The 2022 IMMAF Amateur MMA Awards will officially take place on February 15th, in Belgrade, Serbia, as part of IMMAF World Championships Week. One of the most anticipated honours up for grabs is the Senior Male Athlete of the Year award, as voted by representatives from the IMMAF Athlete’s Commission and Board of Directors
2021 Awards winner Ramazan Gitinov (Bahrain) is nominated for a second consecutive year. Gitinov has close to thirty amateur bouts on his record and has not been beaten since 2017. His Welterweight gold medal at the 2022 IMMAF Asian Championships is the most recent. With this record over the years, he is the most decorated amateur MMA athlete in IMMAF history. Also from Bahrain, Rasul Magomedov is an undefeated amateur MMA athlete, who after winning gold at both the 2021 IMMAF European Championships and 2021 IMMAF World Cup, progressed to win championship titles at the World and Asian Championships in 2022.
Bagdat Zhubanysh and Bekzat Zhassiya (Kazakhstan) are also nominated. Zhubanysh has recently turned professional after a successful career in amateur MMA, which saw him go undefeated. He was a gold medalist at the 2021 IMMAF World Championships in the Strawweight category, becoming the first athlete to win three World gold medals. Zhassiya was also one of the stars at the Worlds, with a gold medal in the Featherweight category.
Finally, the last nominee in the male category is Fergus Jenkins (New Zealand). The main character in the underdog story of the 2021 World Championships and the best amateur talent in the Oceania region.
Watch the 2022 IMMAF World Championships streamed live from Belgrade, Serbia, at immaf.tv from February 11 – 17.
List of nominees
Best male senior:
- Fergus Jenkins (New Zealand)
- Ramazan Gitinov (Bahrain)
- Bagdat Zhubanysh (Kazakhstan)
- Bekzat Zhassiya (Kazakhstan)
- Rasul Magomedov (Bahrain)
