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So i have been a bit quiet around here for a while for many reasons, some of which involves something i am working on for the year end/early next year (if you follow my previous threads over the past few years you can probably guess what it is) which has been taking up a lot of time.
Back on topic.... I am a huge fan of IMMAF and their World Championsjips & European Championships that they put on each year and think it is the closes thing to an amateur olympic-style competition that we have. This year is the biggest yet with 286 participants 51 different countries. Furthermore there is also the Junior World Championships (for fighters ages 18-20) where another 86 competitors from 36 different countries.
I won't list each fighter competing but will do a little preview of each weight class with who i think will be the main contenders. Some fighters it is extremely hard to get any records or information about (mainly Russians, Kazakhstans, Ukraines etc) so don't be surprised if a few of these do well in the tournament.
Super Heavyweight (9 Fighters)
9 fighters compete in this years Super Heavyweight bracket - up from 5 in the previous 2 years. No fighters in the draw has too much experience - the only fighters with victories under the IMMAF banner are South Africa's Delano Humas (2-1 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF) and Turkey's Tolga Polat (2-2 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF). Russia's Grigoriy Ponomarev is also one to look out for.
Prediction: Delano Human (South Africa)
Heavyweight (16 Fighters)
A solid number of 16 fighters compete for the heavyweight crown this year (up from 10 fighters last year). Irelands Ryan Spillane (5-8 MMA, 4-3 IMMAF) shocked the world earlier this year when he upset the field to become the European Champion, and among his victories was an impressive omoplata submission. He looks to build on that victory this year in a field full of debutants. Bartosz Zarczeniuk (7-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) of Poland brings an excellent record with 5 KO victories in his 7 wins. Lucas Kopal (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) brings an unbeaten 3-0 record with all 3 wins being finishes. There are also fighters from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyszstan & Azerbijan whose records are hard to find but that could be dangerous.
Prediction: Bartosz Zarczeniuk (Poland)
Light Heavyweight (21 Fighters)
A line up of 21 fighters compete in the light heavyweight tournament this year and with lots of the light heavyweight veterans turning pro, the field is wide open this year for a debutant to win. Russia's Ruslan Shidakov (15-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) brings the strongest record on paper to the table with 15 wins in 16 fights. Italy's Paulo Anastasi (11-5 MMA, 4-2 IMMAF) has made it to the semi finals of 2 previous IMMAF tournaments and will look to go a little better this year. Australia's Marc Grayson (2-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) has two 1st round submissions to his resume and is also one to watch.
Prediction: Ruslan Shidakov (Russia)
Middleweight (30 Fighters)
The middleweight bracket originally hada full bracket of 32 fighters but after a couple of pullouts this bracket goes ahead with 30 competitors. The favourite for me has to be 2018 European Champion Dario Bellandi (13-1 MMA, 8-1 IMMAF). Bellandi has won 8 of his 9 IMMAF fights and has finished 6 of these 9 fights. In addition to his European Championship victory he was also a close runner up in last years World Championships. Joseph Luciano (13-6 MMA, 10-3 IMMAF) will be a big contender to the tournament having won 3 dominant fights en route to winning the African Open earlier this year. Luciano has won an incredible 10 fights under the IMMAF banner and made it to the semi finals in last years tournament. Team UK's Christian Leroy Duncan (10-3 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) is the only man to defeat the aforementioned Dario Bellandi. Duncan is extremely well rounded and is a finisher and is my pick to win this years middleweight tournament. Radu Zarioiu (6-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) of Romania had an excellent run in this years European Championships winning 3 straight fights by TKO before getting submitted by Bellanti in the final. Other fighters looking to be in the mix are Jahmel Westcarr (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) of Team UK, Angelo Rivera Jr (10-5 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) of Team USA and Tunisia's Souhaib Dahmani (4-2 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF).
Prediction: Christian Leroy Duncan (UK)
Welterweight (31 Fighters)
Welterweight had a full bracket until a late pullout dropped the number to 31. On paper this is arguably my favourite division. After losing an agonising split decision in last year's World Championship final, 20 year old French prodigy Sola Axel (9-2 MMA, 7-1 IMMAF) bounced back to become the 2018 European Champion with 3 impressive victories. The man he defeated in the final is IMMAF veteran Isakov Issa (13-4 MMA, 8-3 IMMAF) who will be back looking to go one better this time. Belgian Isakov is one of the toughest fighters on the circuit and has won 8 of his 11 IMMAF fights, with the 3 losses all coming against future champions. Darian Weeks (14-3 MMA, 4-1 IMMAF) is one of team USA's top hopes for a World Champion at these championships - the 24 year old won the Oceana Open in March this year and an impressive 14 wins in his amateur career to date. Luxembourg's IMMAF veteran Yann Liasse (10-2 MMA, 3-2 IMMAF) was a semi finalist at this years European Championships and has won 3 of 5 fights under IMMAF and will be in the mix this year. Other fighters in the mix are undefeated Russian Evgeny Morozov (8-0 MMA, 0-0 iMMAF), Robin Roos (14-5 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF) of Sweden, Wales' Josh Hudson (8-3 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) and African Open champion Abbas Khan (6-3 MMA, 4-3 IMMAF) of Bahrain.
Prediction: Isakov Issa (Belgium)
Lightweight (32 Fighters)
In another full bracket, the favourite for the lightweight division has to be reigning European Champion Pavel Senchenko (5-1 MMA, 4-0 IMMAF) of Ukraine. In one of the most dominant performances in an IMMAF tournament Senchenko faced 4 excellent competitors with a combined record of 35-12 and blew through each of them comfortably with 1 TKO, 1 submission and 2 unanimous decisions. Arguably his biggest challenge will be submission specialist Lee Hammond (9-3 MMA, 6-2 IMMAF) of Ireland. Hammond has submitted 5 of the 6 opponents he has defeated in IMMAF and narrowly lost out on becoming the European Champion in 2016 by split decision. He has gone 2-0 since and is competing in IMMAF for the first time in 2 years. Another IMMAF veteran with a chance is Jose Teixeira (29-6 MMA, 6-3 IMMAF) of Luxemourg. Another submission expert, Teixeira has also submitted 5 of the 6 opponents he has defeated in IMMAF. He submitted 3 opponents en route to the semi finals in last year's World Championships where he was narrowly defeated by split decision. Experienced Estonian fighter Kaupo Kokamagi (18-4 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) made an impression in the European Championships in June when he won his first 3 fights before he was defeated by eventual champion Pavel Senchenko. Bahrains own Shamil Gimbatov (3-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) is the reigning African Open Champion and also put on a good performance in last year's World Championships and cannot be discounted. 11-fight IMMAF veteran Cristian Iorga (13-4 MMA, 7-4 IMMAF) is a 1x finalist and 2x semi finalist in IMMAF competitions and will surely be there or thereabouts again this time out. Austria's Bogdan Grad (11-5 MMA, 6-4 IMMAF) seems to improve with every tournament and will hope to go all the way this year. Other fighters to look out for in this bracket include Teruhiko Kato (5-0 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF), Iordan Marinov (6-2 MMA, 2-2 IMMAF), Francois Meyer (10-4 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF), Chris Price (8-2 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) and Irik Sabirov (6-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF)
Prediction: Pavel Senchenko (Ukraine)
Featherweight (32 Fighters)
A complete field of 32 fighters compete for the Featherweight crown and it is one of the most stacked brackets this year. Involved in this Featherweight are 4 former champions: Delyan Georgiev (15-0 MMA, 10-0 IMMAF), Abdulmanap Magomedov (10-2 MMA, 7-1 IMMAF), Eduard Kexel (8-2 MMA, 3-0 IMMAF) & Amir Melekpour (6-0 MMA, 4-0 IMMAF). Delyan Georgiev of Bulgaria is one of the pound for pound most successful fighters in IMMAF history with a perfect 10-0 record for the promotion. He has won both of the tournaments he has entered and is both a World Champion and European Champion, beating some solid fighters along the way. Bahrains Abdulmanap Magomedov will have the advantage of fighting in his home country and he is a Asian Open Champion and 2x African Open Champion. His only defeat under the IMMAF banner came in last year's World Championship semi finals. 20 year old German prodigy Eduard Kexel is the reigning European Champion and he drops to featherweight as he looks to become World Champion. He looked extremely solid as he won 3 fights to win the June tournament. Sweden's undefeated Amir Melekpour is the reigning European Champion for this weight class after winning 4 fights in June's tournament, including a TKO victory in the final. 9-fight IMMAF veteran Hoger Salih (7-6 MMA, 6-3 IMMAF) is a 2x Semi Finalist in IMMAF competitions and he looks to go a little better this time out. Finland's Mici Saaristo (3-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) was the recepient of the TKO defeat in the European Championship final but looked impressive in the tournament up until that point. There are a lot of unknown quantity's entering the bracket this year with no prior IMMAF experience and some of those to keep an eye on are India's Imkongsunep Jamir (8-0), Japan's Daisuke Murayama (7-2), Portugal's Abdul Rahim Shaikh (4-0) and Czech Republic's Tim Ha (3-0).
Prediction: Amir Melekpour (Sweden)
Bantamweight (27 Fighters)
The Bantamweight division looks excellent this year and is wide open to many contenders with 7 or 8 guys in with a real chance of winning. The most experienced of the bunch is Sweden's Renato Vidovic (19-10 MMA, 8-5 IMMAF). Vidovic is a 2x European Champion and has won his last 3 IMMAF fights. Hometown favourite Hanza Zrira (6-4 MMA, 5-2 IMMAF) is a 2x Africa Open Champion and has finished his last 3 IMMAF fights. 20 year old American prodigy Sam Paneitz brings an excellent 11-0 record and is arguably the favourite to win this Bantanweight division. He is yet to compete in IMMAF but has picked up some solid wins in America and should make the step across comfortably. Carlos Veras (2-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) is one of the few Brazilians to compete in IMMAF and was hugely impressive in last years World Champuionships where he defeated the aforementioned Renato Vidovic en route to the semi finals. The 19 year old could very well go one better this year. Sharapudin Magomedov (11-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) was the final WMMAA European Champion before the organisation joined forces with IMMAF and he will be one of the favourites to win the title. Team UK's John James Young (8-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) brings an impressive record to the table and brings a 6 fight win streak and 3 fight submission streak and like Paneitz the transition over to IMMAF should be comfortable. Bulgaria;s Zdravko Dimitrov (2-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) walked through his first 2 opponents in this year's European Championships with 2 stoppage victories and was unfortunate to come out on the wrong end of a split decision to Renato Vidovic in the semi finals. Other ones to watch out for are Denislav Hadzhiev (11-2 MMA, 2-2 IMMAF) & Sho Shekihara (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF).
Prediction: Sam Paneitz (USA) / Sharapudin Magomedov (Russia)
Flyweight (26 Fighters)
For the flyweight division i see 3 main contenders: Sean Stebbins (10-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF), Oktay Arif (2-0 MMA, 2-0 IMMAF) & Junio Plaatjies (6-1 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF). American Sean Stebbins is a submission grappler who has built up an excellent 10-1 amateur record. He competed at last year's world championships and made it to the semi final where he lost a dubious split decision, but i think he will go better this year and is my favourite to win the bracket. One challenger will be current reigning European Champion Oktay Arif of Bulgaria. Arif won a reasonably small flyweight bracket in June but was still impressive as he won 2 dominant decisions. He is the only teenager competing in the senior flyweight division. The third fighter i see as a challenger is South African Julio Plaatjies. The submission fighter has built up a solid 6-1 record and won the African Open Championships in May.
Prediction: Sean Stebbins (USA)
Women's Lightweight (4 Fighters)
Only 4 fighters here and 2 fighters stand out for me. New Zealands Gase Sanita (4-1 MMA, 2-0 IMMAF) is the reigning champion at Featherwieght and became World Champion in 2017 with 2 good wins. She moves up to Lightweight for this tournament. Her main contender is likely to be Russia's undefeated prospect Polina Kobzeva (5-0) who is just 18 years old.
Prediction: Gase Sanita (New Zealand)
Women's Featherweight (6 Fighters)
A reasonably small field at Featherweight with 2 stand out contenders for me. Julia Dorny (7-5 MMA, 6-5 IMMAF) of Germany is the most experienced athlete in this field by far with 11 amateur fights under the IMMAF banner alone, winning 6 of these. Dorny lost in the final of the 2016 World Championships but went one better in June when she became European Champion. The other contender i am expecting is Finalnd's Jenni Kivioja (3-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF). Kivioja won 2 fights en route to the European Championship final, including an impressive head kick KO, but was defeated by the aforementioned Dorny in the final.
Prediction: Julia Dorny (Germany)
Women's Bantamweight (14 Fighters)
A solid field of 14 fighters compete in the Women's Bantamweight bracket, and one where i see 3 main contenders: Frida Vastamaki (3-0 MMA, 3-0 IMMAF), Amber Thompson (5-1 MMA, 2-0 IMMAF) & Fabiana Giampa (3-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF). Finland's Frida Vastamaki won the European Championships in June with 3 solid wins including an impressive TKO stoppage of former World Champion Joanne Doyle in the final. Fabiana Giampa of Italy is the reigning World Champion winning the 2017 World Championships with 3 victories. However she was handed a shock defeat in the first round of this year's European Championships and will look to bounce back here. Australia's Amber Thompson won the Oceana Championship in March with 2 stoppage victories. This will be a step up in competition for the Aussie.
Prediction: Frida Vastamaki (Finland)
Women's Flyweight (10 Fighters)
The main 3 contenders i see for the female Flyweight division are Alexandra Kovacs (8-1 MMA, 6-1 IMMAF), Janika Antinmaa (3-1 MMA, 3-0 IMMAF) & Cassandra Le Roux (2-1 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF). Alexandra Kovacs of Hungary is one of the most successfull ladies to compete under the IMMAF banner - she is a 2x European Champion and has won 6 of her 7 IMMAF bouts. She will look to get her first World Championship here. In her way is reigning European Champion Janika Antinmaa of Finland. Antinmaa won the European Championship in June but will face a big step up in competition here. Finally South African Cassandra Le Roux won the 2018 African Open with a 70 second submission victory. Again this will be a big step up in competion though.
Prediction: Alexandra Kovacs (Hungary)
Women's Strawweight (12 Fighters)
A good 12 competitors compete for the Women's strawweight bracket however on paper it doesn't seem the strongest field. For me Sweden's Nina Back (3-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) will be the favourite - she made it to the final of this year's European Championships losing a decision in the final. Ukraine's Darina Samchik (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) may be a bit of a wildcard and Iceland's Ingibjorg Amborsdottir (1-1 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF) will be looking to go better than her previous best of a semi final too.
Prediction: Nina Back (Sweden)
Women's Atomweight (8 Fighters)
A newly created Women's Atomweight has a tournament for the first time and will containa respectable 8 woman bracket with decent quality. Jenna Horto of Finlad (2-0 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF) drops down 10 pounds as she looks to become the first Atomweight World Champion. Horto won the European Champiomships at 115 pounds in June with a 65 second TKO victory. Traditionally Indian fighters have a very poor record at these championships but India's Akshata Subhash brings an undefeated 7-0 record and could surprise people, and the women will want to avoid Ukraine's Oskana Pashkova (1-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) who is a dark horse.
Prediction: Jenna Horto (Finland)
Back on topic.... I am a huge fan of IMMAF and their World Championsjips & European Championships that they put on each year and think it is the closes thing to an amateur olympic-style competition that we have. This year is the biggest yet with 286 participants 51 different countries. Furthermore there is also the Junior World Championships (for fighters ages 18-20) where another 86 competitors from 36 different countries.
I won't list each fighter competing but will do a little preview of each weight class with who i think will be the main contenders. Some fighters it is extremely hard to get any records or information about (mainly Russians, Kazakhstans, Ukraines etc) so don't be surprised if a few of these do well in the tournament.
Super Heavyweight (9 Fighters)
9 fighters compete in this years Super Heavyweight bracket - up from 5 in the previous 2 years. No fighters in the draw has too much experience - the only fighters with victories under the IMMAF banner are South Africa's Delano Humas (2-1 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF) and Turkey's Tolga Polat (2-2 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF). Russia's Grigoriy Ponomarev is also one to look out for.
Prediction: Delano Human (South Africa)
Heavyweight (16 Fighters)
A solid number of 16 fighters compete for the heavyweight crown this year (up from 10 fighters last year). Irelands Ryan Spillane (5-8 MMA, 4-3 IMMAF) shocked the world earlier this year when he upset the field to become the European Champion, and among his victories was an impressive omoplata submission. He looks to build on that victory this year in a field full of debutants. Bartosz Zarczeniuk (7-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) of Poland brings an excellent record with 5 KO victories in his 7 wins. Lucas Kopal (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) brings an unbeaten 3-0 record with all 3 wins being finishes. There are also fighters from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyszstan & Azerbijan whose records are hard to find but that could be dangerous.
Prediction: Bartosz Zarczeniuk (Poland)
Light Heavyweight (21 Fighters)
A line up of 21 fighters compete in the light heavyweight tournament this year and with lots of the light heavyweight veterans turning pro, the field is wide open this year for a debutant to win. Russia's Ruslan Shidakov (15-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) brings the strongest record on paper to the table with 15 wins in 16 fights. Italy's Paulo Anastasi (11-5 MMA, 4-2 IMMAF) has made it to the semi finals of 2 previous IMMAF tournaments and will look to go a little better this year. Australia's Marc Grayson (2-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) has two 1st round submissions to his resume and is also one to watch.
Prediction: Ruslan Shidakov (Russia)
Middleweight (30 Fighters)
The middleweight bracket originally hada full bracket of 32 fighters but after a couple of pullouts this bracket goes ahead with 30 competitors. The favourite for me has to be 2018 European Champion Dario Bellandi (13-1 MMA, 8-1 IMMAF). Bellandi has won 8 of his 9 IMMAF fights and has finished 6 of these 9 fights. In addition to his European Championship victory he was also a close runner up in last years World Championships. Joseph Luciano (13-6 MMA, 10-3 IMMAF) will be a big contender to the tournament having won 3 dominant fights en route to winning the African Open earlier this year. Luciano has won an incredible 10 fights under the IMMAF banner and made it to the semi finals in last years tournament. Team UK's Christian Leroy Duncan (10-3 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) is the only man to defeat the aforementioned Dario Bellandi. Duncan is extremely well rounded and is a finisher and is my pick to win this years middleweight tournament. Radu Zarioiu (6-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) of Romania had an excellent run in this years European Championships winning 3 straight fights by TKO before getting submitted by Bellanti in the final. Other fighters looking to be in the mix are Jahmel Westcarr (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) of Team UK, Angelo Rivera Jr (10-5 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) of Team USA and Tunisia's Souhaib Dahmani (4-2 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF).
Prediction: Christian Leroy Duncan (UK)
Welterweight (31 Fighters)
Welterweight had a full bracket until a late pullout dropped the number to 31. On paper this is arguably my favourite division. After losing an agonising split decision in last year's World Championship final, 20 year old French prodigy Sola Axel (9-2 MMA, 7-1 IMMAF) bounced back to become the 2018 European Champion with 3 impressive victories. The man he defeated in the final is IMMAF veteran Isakov Issa (13-4 MMA, 8-3 IMMAF) who will be back looking to go one better this time. Belgian Isakov is one of the toughest fighters on the circuit and has won 8 of his 11 IMMAF fights, with the 3 losses all coming against future champions. Darian Weeks (14-3 MMA, 4-1 IMMAF) is one of team USA's top hopes for a World Champion at these championships - the 24 year old won the Oceana Open in March this year and an impressive 14 wins in his amateur career to date. Luxembourg's IMMAF veteran Yann Liasse (10-2 MMA, 3-2 IMMAF) was a semi finalist at this years European Championships and has won 3 of 5 fights under IMMAF and will be in the mix this year. Other fighters in the mix are undefeated Russian Evgeny Morozov (8-0 MMA, 0-0 iMMAF), Robin Roos (14-5 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF) of Sweden, Wales' Josh Hudson (8-3 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) and African Open champion Abbas Khan (6-3 MMA, 4-3 IMMAF) of Bahrain.
Prediction: Isakov Issa (Belgium)
Lightweight (32 Fighters)
In another full bracket, the favourite for the lightweight division has to be reigning European Champion Pavel Senchenko (5-1 MMA, 4-0 IMMAF) of Ukraine. In one of the most dominant performances in an IMMAF tournament Senchenko faced 4 excellent competitors with a combined record of 35-12 and blew through each of them comfortably with 1 TKO, 1 submission and 2 unanimous decisions. Arguably his biggest challenge will be submission specialist Lee Hammond (9-3 MMA, 6-2 IMMAF) of Ireland. Hammond has submitted 5 of the 6 opponents he has defeated in IMMAF and narrowly lost out on becoming the European Champion in 2016 by split decision. He has gone 2-0 since and is competing in IMMAF for the first time in 2 years. Another IMMAF veteran with a chance is Jose Teixeira (29-6 MMA, 6-3 IMMAF) of Luxemourg. Another submission expert, Teixeira has also submitted 5 of the 6 opponents he has defeated in IMMAF. He submitted 3 opponents en route to the semi finals in last year's World Championships where he was narrowly defeated by split decision. Experienced Estonian fighter Kaupo Kokamagi (18-4 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) made an impression in the European Championships in June when he won his first 3 fights before he was defeated by eventual champion Pavel Senchenko. Bahrains own Shamil Gimbatov (3-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF) is the reigning African Open Champion and also put on a good performance in last year's World Championships and cannot be discounted. 11-fight IMMAF veteran Cristian Iorga (13-4 MMA, 7-4 IMMAF) is a 1x finalist and 2x semi finalist in IMMAF competitions and will surely be there or thereabouts again this time out. Austria's Bogdan Grad (11-5 MMA, 6-4 IMMAF) seems to improve with every tournament and will hope to go all the way this year. Other fighters to look out for in this bracket include Teruhiko Kato (5-0 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF), Iordan Marinov (6-2 MMA, 2-2 IMMAF), Francois Meyer (10-4 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF), Chris Price (8-2 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) and Irik Sabirov (6-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF)
Prediction: Pavel Senchenko (Ukraine)
Featherweight (32 Fighters)
A complete field of 32 fighters compete for the Featherweight crown and it is one of the most stacked brackets this year. Involved in this Featherweight are 4 former champions: Delyan Georgiev (15-0 MMA, 10-0 IMMAF), Abdulmanap Magomedov (10-2 MMA, 7-1 IMMAF), Eduard Kexel (8-2 MMA, 3-0 IMMAF) & Amir Melekpour (6-0 MMA, 4-0 IMMAF). Delyan Georgiev of Bulgaria is one of the pound for pound most successful fighters in IMMAF history with a perfect 10-0 record for the promotion. He has won both of the tournaments he has entered and is both a World Champion and European Champion, beating some solid fighters along the way. Bahrains Abdulmanap Magomedov will have the advantage of fighting in his home country and he is a Asian Open Champion and 2x African Open Champion. His only defeat under the IMMAF banner came in last year's World Championship semi finals. 20 year old German prodigy Eduard Kexel is the reigning European Champion and he drops to featherweight as he looks to become World Champion. He looked extremely solid as he won 3 fights to win the June tournament. Sweden's undefeated Amir Melekpour is the reigning European Champion for this weight class after winning 4 fights in June's tournament, including a TKO victory in the final. 9-fight IMMAF veteran Hoger Salih (7-6 MMA, 6-3 IMMAF) is a 2x Semi Finalist in IMMAF competitions and he looks to go a little better this time out. Finland's Mici Saaristo (3-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) was the recepient of the TKO defeat in the European Championship final but looked impressive in the tournament up until that point. There are a lot of unknown quantity's entering the bracket this year with no prior IMMAF experience and some of those to keep an eye on are India's Imkongsunep Jamir (8-0), Japan's Daisuke Murayama (7-2), Portugal's Abdul Rahim Shaikh (4-0) and Czech Republic's Tim Ha (3-0).
Prediction: Amir Melekpour (Sweden)
Bantamweight (27 Fighters)
The Bantamweight division looks excellent this year and is wide open to many contenders with 7 or 8 guys in with a real chance of winning. The most experienced of the bunch is Sweden's Renato Vidovic (19-10 MMA, 8-5 IMMAF). Vidovic is a 2x European Champion and has won his last 3 IMMAF fights. Hometown favourite Hanza Zrira (6-4 MMA, 5-2 IMMAF) is a 2x Africa Open Champion and has finished his last 3 IMMAF fights. 20 year old American prodigy Sam Paneitz brings an excellent 11-0 record and is arguably the favourite to win this Bantanweight division. He is yet to compete in IMMAF but has picked up some solid wins in America and should make the step across comfortably. Carlos Veras (2-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) is one of the few Brazilians to compete in IMMAF and was hugely impressive in last years World Champuionships where he defeated the aforementioned Renato Vidovic en route to the semi finals. The 19 year old could very well go one better this year. Sharapudin Magomedov (11-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) was the final WMMAA European Champion before the organisation joined forces with IMMAF and he will be one of the favourites to win the title. Team UK's John James Young (8-1 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) brings an impressive record to the table and brings a 6 fight win streak and 3 fight submission streak and like Paneitz the transition over to IMMAF should be comfortable. Bulgaria;s Zdravko Dimitrov (2-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) walked through his first 2 opponents in this year's European Championships with 2 stoppage victories and was unfortunate to come out on the wrong end of a split decision to Renato Vidovic in the semi finals. Other ones to watch out for are Denislav Hadzhiev (11-2 MMA, 2-2 IMMAF) & Sho Shekihara (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF).
Prediction: Sam Paneitz (USA) / Sharapudin Magomedov (Russia)
Flyweight (26 Fighters)
For the flyweight division i see 3 main contenders: Sean Stebbins (10-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF), Oktay Arif (2-0 MMA, 2-0 IMMAF) & Junio Plaatjies (6-1 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF). American Sean Stebbins is a submission grappler who has built up an excellent 10-1 amateur record. He competed at last year's world championships and made it to the semi final where he lost a dubious split decision, but i think he will go better this year and is my favourite to win the bracket. One challenger will be current reigning European Champion Oktay Arif of Bulgaria. Arif won a reasonably small flyweight bracket in June but was still impressive as he won 2 dominant decisions. He is the only teenager competing in the senior flyweight division. The third fighter i see as a challenger is South African Julio Plaatjies. The submission fighter has built up a solid 6-1 record and won the African Open Championships in May.
Prediction: Sean Stebbins (USA)
Women's Lightweight (4 Fighters)
Only 4 fighters here and 2 fighters stand out for me. New Zealands Gase Sanita (4-1 MMA, 2-0 IMMAF) is the reigning champion at Featherwieght and became World Champion in 2017 with 2 good wins. She moves up to Lightweight for this tournament. Her main contender is likely to be Russia's undefeated prospect Polina Kobzeva (5-0) who is just 18 years old.
Prediction: Gase Sanita (New Zealand)
Women's Featherweight (6 Fighters)
A reasonably small field at Featherweight with 2 stand out contenders for me. Julia Dorny (7-5 MMA, 6-5 IMMAF) of Germany is the most experienced athlete in this field by far with 11 amateur fights under the IMMAF banner alone, winning 6 of these. Dorny lost in the final of the 2016 World Championships but went one better in June when she became European Champion. The other contender i am expecting is Finalnd's Jenni Kivioja (3-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF). Kivioja won 2 fights en route to the European Championship final, including an impressive head kick KO, but was defeated by the aforementioned Dorny in the final.
Prediction: Julia Dorny (Germany)
Women's Bantamweight (14 Fighters)
A solid field of 14 fighters compete in the Women's Bantamweight bracket, and one where i see 3 main contenders: Frida Vastamaki (3-0 MMA, 3-0 IMMAF), Amber Thompson (5-1 MMA, 2-0 IMMAF) & Fabiana Giampa (3-1 MMA, 3-1 IMMAF). Finland's Frida Vastamaki won the European Championships in June with 3 solid wins including an impressive TKO stoppage of former World Champion Joanne Doyle in the final. Fabiana Giampa of Italy is the reigning World Champion winning the 2017 World Championships with 3 victories. However she was handed a shock defeat in the first round of this year's European Championships and will look to bounce back here. Australia's Amber Thompson won the Oceana Championship in March with 2 stoppage victories. This will be a step up in competition for the Aussie.
Prediction: Frida Vastamaki (Finland)
Women's Flyweight (10 Fighters)
The main 3 contenders i see for the female Flyweight division are Alexandra Kovacs (8-1 MMA, 6-1 IMMAF), Janika Antinmaa (3-1 MMA, 3-0 IMMAF) & Cassandra Le Roux (2-1 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF). Alexandra Kovacs of Hungary is one of the most successfull ladies to compete under the IMMAF banner - she is a 2x European Champion and has won 6 of her 7 IMMAF bouts. She will look to get her first World Championship here. In her way is reigning European Champion Janika Antinmaa of Finland. Antinmaa won the European Championship in June but will face a big step up in competition here. Finally South African Cassandra Le Roux won the 2018 African Open with a 70 second submission victory. Again this will be a big step up in competion though.
Prediction: Alexandra Kovacs (Hungary)
Women's Strawweight (12 Fighters)
A good 12 competitors compete for the Women's strawweight bracket however on paper it doesn't seem the strongest field. For me Sweden's Nina Back (3-1 MMA, 2-1 IMMAF) will be the favourite - she made it to the final of this year's European Championships losing a decision in the final. Ukraine's Darina Samchik (3-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) may be a bit of a wildcard and Iceland's Ingibjorg Amborsdottir (1-1 MMA, 1-1 IMMAF) will be looking to go better than her previous best of a semi final too.
Prediction: Nina Back (Sweden)
Women's Atomweight (8 Fighters)
A newly created Women's Atomweight has a tournament for the first time and will containa respectable 8 woman bracket with decent quality. Jenna Horto of Finlad (2-0 MMA, 1-0 IMMAF) drops down 10 pounds as she looks to become the first Atomweight World Champion. Horto won the European Champiomships at 115 pounds in June with a 65 second TKO victory. Traditionally Indian fighters have a very poor record at these championships but India's Akshata Subhash brings an undefeated 7-0 record and could surprise people, and the women will want to avoid Ukraine's Oskana Pashkova (1-0 MMA, 0-0 IMMAF) who is a dark horse.
Prediction: Jenna Horto (Finland)
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