Day two of fights at the MMA SuperCup has concluded in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The action began at 3 pm (UTC+3) local time. The semi-final bouts saw the winners guarantee themselves some prize money.
Ireland faced Mexico in the first semi-final of the day. Mexico got off to an early lead through Violeta Mendoza Corral who showcased some impressive striking in her win. Mexico went 3-1 in the first four fights and it was looking like Mexico were on route to the final. Kerry Ann Vernon picked up Ireland’s first win of the day scoring a highlight-reel TKO/KO win in her first fight of the competition.
Trailing by two, Lewis Byrne kicked off Ireland’s resurgence. Welterweight fighter Jordan Furey built on that by adding another finish to his record to level things. In the final push, Conor McCarthy stepped up to Middleweight for the first time and outpointed his opponent to give Ireland the lead.
Denis Perry solidified Ireland’s spot in the final with a fight to spare, bouncing back from a loss yesterday. His Americana submission completed Ireland’s comeback following a nervy start. Mexico will still have the opportunity to leave with some prize money as they compete in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
Host nation Bahrain faced stiff opposition for the second day in a row, this time in the form of a Kazakhstan team that went undefeated in the quarter-finals. Bahrain took an early lead through two consecutive armbar victories through Aieza Ramos Bertozo and Sabrina De Sousa.
Kazakhstan had a bye in the men’s Bantamweight division before winning their next two fights. Including a Neimat Assadov split decision win over 2021 IMMAF Lightweight World Champions Kurban Idrisov to put them in the lead. Ramazan Gitinov eased some of the pressure on Bahrain not so long after, out grappling his opponent before locking in a rear-naked choke in the second round to extend his incredible winning streak to 21.
Sultan Omarov and Gadzhi Gadzhiev sealed the two all-important victories for Bahrain to send them through to the final with a fight to spare. Ghadzhiev found himself in some tough spots against a tough Alik Domnich but overcame adversity to take home a split decision victory.
Saturday will see Ireland face-off with Bahrain in the final, where the winner takes home $100,000 and the MMA SuperCup. Mexico and Kazakhstan will battle it out in the bronze medal match with the winner taking home $50,000.
The full list of today’s results can be found here. The MMA SuperCup will be available for subscribers to watch live at immaf.tv as eight nations teams battle it out to determine who is the greatest in amateur MMA. The event streams live on 9, 10 and 12 March at immaf.tv.
