Picture: European Open Silver medallist Warren Mason secures victory for Team UK via arm-bar against Frenchman Humberto Correia For a third successive year the UK MMA Federation (UKMMAF) National Team will compete at the IMMAF World Championships of Amatuer MMA, taking place from Tuesday, July 5 – Sunday, July 10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, in conjunction with the 5th Annual UFC International Fight Week and Fan Expo. The UK National Amateur Team first competed at the inaugural 2014 IMMAF World Championships, achieving five podium positions with 1 Silver and 4 Bronze medal winners under the guidance of head coach and UFC veteran, Luke Barnatt. Now led by UFC veteran John Maguire alongside UKMMAF secretary Nigel Burgess, Team UK followed up the following year with Josh Ellis claiming the nation’s first IMMAF Gold medal, winning the 155lb Lightweight brackett at the 2015 World Championships, in addition to James Duckett earning Silver at Middlweight and Jake Constantinou earning Bronze at Welterweight. Team UK most recently competed on home soil at the 2015 European Open Championships in Birmingham, England, where the nation accumilated a total of 7 podium posititions; 2 Gold, 1 Silver, and 4 Bronze. Team UK will venture to Las Vegas with a number of familar faces as several European Open competitors retained their place for a second stint with the team as we head to the World Championships. Veterans who retained their spot on Team UK include the likes of European Open Bronze medallists Connor Hitchens and Hardeep Rai, plus 20-year-old European Open Flyweight Gold medal winner, Warren Mason. In addition, while the UK National Team has been selected, the UKMMAF has collaborated with standout UK promotion BAMMA to present the first “BAMMA Invitational UKMMAF National Amateur Tournament,” taking place from May 13-15 at the BodyPower Expo 2016 at the NEC Arena, Birmingham. Full Team UK lineup for the 2016 IMMAF World Championships listed below: Women’s Strawweight: Naomi Harvey Men’s Flyweight: Josh Neale Men’s Flyweight: Warren Mason Women’s Bantamweight: Michelle Jones Men’s Bantamweight: Raffaele Voza Men’s Bantamweight: Danny Stirk Men’s Featherweight: Shoaib Yousaf Men’s Featherweight: Connor Hitchens Men’s Lightweight: Beau Gavin Men’s Lightweight: Joe Harding Men’s Welterweight: Mojtaba Aslan Men’s Welterweight: Hardeep Rai Men’s Middleweight: Tom Crosby Men’s Light-Heavyweight: James Harrison Men’s Heavyweight: Ash Roden Men’s Heavyweight: Wayne Samways All athletes will be subject to IMMAF screening and clearance ahead of competition at the World Championships. For more information on the UKMMAF visit UKMMAF.org.uk. You can follow the UKMMAF on Twitter @UKMMAFed. For more information on the 2016 IMMAF World Championships and participating teams visit www.mynextmatch.com. Written by IMMAF.org lead writer and website manager, Jorden Curran
IMMAF World Championships: Team UK
