By Caoilte de Barra
On April 9, MMA Polska held their third set of MMA Championships at OSiR Bemowo hall, Obrońców Tobruku 40. The tournament was their biggest yet, with nearly 351 entries in total from over 100 clubs across Poland taking part. The event saw 284 bouts take place across three cages and resulted in 33 new champions being crowned.
In the past two events held by MMA Polska, the only available categories were Junior and Senior. It was historic for the federation as they had a tournament for cadets for the first time, and there were 115 entries across the cadet portion of the event. The step forward highlighted the commitment the federation is showing to youth development and bringing through the next generation of talent.
All bouts took place under IMMAF rules and had certified judges along with professional cut teams and medical crew present. Support was also received from the Mayor of the District, Urszula Kierzkowska.
The tournament, which served as a qualification for the national team, was the first of four anticipated events this year. All bouts were live-streamed and are available to watch back on the MMA Polska YouTube channel. A full list of results is also available here.
Athletes from Ukraine who are continuing their training in Poland were welcomed to the event. Those who competed found quite a lot of success in the cadet categories, winning multiple medals.
Also in action was the 2021 European Open Gold Medalist Magdalena Czaban. The Atomweight standout is one of the brightest stars coming out of Poland right now and she continued to impress at the event. “Atomóka” had to get past both Dominika Madej and Sandra Michno to pick up gold. Despite fighting at Atomweight in IMMAF competition, Czaban stepped up to Strawweight for this competition.
2021 European Open Silver Medalist Sara Jozwiak also returned to action for the first time in 2022. Four entries in her bracket meant that she got to fight twice and wins over Wiktoria Czyżewska and Milena Filocha saw her take home gold.
In the men’s divisions, Przemysław Kowalczyk stood out from the crowd in the Heavyweight division. He has yet to compete at IMMAF level, however, has been thriving on the regional scene. His performances cemented his spot as the number one athlete in his weight category, overcoming both of his opponents to secure a gold medal.
In the Welterweight division, Fantom MMA Kartuzy had their sole senior medalist in Kamil Smętoch. His route to the final was nothing short of spectacular, overcoming five different opponents to take gold, this included Patryk Semeniuk, who was on the Poland National team for the 2021 European Open Championships and World Championships.
The full set of medalists from the event can be found here. Overall the tournament was a resounding success and the federation is excited to build on this success further throughout the year. The federation’s president, Martin Lewandowski explained how happy he was with the event and the standard by which it was run.
“There have not been such amateur Championships in Poland before. It was unforgettable!”
“A record number of competitors. 351 Fighters, 284 fights, 3 cages, 12 hours of streaming, winners in 33 different categories! The championships were organized and held according to IMMAF rules. I am glad that we managed to generate such a huge interest in the event in such a short time of functioning MMA Poland Association.”
