The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The lone Bahamian competitor to represent the island nation at the 2018 Unified World Mixed Martial Arts Championships, Christian Miller made history.

Miller tied for bronze in the men’s Junior Light heavyweight (93kg/205 lbs) division at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and the World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA) Unified World Championships in Manama, Bahrain.

In his MMA debut, Miller tied for bronze with Tipene Paranihi of New Zealand. Igor Glazkov of Russia won gold while Lukáš Piffko of the Czech Republic won silver.

Taking place as part of BRAVE International Combat Week, the 5-day, nation vs nation, amateur MMA tournament featured 362 competitors from more than 50 nations across 16 weight divisions. The Junior tournament (for 18 to 20-year olds) ran concurrently with the Senior Championships (for 18s+) and both events took place under Unified Amateur MMA Rules.

All finals matches were live streamed at IMMAF.TV. Videos on demand will be available of all championships matches within the next seven days, with the delay caused by technical issues due to rare storms and flooding in Manama last week.

The Championships was hosted by the Bahrain MMA Federation and endorsed by the Bahrain Olympic Committee and H.H. Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Khalifa.

Empire Mixed Martial Arts will continue its milestone efforts in the sport with an MMA Seminar hosted by iconic Bahamian UFC fighter Yves Edwards.

The seminar will be hosted on December 15 at Empire Fitness in the Seagrapes Plaza, 3pm to 5pm at a cost of $75 per seat.

Topics covered will include wrestling takedowns, ground fighting and submission finishes among other things.

Edwards is credited with inventing the “thug-jitsu” fighting style and as a lightweight fighter in organisations such as the UFC, PRIDE, Bodog-FIGHT, and EliteXC.

Based in Texas, Edwards was touted by MMA analysts as a well-rounded fighter with a strong boxing background. He has also trained with Lewis Wood, a former nationally ranked WBA featherweight boxer, in addition to his experience in Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Edwards retired with a 42-22-1 MMA record, 10-10 in the UFC.

He previously hosted seminars in the Bahamas covering a myriad of topics, including the basics of MMA striking, wrestling, “ground and pound” and cage drills.