Jiu-jitsu legend Renzo Gracie confident IMMAF will get nod for Olympics

He praises UAE for developing sport as Al Hammadi sends home fans wild by retaining her title in Abu Dhabi

The UAE's Zamzam Al Hammadi celebrates her gold medal win at the IMMAF World Youth Championships in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Image: UAEMMAF

Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Renzo Gracie believes amateur MMA has the potential to join the Olympics roster.

He also praised the UAE's leadership for its role in helping to develop the sport on a day when Emirati Zamzam Al Hammadi defended her gold medal in Abu Dhabi.

Gracie was present on the final day of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation’s World Youth Championship at the Mubadala Arena on Saturday.

“The sport definitely does have the potential to be in the Olympics from what I saw in Serbia [at the IMMAF European Championship] and now having been here today with over 800 competitors from across 47 countries,” Gracie told The National.

“It’s showing the interest and the potential that these kids are bringing. I was very surprised with the technique and the level of knowledge that these kids have.

“We are looking at the future generations of the MMA sport in the world. For sure, from here, we're going to have a lot of world champions coming out.”

The five-day championships for boys and girls aged 12 to 17 was being held in Abu Dhabi for the third successive year while the combat sport continues to spread its wings at the professional level around the globe.

“I really believe the IMMAF platform will help the sport grow. Right now, it's just in a few countries but soon every nation will embrace it. I'm right now working to help them to move to the US and start having a platform there to expand,” Gracie added.

“We must go to countries that will support this sport financially and countries with a lot of density of people. So, I believe India, China, Brazil and the US, they will be a very important part of that growth. I see this sport taking off and I know before I die I will watch this in the Olympics.”

Zamzam Al Hammadi, the first Emirati female to win the IMMAF World Youth title last year, retained the gold medal on Saturday night. She holds both the IMMAF and the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s World Youth titles.

“This is the beauty of this country. They did what Brazil should have done 40 years ago, which was to embrace jiu-jitsu and make it grow,” Gracie said of Abu Dhabi’s pioneering effort to promote the martial art sport globally.

“The first time I was here was almost 30 years ago and the Abu Dhabi ruling family loved jiu-jitsu in such a level that they decided there was a very important tool to forge their future generation.

“They added jiu-jitsu in the school curriculum, introduced it in the police and the military. They made a point that promotions in the police and military came with a jiu-jitsu belt. By doing so, they did an amazing job to spread the sport in the country.

“Today you come here, in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, they have 13,000 competitors. This is unheard of. They have 14 per cent of the whole population practising jiu-jitsu.

“I believe the other countries should have copied that and should have done the same, you know, because this is one of the greatest sports, one of the greatest tools to forge kids that will become amazing human beings in the future.”

The UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation has an international calendar staging Grand Slam events in Europe, America and Asia throughout the year with the highlight being the annual Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

The martial art also made its debut at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and was included at the Hangzhou Games, with the UAE topping the medals table on both occasions. Its inclusion in the Olympics is their next goal.

Meanwhile, the spotlight on the final night of the IMMAF Youth Worlds was on Al Hammadi’s stunning performance. The Abu Dhabi schoolgirl retained her title after a unanimous decision over American Xerena Sikes in the 52.2-kilogram final.

“I’m very glad that I was able to win the gold for the second successive year. It was hard work throughout the championship and I’m proud for my country, the fans and my family having achieved this result,” Al Hammadi told The National.

After becoming the first Emirati female to win an MMA world title last year, Al Hammadi was back in the gym and training two days later for her title defence, which she achieved with a run of four wins at the championships.

“I knew how hard it’s going to be to replicate the gold medal for the second year and also how tough it is to win a fight at this level,” she added.

“Last year, I was back in the gym two days after I won the gold and I’m going to follow the same schedule in preparing for 2025. This year, I improved my striking and upped my grappling skills, and now I'm looking forward to further improving my overall skills in both MMA and jiu-jitsu.”

Al Hammadi overcame Taghrid Akkawi of Palestine with a vicious armbar submission in one minute and 32 seconds into her opening fight. She followed up that win with a unanimous decision over Italian Elena Indelicato in the next.

In the semi-finals, Al Hammadi overcame Poland’s Sara Dembinska, also by unanimous decision to set the stage for a grand finale against Sikes.

Taking home a second gold earlier in the week was her sister Ghala Al Hammadi in a repeat of their success 12 months ago.

Thani Al Mehairi (Youth A/65.8 kg) and Saeed Al Nuaimi (Men/Youth A / 56.7 kg) won bronze medals on the final night, taking the UAE’s overall tally to 12, including four golds, one silver and seven bronze.

Ukraine topped the medals table for the fourth consecutive year followed by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in second and third places, respectively.