place on Friday 11 and an Opening Ceremony on 8 March.
