If we are talking about the future of the women’s divisions of MMA, look no further than the IMMAF.
Their youth divisions for athletes under 18 have provided a secure environment to grow and learn. It also gives them an opportunity to prove their skills against others and win championships.
In the coming weeks we are highlighting some of these athletes.
Abigail Alvarez took home gold at the IMMAF Youth World Championships in Bulgaria representing One Legacy Training Center and Barreto BJJ lin San Diego, California. A second generation fighter, she is coached by her father Christian along side Victor Barreto and Victor Cubillas. She fell in love with Muay Thai at a young age, but took a while until she could train striking martial arts. Since then she is finding success in all aspects of the sport.
If we are talking about the future of the women’s divisions of MMA, look no further than the IMMAF.
Their youth divisions for athletes under 18 have provided a secure environment to grow and learn. It also gives them an opportunity to prove their skills against others and win championships.
In the coming weeks we are highlighting some of these athletes.
Lariah Gill won the gold at atomweight at the 2021 IMMAF Youth Championships in Bulgaria and is already looking like a prodigy in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Starting only four years ago in BJJ under Ricardo Guimaraes at Gracie Humaita Temecula, she started to win local titles in her weight class. This soon picked up to training other arts, including Muay Thai at Hernandez Kickboxing with Richard Hernandez, Judo at Socal Judo with Israel Hernandez, and Wrestling at Lions Den with Brandon Williamson.
If we are talking about the future of the women’s divisions of MMA, look no further than the IMMAF.
Their youth divisions for athletes under 18 have provided a secure environment to grow and learn. It also gives them an opportunity to prove their skills against others and win championships.
In the coming weeks we are highlighting some of these athletes.
Andrea Frisque got the silver at the 2021 IMMAF Youth Championship in Bulgaria, which solidified Kihon MMA even more as a hotbed for young talent. Having trained in taekwondo at a young age, Frisque soon met Coach Eddie Bates and transitioned into MMA and has been training in it for five years.
If we are talking about the future of the women’s divisions of MMA, look no further than the IMMAF.
Their youth divisions for athletes under 18 have provided a secure environment to grow and learn. It also gives them an opportunity to prove their skills against others and win championships.
In the coming weeks we are highlighting some of these athletes.
Alexis Hazelton is coming off a bronze medal at the 2021 IMMAF Youth Championship and is proving to be the future of the MMA Gold gym in El Dorado Hills, California. Under her coach Jim West, she is also a teammate of current UFC star Aspen Ladd. Hazelton isn’t one not to learn from one coach, as she also trains boxing at Mike Guy Boxing, Muay Thai with with Jake Douangdara, and strength and conditioning with Coach Doug Casebier at Our House Fitness. Not to mention is a part of the Folsom High School and Mad Dawg Wrestling Club.
If we are talking about the future of the women’s divisions of MMA, look no further than the IMMAF.
Their youth divisions for athletes under 18 have provided a secure environment to grow and learn. It also gives them an opportunity to prove their skills against others and win championships.
In the coming weeks we are highlighting some of these athletes.
A Gold medalist at the 2021 IMMAF Youth Championship in Bulgaria, Hannah Wagstaff is a second generation martial artist trained by her father Christopher at Kihon MMA in Desert Hot Springs, California. Along with coach Eddie Bates, Hannah made a quick impression on the world stage at flyweight.
If we are talking about the future of the women’s divisions of MMA, look no further than the IMMAF.
Their youth divisions for athletes under 18 have provided a secure environment to grow and learn. It also gives them an opportunity to prove their skills against others and win championships.
In the coming weeks we are highlighting some of these athletes.
Coming off a bronze medal finish in the IMMAF World Youth Championships in Bulgaria, 14 year old Allison Keenan is providing a vision of where USA’s female athletes are heading. She is training out of Kihon MMA in Desert Hot Springs, California under coach Eddie Bates.
With all the news this past weekend, one item may have been incidentally flew under the radar, but will be important for the future of the women’s divisions.
The International MMA Federation has formed a Women’s Committee, which held its first meeting on International Women’s Day. The committee of four women will help facilitate and oversee projects to expand women and girls in the sport internationally in the coming years not only in the amateur, but pro ranks as well.
The IMMAF itself has been a catalyst for the expansion of the women’s divisions internationally over the years, with stars like Minna Grusander and Sunna Davidsdottir making their way into the professional end of the sport.
History will be made this weekend as this will be the first time a mother and daughter will fight MMA on the same card.
Cindy Dandois and her daughter Lola will be taking part of the Conquest of the Cage event near Spokane, Washington Saturday. Mom will be competing in pro MMA against Bethany Christensen; while her daughter will be making her amateur MMA debut against the Juliana Pena trained Darina Glassburn.
The best amateur talent are once again in Bahrain to see who are the best in the world.
The International MMA Federation is currently holding its World Championships with over 50 females from over a dozen countries vying for titles in six weight classes. Champions have went on to the pros to some of the top organizations on the planet.
I have compiled amateur results over the years, but this has been the first time I have broken down the amateur stats.
It was popular demand and questions about the future health of the women’s divisions that got me to do this for the first year. We will dig into the weight divisions in part 3. I haven’t done this in past years because getting complete results for the amateurs was a hassle, as previously discusses in part 1. I suspect a dozen or so results have not been posted in the major databases, so with expect a small margin of error.
The finals are set for IMMAF European Championships.
There was two submissions in the women’s divisions Thursday. Some familiar names moving on including England’s Joanna Doyle and Germany’s Julia Dorny. Finland and Sweden sends three females to the finals each, with Sweden guaranteed gold at strawweight.
Wombat Sports 