Above, from left to right: Adam Amarasinghe, Cornelia Holm, Jack Shore. By IMMAF.org lead writer, Jorden Curran Former IMMAF gold medal winners Cornelia Holm, Jack Shore and Adam Amarasignhe were all in action on the night of October 14, continuing to impress in their professional MMA careers. Amarasinghe concluded his undefeated amateur run as the 2017 IMMAF European Open bantamweight champion, picking up the title in Sofia, Bulgaria. The top UK prospect kicked off his pro career under the banner of domestic promotion Victory Fights in Brighton. Backed by his own small army of fans in attendance, Amarasinghe snatched a dominant victory over Lithuanian wrestling champion Alex Bilbrovka. The European Open gold medalist employed his thus far unstoppable trademark offence of backing opponents up against the fence and securing a takedown before proceeding to force the stoppage. Sweden’s Cornelia Holm completed her eagerly awaited professional debut on the world renowned Cage Warriors platform at CW87 in Wales. The two-time European Open champion and 2016 IMMAF World Championships gold medalist was the queen of the amateur bantamweight ranks and this year became the world’s number-one ranked contender, pound-for-pound. Competing at flyweight for the first time, Holm faced off against testing opposition in the form of Portuguese striking specialist Diana Filipa, but it was Holm who secured maximum points across all three rounds by completing her takedowns and nullifying Filipa on he ground with persistent top control. The unanimous decision win provided Holm with early experience in going the distance and implementing her approach across longer, professional rounds. Like Amarasinghe, Welshman Jack Shore turned pro with an undefeated amateur record spanning a dozen victories in addition to winning the 2015 European Open lightweight title in Birmingham, UK. Already with five professional victories to his name, the established Cage Warriors veteran featured on the CW87 main card where he pulled off a sensational knockout stoppage, shrugging off the clinch attempt of Italian Mattia Galbiati and countering with a stunning knee strike to go 6-0 as a professional contender. Also featuring for Cage Warriors was 2015 IMMAF lightweight world champion Josh Ellis. Following a successful start at the pro level in March, Ellis was handed his first ever defeated by Lawrence Tracey. After a promising first round performance, Ellis encountered cardio issues that enabled Tracey to establish a significant lead on the scorecards to claim a unanimous decision win. The 2017 IMMAF World Championships take place at Khalifa Sports City Arena from 12 to 19 November, as part of Brave International Combat Week, the 2017 World Championships are set to be the biggest event in the history of amateur MMA under IMMAF with more participants than ever before representing nations from all continents. 2017 marks the first year of the IMMAF Worlds taking place outside of Las Vegas, USA. 
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