Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan – 23 August 2021

Where there’s a will, there’s a way as GAMMA proves it is unstoppable in Asia.

And will and determination are what the local organisers of the GAMMA Asian MMA Championship 2021 have in spades.

Babur Tolbaev, head of the Local Organizing Committee and President of the Kyrgyzstan MMA & PF KG Federation, and Abasbek Dorombaev, Secretary-General, are no strangers to overcoming adversity.

Even when informed at the eleventh hour that the chosen venue for the Championship was no longer available, the two promoters put their heads together and eventually decided to build a new venue from scratch on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.

In less than two months a fantastic new MMA venue for the Championship has been created, just in time to welcome 148 elite amateur MMA athletes from countries across Asia, including India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Palestine, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Uzbekistan.

One of the three rings at the Asian MMA Championship

“We never once wavered,” said Tolbaev. “There are solutions to every challenge and together with Abasbek and our team, we showed that anything and everything is possible here in Kyrgyzstan. We are delighted to have pulled it off so successfully in time to host these aspiring MMA athletes from 26-28 August. We look forward to an excellent event.”

“What the organizers have accomplished here in Kyrgyzstan is truly proof that nothing is impossible,” said GAMMA President Alex Engelhardt. “And this will make everybody in the sport aware that we are ready to face any challenge and find solutions to achieve our goals, with the same determination and courage we will use to make GAMMA great and to bring GAMMA to every corner of the globe.”

Athletes will compete across two divisions, mixed martial arts and Striking MMA, this week in Kyrgyzstan. There will be 32 weight classes, nine in each division for men and seven in each division for women.

Today was registration day for the athletes and their delegations, with a referee meeting soon to follow. 

GAMMA: Unstoppable!