- Rising Star & World Cup Champion Hazem Kayyali leads the charge
The Arab Champions athlete line-up has been announced for the of the MMA Super Cup, taking place in Manama on 9, 10 and 12 March 2022, broadcast on immaf.tv.
Organised by BRAVE as part of BRAVE International Combat Week, the MMA Super Cup presents the some of the strongest, national amateur MMA teams in the world, according to the IMMAF World Amateur MMA rankings alongside wildcard teams. The teams will be facing off to determine the greatest nation(s) in MMA and for the opportunity to win cash prizes of US$100,000, US$75,000 and US$50,000 for first to third place respectively. The prize money is intended to fund the development of the next generation of MMA athletes in the winning nations through their IMMAF affiliated national federations.
The Arab Champions team is made up of athletes and coaches from seven Arab nations: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
IMMAF Rising Starand middleweight Hazem Kayyali (JOR) is the most renowned athlete on the squad having gold-medaled at the 2021 World Cup Prague. The charismatic 21-year-old’s earlier IMMAF outing saw him earn a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in the junior light heavyweight division, losing out to Russian stand-out and eventual 2-time champion, Omar Aliev. Hazem suffered disappointment at the recent 2021 World Championships where he lost on day 2 to eventual gold medalist Fergus Jenkins (NZA). Jenkins will not be representing at the MMA Super Cup, but Jenkin’s compatriot Jonas Grace will be in the draw at middleweight.
Light Heavyweight Ricardo Bachir (LEB) has recorded some notable victories on the IMMAF platform since 2014 including at World Championship level. The IMMAF veteran won a silver medal at the 2019 Asian Open Championships in Bangkok.
Other IMMAF veterans include: bantamweight Fars Khalid Alraimi (KSA), lightweight Abdalrhman Alhyasat (JOR), welterweight Elie Mansour (LEB) and heavyweight Skander Ben Ghali (TUN) who has also triumphed at Cage Warriors Fight Night.
The Arab Champions full athlete line-up is as follows:
Men:
● Bantamweight (135lbs): Fars Khalid Alraimi (KSA)
Substitute: Abdulsalam Ghazi (IRQ)
● Featherweight (145lbs): Osama Raddad (EGY)
● Lightweight (155lbs): Abdalrhman Alhyasat (JOR)
● Welterweight (170lbs): Elie Mansour (LEB)
● Middleweight (185lbs): Hazem Kayyali (JOR)
● Light Heavyweight (205lbs): Ricardo Bachir (LEB)
● Heavyweight (265lbs): Skander Ben Ghali (TUN)
Women:
- Flyweight (125lbs): Rana Saied Alsayed Metwaly Mohamed
- Bantamweight women (135lbs): Maha Houimel (TUN)
Substitute: Radwa Abdelaziz (EGY)
Coaches: Ashraf Shishani (JOR); Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
The MMA Super Cup takes place under IMMAF Amateur MMA Rules and World Anti-Doping Agency Rules. All competitors will be medically precleared by Safe MMA.
The MMA Super Cup takes place between March 8 to March 12, during BRAVE International Combat Week, with BRAVE CF 57 taking place on Friday 11 and an Opening Ceremony on 8 March.
