The inaugural Irish Open Youth MMA Championships welcomed some of Europe’s most talented youth athletes on December 11. The IMMAA-organised event saw seventy athletes across four youth categories representing Estonia, Ireland, Ukraine & England, with seventy-two bouts taking place at SBG HQ in Dublin.
Representation from Irish clubs included SBG Ireland, Team Ryano and Relentless Martial Arts. Flying the Estonian flag were athletes from Vabavõitlusklubi RAMM and Spordiklubi Englas, while the English contingent represented Trident Martial Arts.
Several IMMAF Youth World medalists were amongst the strong Ukraine team. 2021 Youth B World gold medalist Herohii Hudz and bronze medalist Illia Sviatun. Both took gold in their respective divisions. Two-time medalist Baniil Besarab graduated to the Youth B ranks at the event, taking silver.
Ireland’s Alex Flanagan also appeared in the Youth B ranks for the first time since winning Youth C gold at the 2022 Youth World Championships. Competing in the -52kg division, Flanagan added another gold to his collection.
Estonia finished the day with five medals, three of which were gold in the Youth A ranks. World bronze medalist Ron-Andro Selter was another familiar face to take the top spot in his division.
As with all IMMAA-organised events, the Irish Open Youth MMA Championships was run according to IMMAA’s medical protocols, with all competitors having up-to-date medicals registered with SafeMMA. The event adopted the IMMAF youth MMA ruleset.
The successful event garnered plenty of attention as the youth athletes showcased their abilities. They will now resume training with the aim of being selected for their respective national teams to compete in future IMMAF international events in 2023.
A full breakdown of the brackets and results can be found on the Smoothcomp platform.
