Abu dhabi: The National Youth Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Team made its debut, on Monday (17), with three wins at the 17th World Championship, taking place at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi (UAE).
According to Angola Press News Agency, Angola started the competition with two athletes in the Youth D category. Athlete Leontino da Gra§a, from the 31-kg category, began the competition with a defeat against Harun Sharifzoda from Tajikistan, but won his last two fights against Booker Dean from England and Gor Ghazaryan from Armenia.
Meanwhile, Graciano Vasco (40-kg) finished his participation in this phase with a victory against Luke Vickers from South Africa, while losing to Kyrylo Khamenko from Ukraine and Azadi Gasramov from Azerbaijan.
On Tuesday (18), Angola returns to competition with three more athletes in the group stage, in the Youth C category of -37, -40, and 52 kilograms. Athlete Rafael Ngombe (-37 kg) will face Rasheb Almaghrebi from the United Arab Emirates and Elias Abi Zeid from Lebanon, whereas Amadeu da Gra§a (-40 kg) will face Husanboy Mamatkodirov from Uzbekistan, Manat Shyngys from Kazakhstan, as well as Elgun Damirli from Azerbaijan.
In the 52 kg division, Neves Alfredo will compete with Yotam Shelem from Israel, Muslim Bekov from Kazakhstan, and Jesu© Sanchez from Mexico. The Angolan delegation is composed of 43 elements, including athletes and sports officials, highlighting Mayra Lemos and St©lvia Mumanha, world champions in the 2024 and 2025 Editions respectively, in the 66.5 and 44 kg categories in the individual class.
