The 2024 season for the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) has kicked off in Serbia, as the biggest proving ground for amateur MMA landed in Belgrade for the 2024 European Championships, last March 30, for the first-ever Youth continental tournament, which successfully wrapped up last Sunday.
Starting this Tuesday, April 2, until next Saturday, April 6, the eyes of the MMA world will be glued to the Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall as fans flock in to take a sneak peek at the future of the sport in the form of the IMMAF Junior & Senior divisions.
In association with the Serbian Mixed Martial Arts Federation, the IMMAF is making history in Europe, with over 500 athletes registered for competition representing 36 nations – a landmark number which further proves the IMMAF is the number one amateur competition in the world.
In the Junior divisions, anticipation is building specifically for the Light Heavyweights as all four medalists from last year’s World Championships will be in action. Gold medalist Ivan Poremchuk, from Ukraine, is the man to beat as he looks for a second straight gold medal in IMMAF competition. He will be followed closely by silver medalist Lukasz Makowski from Poland, and the two bronze medalists Bulgaria’s Spas Hadjiev and Georgi Petrov.
A host of world champions will also be in action at the European Championships, underlining the high level of competition expected for the fans in Belgrade and across the world.
Austria’s Elias Erber, Senior World Champion in the Featherweight division, has a chip on his shoulder coming into this edition of the European Championships, as he came out with only a silver medal in the junior category in 2022. With a very good 19-4 amateur record, ‘’No Time’’ is defending a seven-fight winning streak coming into Serbia.
Junior Heavyweight champion Josyp El Sawy, from Germany, is looking to increase his undefeated record and position himself as the next big man out of IMMAF. Having revealed the likes of Shamil Gaziev, Irman Smajic, and Rasul Magomedov in that weight-class, the IMMAF is no stranger to Heavyweight superstars.
Sweden’s Hanna Palmqvist is fresh off an amazing run to gold in the Women’s Flyweight division of last year’s World Championships and will look to keep that momentum to add European gold to an ever-growing list of achievements. However, 2022 European gold medalist Mathilde Aschenbrenner from France might have a say in that division as the two young women look to be on a collision course for supremacy in the 125-pound senior female division.
The brackets have been drawn and we are a go for the first day of competition kicking off on April 2, with the Round of 32 match-ups for the Seniors and the Round of 16 fights for the Juniors. Fans can go to Smoothcomp.com to catch the full brackets and stream the entire event on IMMAF.tv
