Day 2 of the 2022 IMMAF World Championships is in the books following a long day of action.
The junior lightweight division set the tone for the day, with each bout providing high-quality entertainment. Kyle Mayocchi (Australia), Michael Borowski (Poland) and Oleksandr Huliaiev (Ukraine) all finished their bouts to book a spot in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.
It was the first day of the women’s divisions. Reigning champion Nina Nikolija Milosevic (Serbia) marked her return to the world stage by finishing Lama Nassar (Lebanon) via ground and pound in front of the home crowd.
Elsewhere in the division, Kerry Ann Vernon (Ireland) and Mercedes Custodio Lopez (Spain) put on the best bout of the day in a back-and-forth contest that saw Lopez get the nod from the judges. 2022 Pan-American gold medalist Josiane Oliveira (Brazil) also opened her account for the competition, defeating Bernadette Marsano (Austria) on points.
Pound-for-pound number one Ramazan Gitinov (Bahrain) started his run towards a third world title by submitting Lukas Elias (Slovakia) in the first round. He will face Omar Tugarev (Finland) in the quarter-finals. On the opposite side of the bracket Munis Muminjonov (Uzbekistan) scored an upset win over Jovidon Mahmudov (Tajikistan).
Reigning champion Rasul Magomedov (Bahrain) extended his undefeated streak as he showcased his striking ability to get the finish over Branden Guest (England).
2019 Youth A gold medalist Rashad Satterwhite (USA) made an impression in his first junior bout on the IMMAF platform. His dominant wrestling and slick movement saw him outpoint his opponent.
Some of the other standout performances included Willy van Rooyen (South Africa) getting a highlight reel finish and Eabha Cruise (Ireland) submitting her opponent with an armbar.
Day 3 will determine who will proceed to the medal positions as the quarter-finals take place. Anastasiia Holinko (Ukraine), Songul Karatorak (Germany), Yerluan Kabdulov (Kazakhstan) and Tagir Machmudov (Czech Republic) are among the standouts all set to make their first appearance in the competition.
You can find all the results from today and the brackets for tomorrow on Smoothcomp. Day 3 of the 2022 World Championships will kick off at 11 am local time and will be available to watch live on IMMAF’s OTT platform, immaf.tv.
Report by Caoilte de Barra in Belgrade.