Johannesburg - Team South Africa will look to build on the momentum gained at last year's Youth World Championships when they touch down in Belgrade, Serbia, for the International Mixed Martial Arts World Championships next week.
South Africa will send 11 seniors and juniors to the biggest MMA tournament in Europe.
Forming part of the BRAVE Serbia International Combat Week, the IMMAF World Championships will kick off proceedings on Saturday.
The eight-day festival of fighting will include IMMAF certification courses and the amateur MMA awards, before BRAVE Combat Federation’s 69th MMA event closes out the activity in the Stark Arena with a nine-fight card that includes a unification bout between interim BRAVE CF Lightweight champion Abdisalam Kubanychbek and Kamil Magomedov on February 18.
Team South Africa’s featherweight fighter Thimna Mhluali speaks ahead of the International Mixed Martial Arts World Championships next week. pic.twitter.com/tTSjvFmxN7
Team SA will be one of 63 teams from around the world competing at the World Championships - set to host more than 500 athletes.
Last year, at the Youth Championships in Abu Dhabi, four girls proudly flew the South African flag high.
Nuha Shah won gold after winning her Youth B (48kg) division. Kaitlyn van Wyk (Youth B - 57 kg) and Kiara Willemse (Youth C - 48 kg) secured bronze medals in their respective divisions. Minette Kruger filled her bag with silver after coming second in the Featherweight division (65.8 kg).
“2022 was a great year for our youth team, and they showed that there is a bright future in the sport for South Africa,” says SA coach Dwain Meredith.
“I am very excited for this year's World Championships and firmly believe that every athlete on the team has a good chance of getting onto the podium. There is no doubt that this team is going to take SA up the IMMAF rankings and turn a few heads.”
South Africa did very well in securing a 10th spot - out of 77 teams - on the rankings with 4680 points to date. The Russian Mixed Martial Arts Union is top of the log with 17005 points.
“It’s very cool that we have grown in leaps and bounds over the years, a true sign of the potential of our athletes,” added Meredith whose team earned the highest medal count at last year’s IMMAF African Championships, which took place in Johannesburg.
“Our athletes made us so proud there (Africa IMMAF Champs). It was by no stretch of the imagination an easy tournament.”
Team SA includes a handful of national and African stars. Forming part of the team are Philani Shabalala (National and African champion), Nicolaas Vermaak (Silver medalist at the African championship), Thimna Mhluali (National champion), and more.
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The IMMAF World Championships will have two divisions - Senior and Junior. The three juniors competing for Team SA are Willie van Rooyen, Dylan Behrens, and Muhammed Mall - the rest will fight as seniors.
Neighbouring county Namibia will also be at the Championships. One of the brightest athletes from the Namibian Federation is African Featherweight champion Veja Hinda who will look to entertain with his electric stand-up that captivated audiences from around the world last year in Johannesburg.
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The Senior competition will feature six weight divisions for female athletes - Atomweight to Lightweight - and ten for male athletes - Strawweight to Super Heavyweight. The World Championships will run in accordance with the latest IMMAF Amateur rules.
The entire event can be available to stream on immaf.tv. Stay tuned to MzansiMMA and IOL Sport for updates on the entire BRAVE Serbia International Combat Week.
Team South Africa
Juniors
Willie van Rooyen (Bantamweight)
Dylan Behrens (Middleweight)
Muhammed Mall (Middleweight)
Seniors
Philani Shabalala (Flyweight)
Kelvin Smit (Flyweight)
Sipho Mlaba (Bantamweight)
Thimna Mhluali (Featherweight)
Nicolaas Vermaak (Lightweight)
Throne Msibi (Welterweight)
Adebayo Ojewole (Middleweight)
Johan Pfahl (Light Heavyweight)
Coaches
Dwain Meredith
Dallas Jakobi