The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation of Australia (IMMAFA) successfully held its first COVID safe event of 2021, the Queensland Open on 20 February.
IMMAF rules, MMA competitions present amateur mixed martial arts tournaments in an Olympic format, with the international body (the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) eyeing eventual participation in the Olympic Games.
The Australian national federation event, held at Gamebred Academy in Brisbane, featured 38 athletes from five Nations including Australia, New Zealand, France, Brazil, and Greece - all based in Australia. The matches included youth (U18s), junior and senior bouts. For many competitors, it was their first time on the IMMAF circuit and with so many young athletes taking part, IMMAFA believes the tournament looks set to expand in future.
Australia has been somewhat at the forefront of IMMAF development over the last 18 months. The Gold Coast hosted the 2020 IMMAF Oceania Open Championships. The Australian federation has also been pivotal in pioneering and piloting the new IMMAF specialist coaching courses, MMA stand-up and MMA ground, both of which are to be rolled out globally.
Meanwhile, Team Australia has experienced notable success at IMMAF Championships and is currently ranked as the No.5 senior team in the world. Its most recent global success came by way of Strawweight, Olivia Ukmar, who won the silver medal in the 2019 IMMAF World Championships and then gold in the IMMAF Oceania Open. 2020 IMMAF Oceania featherweight champion, Colby Thicknesse has also recently made a successful transition to the professional ranks with a 1st round submission in his pro debut.
Sevastiyan Kostov, who played a lead role in the running of the Queensland Open, said:
"With IMMAFA we were very happy to be able to restart state competitions, sport development having been delayed globally by the various restrictions in place due to the pandemic. Here in Queensland, we have been lucky that the restrictions have not been as harsh and with the influx of other major sports, this has turned the state into a sport capital in Australia.
"The event saw youth, junior and senior bouts. It was important to cover all divisions to enable the continued development of young athletes in these uncertain times. The wins from such state tournaments across the year go into a national ranking system, which helps us compare athletes from different regions when the time comes to assemble a national team. So, you might not win every tournament during the year, but collecting victories across IMMAFA tournaments might seat you at the top of the ranking list.
"In this last tournament, compared to the previous state level tournaments, we pretty much doubled the numbers of youth competitors and had around four times more adults.
"I believe that IMMAF’s concept for development of MMA into an Olympic sport, together with the tournament system we have implemented here in Australia will resonate with coaches and athletes more than ever, and I wish this year to have fewer odds outside the sport to deal with, both as organiser and coach."
2021 Queensland Open Medallists List:
YOUTH BOYS / -61.2 KG BANTAMWEIGHT / 16-17 YEARS OLD
1 Liam Benton (AUS)
2 Lewis Essery (AUS)
YOUTH BOYS / -77.1 KG WELTERWEIGHT / 16-17 YEARS OLD
1 Kyle Mayocchi (AUS)
2 Randall Rowan (AUS)
3 Josh Creed (AUS)
YOUTH BOYS / -44 KG / 12-13 YEARS OLD
1 Codey Toft (AUS)
2 Steven Diamond (AUS)
3 Stirling Cartwright (AUS)
3 Thoran Schellhammer (AUS)
YOUTH BOYS / -52 KG / 12-13 YEARS OLD
1 Riley Wells (AUS)
2 Matthew Harvey (AUS)
3 Tayvian Marden-Ryle (AUS)
YOUTH BOYS / -57 KG / 14-15 YEARS OLD
1 Nick Nicolas (AUS)
2 Tomas Schellhammer (AUS)
3 Orlando Nagy (AUS)
YOUTH BOYS / -67 KG / 14-15 YEARS OLD
1 Brodie Mayocchi (AUS)
2 Orson Mccomish (AUS)
3 Hayden Absalom (AUS)
YOUTH BOYS / 72+ KG / 14-15 YEARS OLD
1 Ariki Cliffe (AUS)
2 Brooklyn Cartwright (AUS)
YOUTH GIRLS / -56.7 KG FLYWEIGHT / 16-17 YEARS OLD
1 Talulah Linegar (AUS)
SENIOR MEN / -61.2 KG BANTAMWEIGHT / 18+ YEARS OLD / SKILL DIVISION B
1 Jefferson Kawamoto (BRZ)
2 Lachlan Paulsen (AUS)
SENIOR MEN / -65.8 KG FEATHERWEIGHT / 18+ YEARS OLD / SKILL DIVISION C
1 Liam Forrest (AUS)
2 Victor Khuu (AUS)
SENIOR MEN / -70.3 KG LIGHTWEIGHT / 18+ YEARS OLD / SKILL DIVISION C
1 Dario Strbac (AUS)
2 Finn Mumford (AUS)
SENIOR MEN / -70.3 KG LIGHTWEIGHT / 18+ YEARS OLD / SKILL DIVISION B
1 Jonathan Kuhn (FR)
2 Alastair Volders (AUS)
3 Alex Young (AUS)
SENIOR MEN / -70.3 KG LIGHTWEIGHT / 18+ YEARS OLD / SKILL DIVISION A
1 Abraham Rugato (AUS)
1 Ryan Bishop (AUS)
2 Julian Prowse (AUS)
SENIOR MEN / -77.1 KG WELTERWEIGHT / 18+ YEARS OLD / SKILL DIVISION C
1 Matt Natad (NZ)
2 Ishaan Rai (AUS)
3 Dylan Murphy (AUS)
SENIOR MEN / -83.9 KG MIDDLEWEIGHT / 18+ YEARS OLD / SKILL DIVISION B
1 Liam Sue-Tin (GRC)
2 Shaun King (AUS)
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