After a busy week over at the IMMAF World Championships in Abu Dhabi, Team Ireland’s amateur fighters walk away from the tournament with 1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals. Though it was a mixed bag of results that ended with an 18-20 record for the IMMAA representatives, there were plenty of positives to take back to Ireland. The star of the week was Team Ryano’s Nadine Abbott-Bissett, who was crowned the Women’s Atomweight World Champion.
Let’s take a look back on the highs and the lows of the week that was for Irish MMA.
DAY 1: 24/01/2022 Ryan Keogh opened the competition for Team Ireland, but unfortunately the SBG Ireland featherweight couldn’t repeat the spectacular run that saw him score three finishes to win the IMMAF Junior World Cup last September. After a closely contested fight, Keogh lost to Tajikistan’s Manuchehr Rioev via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Max Lally was the first fighter to register a win for the Irish, as the 2021 IMMAF Youth World Champion continued to deliver the type of performance that has the Irish MMA scene buzzing about the undefeated 18-year-old SBG Charlestown representative. Lally exhibited his composure after eating a combo of strikes by taking Estonia’s Caspar Vahemets to the mat before submitting via Rear Naked Choke at 1:40 in round 2.
Holohan Martial Arts’ Adam McEnroe dominated Guyana’s Corwin D’Anjou over just under 7 minutes, landing some pounding strikes before the fight was finally waved off by the ref and McEnroe was declared the winner via TKO Round 2, 1:51.
Ireland's Adam McEnroe defeats Guyana's Corwin D'Anjou via 2nd round TKO.
After a grueling three rounds, Northern Ireland’s Cameron Clements lost to the eventual bronze medalist, Russian Abdyla Aliev, via Unanimous Decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-27).
Northern Ireland featherweight Damien McKenna delivered a barrage of uppercuts on the UAE’s Saeed Alhosani to score a devastating finish via first-round KO.
Team Ireland's Damien McKenna scores a beautiful 1st-round KO over UAE's Saeed Alhosani.
Rounding out the action on Day 1 for Team Ireland, SBG Cork City/SBG Killarney fighter Ethan Guerin locked in a second-round submission (Ankle Lock) over Lebanon’s Elie Mansour.
Day 2 got off to a rough start for Team Ireland as Caitlyn Hadfield suffered a second-round TKO at the hands of RMMAU’s Vera Buga.
Sarah Carney earned Ireland’s first win of Day 2 with a hard-fought split decision over RMMAU’s Liubov Salnikova (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). The win advanced the Holohan Martial Arts fighter to the quarter final of the senior flyweight bracket.
SBG Ireland’s Kian McCarton lost via second-round submission (standing guillotine choke) to RMMAU’s Dmitriy Pankov in the junior flyweight division.
Kerry Ann Vernon returned Ireland to the win column with a strong performance as she defeated Slovakia’s Elina Tauber via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) to book her spot in the bantamweight quarter final.
Ireland's Kerry Ann Vernon gets the Unanimous Decision victory over Slovakia's Elina Tauber to book her place in the quarter finals of the senior bantamweight bracket.
Team Ryano’s Jamie Abbott-Bissett stormed through Germany’s Nesim Abboud to win a dominant Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26) and progress to the senior flyweight quarter final.
Jamie Abbott-Bissett dominates Germany's Nesim Abboud across three rounds to win a comfortable unanimous decision and book his place in the quarter finals of the Senior Flyweight bracket.
Team Ireland move to 7-5 in the tournament @IMMAAOnline
Northern Ireland’s Eoghan Teague lost via Unanimous Decision to Spain’s Rafael Calderon Coria (30-27, 29-26, 29-26).
Gary Rooney delivered a fantastic performance against the UAE’s Juma Albdoor. After a controversial ending to the second round due to a potential missed tap and a timekeeping issue, Rooney finished Albdoor in the third with a head-and-arm choke.
Gary Rooney submits the UAE's Juma Albdoor in the 3rd round via head and arm choke.
Some controversy at the end of the 2nd over a potential tap and timer
Damien McKenna was unable to replicate his Day 1 performance, losing to Miro Honkanen (Finland) via Submission (Armbar) in Round 2.
After a phenomenal KO on Day 1, Northern Ireland's Damien McKenna goes crashing out of the tournament on Day 2, losing via submission to Finland's Miro Honkanen
Solomon Simon lost via Unanimous Decision to Portugal’s Ze Machado (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
Ethan Guerin showed his toughness against England’s Teddy Stringer, but the Irishman was on the receiving end of some heavy damage in round 2, prompting the ref to wave it off after the bell.
Max Lally fought a calculated and mature fight to earn a Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Mongolia’s Bat-Ochir Batsaikhan. However, Lally picked up a shoulder injury during the fight, which would later call a halt to his tournament progression.
Max Lally wins a hard fought decision over Mongolia's Bat-Ochir Batsaikhan to advance to the quarter finals of the Junior Lightweight division.
It looked like Lally was battling through a shoulder injury.
SBG Tullamore’s Jordan Scully delivered a brilliant performance in the junior welterweight division, comfortably defeating Mexico’s Cruz Garcia via Unanimous Decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26) to reach the quarter final.
Jordan Scully wins via decision over Mexico's Cruz Garcia to advance to the quarter finals of the Junior Welterweight division.
Daniel O’Sullivan comfortably won two rounds against Aremiti Tinirau of French Polynesia to claim a Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), progressing to the senior middleweight quarter finals.
Corkonian Paul Buckley won a Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Estonian Kristjan Toniste to book his spot in the middleweight quarter finals, and leave Team Ireland with a winning record of 12-11 after Day 2.
DAY 3: 26/01/2022
Day 3 delivered some unfortunate news that one of Ireland’s brightest stars Max Lally had been ruled out of his Jr Lightweight bout versus Behruz Khurshedzoda (Tajikistan) due to injury.
Nadine Abbott-Bissett delivered a stunning performance over Tuymegul Zhunys, mauling her opponent before locking in a second-round submission against the Kazakhstani fighter. The Team Ryano fighter booked her spot in the atomweight semi-finals with the win.
Nadine Abbott-Bissett scored a 2nd-round submission after mauling Kazakhstan's Tuymegul Zhunys, advancing to the semi-final of the atomweight bracket.
After battling to a hard-fought decision win in her first fight of the tournament, Sarah Carney ended up on the wrong end of the judges’ scorecard after a close fight vs Beatriz Consuli Diniz (Bahrain).
SBG Ireland’s Éabha Cruise defeated Norway’s Victoria Paulsen via decision to set up an all-Irish semi final vs Kiya O’Sullivan in the Jr. Flyweight division. O’Sullivan received a bye in the first round.
Kerry Ann Vernon lost a razor-close decision to Bahrain’s Raiane Vinuto Guimaraes (30-27, 29-28, 30-27). An entertaining back-and-forth war, I will admit I was a bit surprised by these scorecards.
Spaniard Rafael Calderon Coria’s grappling was too strong on the day for Ireland’s Jamie Abbott-Bissett, who lost via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Gary Rooney went crashing out of the flyweight division, losing to Kazakhstan’s Dastan Zhakypbekov via Split Decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29).
There appeared to be a theme in Day 3. Like Gary Rooney and Jamie Abbott-Bissett, Jordan Scully was unable to replicate the dominance he displayed in his opening performance of the tournament, succumbing to a rear-naked choke in round 1 vs Shamkhan Kushagov (RMMAU).
Ireland's Jordan Scully was submitted by RMMAU's Shamkhan Kushagov in the first round of their Jr Welterweight quarter final.
Eventual tournament winner Fergus Jenkins (New Zealand) choked Ireland’s Daniel O’Sullivan unconscious in the first round of their middleweight quarter-final matchup.
Ireland's Daniel O'Sullivan is choked unconscious in the first round of his middleweight quarter final matchup vs New Zealand's Fergus Jenkins
Team Ireland ended Day 3 of the World Championships on a positive note as Paul Buckley advanced to the middleweight semi-final with a dominant Unanimous Decision over Italy’s Francesco Fornasieri (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
DAY 4: 27/01/2022
Nadine Abbott-Bissett topped her quarter-final performance with a masterclass in the atomweight semi-final. The Team Ryano fighter dominated India’s Vridhi Kumari before scoring a 3rd-round TKO to give earn her a shot at a gold medal.
Nadine Abbott-Bissett delivered a masterclass performance in the atomweight semi-final, dominating India's Vridhi Kumari en route to a 3rd-rd TKO
The @teamryano fighter will fight for gold tomorrow.
Ireland teammates Kiya O’Sullivan and Éabha Cruise battled to a decision in the junior flyweight semi-final, but it was CMAC MMA’s O’Sullivan who emerged victorious with a Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). The win moved Kiya to the final, and Cruise picked up a bronze medal in defeat.
Team Ireland teammates Kiya O'Sullivan and Éabha Cruise battled to a decision in the Jr. Flyweight semi-final.
There was much confusion over the middleweight semi-final matchup between Ireland’s Paul Buckley and New Zealander Fergus Jenkins, with MyNextMatch listing Jenkins as out due to injury. The reality was a clerical error, meaning the fight went ahead in the end. Similar to his decimation of Daniel O’Sullivan, Jenkins made quick work of Buckley, making it his second first-round submission over an Irish opponent on the bounce. While Buckley didn’t advance to the finals, he returned to Ireland with a bronze medal.
After a lot of confusion over this matchup earlier today, Paul Buckley vs Fergus Jenkins ended with the New Zealander scoring a 1st-round sub over the Irish middleweight.
Day 5 was a showcase of junior gold medal fights, and Team Ireland’s sole representative on the day was CMAC MMA’s Kiya O’Sullivan. Though O’Sullivan fought to a close decision, she would have to settle for silver. Ultimately, Kazakhstan’s Karina Sisenova won a Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) to walk away with the flyweight gold medal.
Ireland's Kiya O'Sullivan walks away with a silver medal from the @IMMAFed world championships after losing a split decision to Kazakhstan's Karina Sisenova in the Jr. Flyweight final in Abu Dhabi.
After a relatively underwhelming latter half of the tournament for the Irish contingent in Abu Dhabi, all hopes now lay on the shoulders of Team Ryano’s Nadine Abbott-Bissett, and boy did she deliver.
Abbott-Bissett capped off a phenomenal tournament with her third win of the week, overcoming a valiant effort from Finland’s Jenna Horto to take the Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28). It was a back-and-forth affair, but Abbott-Bissett fought courageously and intelligently to etch her name in the history books as the 2021 IMMAF Women’s Atomweight World Champion, the first Irish senior gold medalist since Ryan Spillane and Lee Hammond emerged victorious in 2018.
Nadine Abbott-Bissett is the Atomweight World Champion🥇🇮🇪
Overall, it was a mixed tournament for Team Ireland. Though the team ended with a relatively underwhelming medal haul in comparison to previous years, there is a lot to be hopeful for looking ahead to future tournaments. With another World Championships tournament targeted for late 2022, all eyes will be on the upcoming National Championships to see which familiar and new faces will emerge in the next Irish amateur squad.
Check out the full list of Irish IMMAF medalists over the years below:
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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