- Title: IRAQ-MARTIAL ARTS Mixed martial arts championship takes place in Baghdad
- Date: 1st November 2015
- Summary: JUDGES WATCHING THE GAME
- Embargoed: 16th November 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA9PLTS6NYWJ0B5XQA8GFT6JC6M
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: In a show of strength and skill, dozens of young Iraqi men competed in a Mixed Martial Arts, MMA, competition in Baghdad.
The seventh edition of the bi-annual Iraqi Combat Fighting Championship, (ICFC), took place in Yarmouk Leisure Club with young athletes competing in different age and weight categories.
Ahmed Jameel, a member of Iraqi Mixed Martial Arts Committee and one of the event's organizers, said MMA is a marginalized sport in Iraq.
"We have world champions, but they are not known, all of the media's focus is on football, the media is not taking an interest in martial arts in Iraq and as a simple example kyokushin our fighters were world's champions in Thailand in 2015, they were competing against 74 countries and it was a record for Iraq but media didn't focus on that subject," Jameel said.
Iraq still doesn't have an MMA federation, but some of the leading trainers in the country formed what's called the Iraqi MMA committee back in 2012, which has the recognition of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Arab federation of MMA.
Mixed martial arts involves bouts between fighters who use a variety of combat styles, including kickboxing, judo, wrestling, boxing and karate.
Saturday's (October 31) winner in the professional category for 85 kilograms was Hussein Fakhr.
"Thank God, I won this fight, I was qualified for the title, but I went through difficult circumstances. I'm having low morale because my brother was martyred four days ago in Beiji, but thank God, I was able to overcome the opponent and take the title. I've practiced martial arts since I was 17 years old now, I'm 25 so not too long eight or nine years. I thank God for this accomplishment," Fakhr said.
For the spectators here they hope to see their sportsmen competeing on the international fighting stage.
"It's a nice breather for young Iraqi sportsmen. We aspire to see a development in this area and hopefully become on a regional and Asian level and God willing, on an international level. Despite the simplicity of this event, it's very beautiful . The organizers tried and succeeded in delivering a beautiful message for the youth of Iraq. The audience wonderfully enjoyed it, and we hope success for the organizers of the event and the all the players thank you," said Ali Seham Abbood who came to watch the fight.
Forty men between the ages of 16-28 participated in Saturday's event. Participants under the age of 18 needed approval from their guardians before taking part.
Candidates applied through social media networking site, Facebook.
Preparations are now underway for the candidates' selection for Arab and world championships. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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