… Team pays courtesy call on Minister Ramson prior to departure

IJAZ Cave and Corwin D’Anjou will be the only two representatives for Guyana at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) World Championships, which is set for January 24 – 29 in Abu Dhabi.

The team will depart today and will see D’Anjou compete in the Men’s Welterweight (77.1kg) division, while Cave will do battle in the Men’s Light Heavyweight (93kg) category.

Initially, the Guyana Mixed Martial Arts Federation (GYMMAF) had announced a six-man team to attend the prestigious event in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Capital City. However, as executive member, Dr Sawan Jagnarain explained, following a mishap in several important tests that had to be done overseas, Webster McRae, Akeem Fraser, Christopher James and John Campayne will be left behind.

According to Dr Jagnarain, the GYMMAF had solicited the services of a lab in the United States of America, since some of the required testing of the athletes that are mandatory by the IMMAF, could not have been facilitated in Guyana.

Dr Jagnarain said the athletes blood samples were done and sent in December but up to crunch time, the Lab related that they had encountered some technical difficulties and only two of the samples were done, being that of Cave and D’Anjou.

“This is a major blow to all the work the athletes had put in,” a livid GYMMAF president, Gavin Singh, highlighted.

Singh said he had spoken to the other four athletes and apologised on the GYMMAF’s behalf, while encouraging them to stay the course and focus on other up-coming International engagements, one of which will be the IMMAF Pan American Championships.

Meanwhile, the team paid a courtesy call on Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, yesterday at his Main Street office.
Minister Ramson, according to Singh, has been supportive of the GYMMAF since coming into office last August.

Through the National Sports Commission (NSC), the GYMMAF had received support from the Government of Guyana.
Minister Ramson congratulated the fighters for being selected, adding “all of Guyana is behind you and on behalf of the Government of Guyana, I want to say good luck.”

“This is a huge achievement since you will be the first Guyanese to compete at the World Championships. You should be proud and be good ambassadors for Guyana,” Minister Ramson said.

Guyana will be the only country from the Caribbean present in the UAE, given the fact that Trinidad and Tobago had to withdraw after their representatives recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Singh revealed that Guyana’s up-coming participation at their first IMMAF World Championships is a manifestation of almost two years of planning, with the GYMMAF using the opportunity presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several companies came in for praise from the GYMMAF, particularly Banks DIH, Bounty Farm, Akbar Inc., Sandcorp Development, Zoon, Universal Travel, WR Services, Eureka Labs, Acarai Properties and Northwest Securities.

The aforementioned companies, according to Singh, played a major part in helping to make the team’s trip to the UAE a success.

Hosted by the UAE Jiu-Jitsu and MMA Federation, with the support of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, and in partnership with Palms Sports, the senior and junior national tournaments are to take place at the Jiu-Jitsu Arena in Zayed Sports City, near UFC Fight Island. (Yas Island)