Australia has taken home three medals, including a gold, from the 2022 International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) World Championships in Serbia.
Australia sent 14 athletes over 12 weight classes to compete in the amateur tournaments earlier this month, with three athletes bringing back bronze, silver, and gold medals.
Junior light heavyweight Ismail Elcheikh won bronze in his division after scoring a TKO in his first bout against Bulgarian athlete Georgi Petrov, then losing a split decision in the semi-final to Bahrainโs Gadzhi Gadzhiev and junior heavyweight competitor Samir Ali won a silver medal after being submitted in the final of the tournament by Uzbekistanโs Asrorbek Anvarjonov.
Senior female flyweight competitor Faine Mesquita made Australian history when she took home the gold medal after four straight victories. Mesquita is the first Australian athlete to win gold at the IMMAF world championships.
โItโs so rewardingโฆIโm still finding the words to describe it, itโs a bit overwhelming to be honest.โ Mesquita said.
Mesquita made her amateur MMA debut at last yearโs IMMAF world championships, where she lost via armbar in her first bout, dislocating her elbow and damaging ligaments in her arm in the process.
Being injured in her debut fight was a large hurdle to overcome, said Mesquita.
โIn the beginning I didnโt know what to think, I didnโt know what recovery would be. I had many questions like โshould I do this again? Am I going to be able to fight again in the first place? Will this ever be the same?โ
โBut after three months or so of doing physio every day and training and going back to the gym slowly, going back to MMA slowly, I was like โOf course Iโm going to keep doing this, I love doing this.โ
Winning gold at the world championships was by no means an easy feat, with Mesquita facing both the European champion and last yearโs world champion in back to back fights.
โI had a really tough bracket. I versed the champion from last year who was on a 10-0 streak, then the European champ as well. I had tough matches.โ
Despite facing stiff competition, Mesquita was determined to keep focussed during her fights.
โI wasnโt intimidated. Everyone has gaps and I was confident in my game plan.โ
This confidence got Mesquita to the finals of the tournament, where she finished her opponent, Spanish fighter Raquel Gonzales Garcia, via TKO at the last second of the 2nd.
โFinishing with a TKO. It couldnโt be any better than this. It was such a rewardโฆitโs almost too perfect, we have all this full circleโฆfrom questioning if I should still be doing MMA, if itโs too late, am I too old, and then to train so, so hard and I was able to prove all the doubts I had were wrong.โ
Looking ahead in her MMA career, Mesquita said the jump to the pro circuit is next on the list.
โI do wanna turn pro. I think I already proved myself against the bestโฆI think the next step for me is definitely going pro and seeing what I can do there. No shin pads, elbows from close distance. Itโs going to be really fun.โ