Gold in Sight as 5 Irish Fighters Qualify for Amateur World Championship Finals

Team Ireland will have five representatives competing for gold medals at the IMMAF-WMMAA Unified World Championships this Saturday in Bahrain. It was a successful day overall for the Irish athletes as Lee Hammond (SBG Ireland), Trevor Makengo (C-MAC MMA), Paddy Wilkinson (Team Ryano), Ryan Spillane (SBG Cork) and Ger Harris (SBG Charlestown) all emerged victorious from their semi-final matchups after day 4 at the Khalifa Sport City Arena:

• Lee Hammond’s opponent, Adilbek Kairgali (Kazakhstan), failed his medical examination which automatically advanced Hammond to the Lightweight final (70.3 kg/155 lbs). Hammond set the tournament alight with 2 consecutive first round submissions, and a victory over the number one seed throughout the first 3 days of the tournament.

• Trevor Makengo defeated Marchell Posthumus (South Africa) at 3:00 in round 2 via TKO.

• Paddy Wilkinson defeated XXX Tanghesi (China) at 0:10 in round 2 via TKO.

• Ryan Spillane defeated Bartosz Zacznuik (Poland) at 1:17 in round 3 via Straight Foot Lock.

• Ger Harris defeated Fariz Abdalov (Kazakhstan) at 2:26 in round 1 via Armbar.

The 5-day, nation vs nation, amateur MMA tournament, which takes place as part of BRAVE International Combat Week features 362 competitors from more than 50 nations across 16 weight divisions. The finals will take place on Saturday 17th November and can be streamed live at www.immaf.tv

Andy is a multimedia reporter, interviewer, writer, with a strong focus on Irish MMA. Co-host of The Auld Triangle podcast. Follow Andy on Twitter (@andyste123) and Instagram (@andystevensonMMA).

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