Shaikh Khalid's support to Bahraini MMA highlighted

Manama, July 2 (BNA): Khalid Bin Hamad Mixed Martial Arts Organization’s (KHK MMA) Professional fighter Edgar Frankie has intensified his preparations ahead of his fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC 200 against Brazilian Jose Aldo. The face-off will take place in Las Vegas on July 9, 2016. The same steps have been adopted by KHK MMA amateur fighters; Hussain Ayyad, Fahad Abdulrazaq, Abdullah Seena, Mohammed Adnan, Abdullah Al Fayez and Ali Ibrahimi, who will be fighting in the IMMAF Amateur World Championships, also taking place in Las Vegas from July 5-10, 2016. In this context, CEO of KHK MMA Mohammed Shahid affirmed that the participation of Frankie Edgar and the amateur fighters comes in implementation of the strategy set by HH Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport, President of Bahrain Athletics Association and Founder of KHK MMA, to have the team members participating in international events and championships in order to cement and foster Bahrain’s presence in the MMA sport. "The participation of KHK MMA in these two prestigious events will contribute to increasing the chances of the team achieving more successes and record extraordinary results. This is in line with HH Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s ambitions to hold the Kingdom of Bahrain’s name high on international stages of different sports. HH has never spared any effort to sponsor and support MMA, until the Kingdom secures a position among the leading countries in this sport and in very short period," Mr Shahid explained. "This sport has stolen the limelight thanks to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s efforts as well as the IMMAF’s. They organised several events and championships that witnessed a tremendous turn out from great professional and amateur fighters. This in turn attracted major international media companies to air these events," he added. In addition, Mr. Shahid threw light on the fight between Frankie Edgar and Brazilian Jose Aldo, and said, "It’s one of the strongest fights to ever be seen in the UFC 200 Championships. Both fighters possess great track records packed with victories and achievements, apart from their great fighting capabilities." "The participation of our budding fighters in this prestigious event represents a great opportunity for them to showcase their abilities as they are eyeing to progress their careers to the professional level. Our team has great talents and we are very much optimistic to see them garnering great results, especially after we won first place in India last January," he stated. Six Amateur Fighters Represent Bahrain in the IMMAF Amateur World Championships Six fighters will represent the Kingdom of Bahrain in the up-coming 3rd IMMAF Amateur World Championships. Coached by Russian trainer Renat Ahmed, the KHK MMA’s team of fighters will feature in different categories with Hussain Ayyad competing in the 57kg category. He is coming off the Open European Championship, having earned the third medal. Abdullah Seena will compete in the 61kg class in his second participation in an IMMAF event, having made his debut in the last year’s event. The same goes for Ali Ibrahimi who will test his abilities in the 77kg category. Meanwhile, Fahad Abdulrazaq will make his debut in the championship, participating in the 56kg category. He will have with him the momentum he created in India after winning second place. His teammates, Abdullah Al Fayez and Mohammed Adnan appearing for the first time in an international event will contest in the 66kg category. IMMAF Amateur World Championships’ Successful Story The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) has managed to reach its desired goal in a very short period. The Federation succeeded in organising a line-up of events that witnessed great success on the continental and international level. It all started three years ago with the World Championships which proved to be the strongest on the amateur level. Last year, IMMAF successfully held the first Open European Championship witnessing a huge success with a stunning turn out of many top amateur fighters. Currently, IMMAF seeks to hold events in Asia and Africa to strengthen the MMA culture in these two continents.