Lee Hammond among five Irish athletes fighting for gold at IMMAF World Championships

SBG’s Lee Hammond has qualified for the lightweight finals for this weekend’s IMMAF World Championships in Bahrain.

Hammond overcame Kazakhstan’s Abdilbek Kairgali in the Thursday’s semi-final to advance to the championship match on Saturday. He is now 4-0 this week in the amateur championships, which serves as a proxy for mixed martial arts as an Olympic sport.

His first match of the tournament this week went viral, after the Irishman pulled off a beautiful submission which combined an omoplata with a head & arm choke.

Ger Harris, Ryan Spillane, Paddy Wilkinson and Trevor Makengo have all also qualified for the championship match in their respective divisions.

Onto the final this Saturday 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/OPASYtT1k1

— Lee Hammond (@LeeHammond96) November 15, 2018

5 Irishmen fighting for Mixed Martial Arts World Championship Gold medals this Saturday in the kingdom of Bahrain. What a time to be alive 🙏🏼

— Lee Hammond (@LeeHammond96) November 15, 2018

This is equivalent of the Olympics for MMA and we have Irish athletes through to the finals on saturday looking to bring back Gold for Ireland. https://t.co/Z3Blfdgx2d

— Cian Cowley (@CianCowley) November 15, 2018

It started with 51 nations and +300 athletes. After a competitive week Ireland has 5 competing for World Champion status on Saturday in Bahrain with zero funding or support. A proud day for Irish amateur sports. @sportireland @Shane_RossTD @IMMAFed @Inst_of_Sport pic.twitter.com/xs38CfzFCe

— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) November 15, 2018

Due to ‘rare storms’ in Bahrain, video feeds and further details are unavailable at this time due to internet outages.