Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Aletihad)
The UAE Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts Federation is all set to host the IMMAF Youth World Championships, starting on Tuesday, for a third successive year with hopes of putting the country on the podium in the final overall analysis.
Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, the IMMAF Youth World Championships will be hosted for another three years by the UAE from 2025 and a record participation confirmed for this year. The world body International Mixed Martial Arts Federation and the UAE unit renewed the hosting agreement last week.
The local squad of athletes spent nearly a month in training in Tajikistan running into this year's action as the UAE squad hopes to do better than a fourth-place finish in 2023 when it won 12 medals with four of each colour.
As a "relatively new entrant in the amateur MMA" world scene, the UAE has more than one reason as hosts to have high expectations of medals when the five-day event concludes on August 10 at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi.
In an exclusive chat to Aletihad, Mohammed Al Hosani, the UAE federation's board member, spoke on what this Championship means to the country and the strategic preparations that have gone behind it.
The five-day event is expected to make way for outstanding performances and fierce competition, with more than 800 male and female athletes from 47 countries participating. The competitions will be held in three age categories: Youth C (12-13 years old), Youth B (14-15 years old), and Youth A (16-17 years old).
The national team includes 51 male and female athletes, who are eager to continue developing and achieving new accomplishments. "We have elevated this championship since we hosted it two years ago,” Al Hosani said. “Obviously, the numbers are higher now, so the challenge will be to accommodate these numbers.
“It's a five-day event now, instead of the four. We have five cages with over 800 athletes and from more than 45 countries. Now that we've extended for three more years, the numbers are going to get higher and higher. Maybe we'll add even more days going forward. Let's see how things go.
“The first competition we hosted in 2022, we got a gold medal that we did not expect. That opened the way for us to invest more in the sport. And the second [appearance], we got four golds, four silvers and four bronzes, and it put us at fourth place overall among 50 countries. So for a country that's kind of very new, this was a big achievement. So the leadership expects us to achieve even more this year."
The decision to train in Tajikstan, the first time athletes have gone on an international trip for preparation in UAE's history for MMA, was strategic considering that the UAE finished just behind them in the medal tally, agrees Al Hosani.
"Ukraine, USA and Tajikistan took the top three spots last year. The latter made more sense for us. They are in Asia, and close to us. Their athletes are more well-rounded than ours in terms of striking. But this is what we want our athletes to learn. It is knowledge transfer.
"Our athletes are very grappling based because of jiu-jitsu. So we made them to train hard standing up, punching, kicking. But it's good to get that experience. Obviously, they're a direct competitor, but, we learn from each other," the official said.
From a player's point of view, training for so many years with jiu-jitsu as base and doing a radical shift in training one month before can be tough and risky. Al Hosani agrees while confirming that the federation has thought about the mental aspects.
"The tough physical part is done. Now, the coaches have sat with them on their return to address it. This will be beneficial in the long run.
"If we can basically hang with the top five in the world again [at this year's championship], I think our leadership is going to be happy with us. It is doable for the UAE. We didn't renew for three more years if we didn't think we belonged at the top. We are Asian champions; we could one day become No.1 in the world championships," Al Hosani said.
