– Guyana end IMMAF Championships with two medals

By Rawle Toney in Monterrey, Mexico
(Compliments: Team Mohamed, National Sports Commission & GYMMAF)

Team Guyana ended their participation at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) Pan American Championships, in Monterrey, Mexico, with two Silver medals, thanks to Shenese Bobb and Carl Ramsey.

The competition, which was hosted at the Gimnasio Nuevo León, saw Guyana being represented at the three-day championships by Bobb, Ramsey and Trevlon Clarke.

While Clarke failed to make it past the quarter-finals of the Men’s Welterweight, Bobb and Ramsey ensured that the ‘Land of Many Waters’ would not leave the Spanish-speaking country empty handed.

Ramsey advanced to the finals of the Men’s Heavyweight Division following a Technical Knockout (TKO) win over Mexican Juan Rodriguez in the semi-finals, while Bobb advanced to the finals of the women’s lightweight category after her opponent in the semis tipped the scale at weigh-in above the 155lb limit.

However, in yesterday’s finals, Ramsey and Bobb both had their bouts ended in the second round but not before putting up a commendable performance and a bold representation of their preparation under coach, Sensei Troy Bobb.

In the case of Shenese Bobb, who was fighting Samantha Teutle of Mexico in the women’s lightweight finals, the result was very unfortunate, while showing the Guyanese fighter’s inexperience in the octagon.

During the first round, Bobb was warned by referee Sergio Moreno about holding the cage; one of the many prohibited moves in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Bobb was also warned about the illegal strikes while bring braced on the cage by the Mexican, but the referee’s words seem to fall on deaf ears.

Before the start of the second round, Bobb was again cautioned by the referee.

However, Teutle, realizing that Bobb was more comfortable striking as opposed to wrestling, cornered the Guyanese. The referee, noticing that the cage was still being held on too, stepped in and stopped the fight.

Bobb was then disqualified, bringing an abrupt end to her first IMMAF Championships.

Meanwhile, the Men’s Heavyweight final was highly touted as a must-see in the competition, taking into consideration that both fighters won their respective semi-finals via first-round TKO.

Ramsey faced off against Jeremy Rodulfo of Trinidad & Tobago and from the get-go, fans in the arena knew that a knock-out would’ve determined the winner between the two fighters.

It was Rodulfo who controlled the fight, showing his jujitsu experience and superiority against Ramsey, who is more known as a ferocious striker.

For most of the fight, Rodulfo had Ramsey pinned to the ground, and it was straight ‘ground and pound’ from the Trinidadian thereafter.

Referee Horacio Villanueva was forced to step in as Rodulfo pounded away on Ramsey, who, at the time, was helpless.

In the end, the Guyanese athletes will leave Mexico with their heads high after picking up the country’s first-ever IMMAF medals in only their second outing.

Guyana finished above Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Aruba and Jamaica on the ten-team medal standings.

Host nation Mexico finished on top of the table with a total of 23 medals (six Gold, six Silver, 11 Bronze); the most in the tournament.

The USA (five Gold, one Silver, three Bronze); Brazil (four Gold); Trinidad and Tobago (one Gold, one Silver, two Bronze) and Colombia (three Silver, three Bronze) are the other countries that finished above Guyana.