With Guyana set to make its historic debut at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) Championships, head-coach and senior instructor Bruce Fraser, has confirmed that the provisional roster has officially commenced the preparation period.
This was disclosed during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport. According to Fraser, who is the holder of black belts in Judo (3rd degree), Karate (1st degree) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (1st degree), the short-listed hopefuls numbering 15 fighters have been training for the period of a month.
“The full squad was encamped about a month ago and as of last week 15 athletes were shortlisted after a preliminary assessment was made. The shortlisted bunch will now be moving into the more technical and intense conditioning aspects of the camp after which they will then focus on their weight and being able to maintain a suitable fight weight,” Fraser explained.
Guyana will be one of several countries competing in the IMMAF Youth World MMA Championships in Bulgaria from July 30 to August 2 and the IMMAF World Junior and Senior MMA Championships in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, November 27 to December 5.
This will be the first Youth and Senior World MMA Championships in which Guyana will participate. The coaching staff, which is headed by Fraser, also features Sensei Troy Bobb of the Guyana Police Force and Sensei Roland Fanfair of 3 Ryu Club. The other members of the management team are Troy Phillips and Michael Singh, who will serve in the capacity of Team Manager and Operations Manager respectively.
Probed about the team’s chances of securing medals at the respective championships, Fraser, who is also versed in the Soviet martial art Sambo, Greco-Roman wrestling, and the French martial art Savate, opined that his charges possess a reasonable chance of securing of podium finishes once they stick to the requisite game plan as discussed by the coaching staff.
“We have a decent chance of winning some medals providing that our fighters remain disciplined and stick to their game plan while in the octagon. Whereas the situation may occur that some of the guys would not medal, the experience of competing at that level will be most invaluable for sparking them all to continue to improve,” the senior instructor was quoted as saying.
Fraser informed that the final team will be confirmed three weeks before their departure, adding that the aforesaid period will be utilised to fine tune the respective technical and physical issues associated with the individual competitors.
He further noted that the final composition of the team will be determined by the association’s selection committee, with the criteria for selection being based on several factors with input from the coaching staff.
“The team will be shortlisted two to three weeks before travelling [in September] to allow for tactical skills- polishing and any other issues that may be affecting the fighters such as weight problems etc. The GMMAF selection committee will pick the final squad based on reports from myself as well as from making visual assessments of their own,” Fraser added.
