IMMAF World Championship Day 1 – Bittersweet start for Indian MMA team

IT WAS A BITTERSWEET START to the IMMAF World Championship for the Indian MMA team. The first day of the event saw five Indian fighters in action.

Shiva Raj gave a perfect start to the campaign when he secured a unanimous decision win over Roland Yacoubin of Lebanon. Shiva was dominant throughout the three rounds and left the judges with no doubts whatsoever.

India’s campaign in the Men’s Featherweight Category ended as both Anurag Sharma and Krishna Kumar Yadav suffered defeats. Krishna Kumar lost out to Carlos Ibañez Aguayo via TKO when Anurag was defeated by Clarke Jarrett of New Zealand via submission.

Aakash Gautam also crashed out of the tournament when he suffered a second-round submission loss against Olzhas Moldagaliyev of Kazakhstan.

The last fight of the Indian team came when Suraj Kumar faced Sola Axel of France in a Welterweight contest. Suraj and Axel went the distance in the fight and the judges ruled the fight in favor of Axel via a unanimous decision.

Six more Indian fighters are set to step into the cage in the coming days including four female fighters.

Results from Day 1 for Indian MMA fighters:

• Shiva Raj def. Roland Yacoubin via unamious decision
• Clarke Jarrett def. Anurag Sharma via submission
• Ibañez Aguayo def. Krishna Kumar Yadav via TKO
• Olzhas Moldagaliyev def. Aakash Gautam via submission (Second Round)
• Sola Axel def. Suraj Kumar via unanimous decision