The 2021 IMMAF World Championships have been going down this week in Abu Dhabi, with over 400 of the world’s top amateur fighters competing for their chase to capture IMMAF gold.
The organization will celebrate its tenth anniversary this year. Earlier this week, it held the 2021 IMMAF Amateur MMA Awards, with the black-tie event taking place inside the Millennium Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Twelve awards were handed out during the evening, with Team Bahrain doing particular well as it took out both the Best Male and Best Female Athlete trophies.
Ramazan Gitinov collected the Best Male Athlete title; the 24-year-old is an outstanding talent and is the reigning IMMAF welterweight world champion. Gitinov is set to take on Tajikistan’s Jovidon Mahmudov in the final today and is weighing up the possibility of turning professional once the World Championships wrap this week.
The Best Female award went to Sabrina Laurentina De Sousa. The Brazilian-born mixed martial artist who fights out of Bahrain is only 21 but has already captured both World & European titles.
The current women’s featherweight champion has looked impressive throughout the week, with her victory over New Zealand’s Michelle Montague in her semi-final bout attracting plenty of attention. She will face Norway’s Cecilie Bolander in the final and, like her teammate Gitinov, will also be favored to walk away with the gold medal.
Tajikistan’s Otabek Rajabov also had successful night, picking up both Newcomer of the Year and Best Junior Athlete of the Year award. Kazakhstan’s Ayan Tursyn claimed Performance of the Year following her epic knockout of Italy’s Martina Corradi at the 2021 European Championships.
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Kazakhstan's Ayan Tursyn stakes a claim for KO of the tournament!
— IMMAF (@IMMAFed) August 19, 2021
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Here is the full list of winners from the 2021 IMMAF Amateur Awards
- Best Female Athlete: Sabrina Laurentina de Sousa (Bahrain)
- Best Male Athlete: Ramazan Gitinov (Bahrain)
- Best Junior Athlete of the Year: Otabek Rajabov (Tajikistan)
- Best Newcomer of the Year: Otabek Rajabov (Tajikistan)
- Best Performance: Ayan Tursyn (Kazakhstan)
- Host Federation of the Year: RMMAU
- Best on Social Media Award 2020: French Mixed Martial Arts Federation
- Best National Federation for MMA Coaching: Polynesian Federation of Wrestling, Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Associated Disciplines (FPLAJDA)
- IMMAF Anti-doping Award: Bulgarian Mixed Martial Arts Federation (BULMMAF)
- Best Grading Scheme Award: Panhellenic MMA Federation
- MyNextMatch Award: International Mixed Martial Arts Federation of Australia
- Best IT team: MMA League of Ukraine
- National Federation of the Year: Mixed Martial Arts Zambia
- Regulatory Excellence and Contribution Award: Scott Manhardt and Manap Kabdiyev
- President’s Award: Michele Verroken (Sporting Integrity) for her contribution to achieving World Anti-doping signatory status for IMMAF; Mohammad Al Hosani on behalf of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Federation for their hosting and rescuing of the 2021 IMMAF World Championships
For those wanting to follow the action head over to IMMAF TV to watch the world championships live and on demand.