Local Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fans were treated to an exciting 10-match fight card over the weekend at the Bahamas Open Martial Arts Championships (BOMAC), which was held at Mario's Bowling and Family Entertainment Palace. The first edition of BOMAC Cage Fights featured some of the top local talent in the country, along with fighters from Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the United States of America (USA).
Local fight club Team Beast Mode put on a good show in front of the hometown fans, winning four out of the seven fights that featured Bahamian fighters. Giovanni Johnson, DJ Brown, Pierre Simmons, Tyson Isaacs, Cameron Lewis, Marcian Tucker and Kenny Neymour all represented The Bahamas.
Organizer of the event and founder of Empire Mixed Martial Arts Dr. Kent Bazard said that he was happy with the way the inaugural event came off, and that he expects the appeal of cage fighting to grow following the show.
"I think we planned well and executed well," he said. "If I had to give it a grade, I would probably give it a 'B'. We had a few hiccups here and there, but those judges and officials, it was their first time out there and I think they did an excellent job. There were one or two questionable judgment calls, but it's a difficult sport to call. Overall, I think we did a good job executing, the weather was beautiful, there's nothing better than a fight outside in The Bahamas."
Bazard said that he was also pleased with the performance of his club, and that the hometown crowd definitely played a part in bringing the best out of his fighters.
"We did well going up against some tough competition," he said. "Two of the visitors, it was their first time competing, and you don't always know because you have sandbaggers, but these guys were honest about their records and they did very well. I was very surprised to see people cheering for attempted submissions and submission defense. Obviously the crowd was filled with true MMA fans, and not just brawl or fight fans.
"What this does now, this gives the athletes a chance to compete at home and get our own local circuit going. These guys can now become professional at home. This is the first time that we have fought in The Bahamas; we're always in hostile territory, so to hear people cheering us on as Bahamians it was really a morale boost for us. It's a really good feeling to be standing in a sea of people and to have them all cheering for you or your team."
Bazard said that there will definitely be pressure to top this show, but he and Team Beast Mode are up to the challenge. The tournament featured five weight classes including 125, 135, 145, 150, 170, 180 and 200-pound divisions.
The cage fight event was billed as a part of the larger BOMAC event, which began in 2010. BOMAC traditionally features an open forms and weapons tournament, point and continuous fighting, amateur Sanda/Sanshou, Pankration, grappling and amateur MMA.
BOMAC has hosted over 500 competitors from 11 countries in its history. In addition, it also hosts various martial arts seminars by world-class instructors. The Bahamas Mixed Martial Arts Association, Florida Combative Sports, the Bahamas Wushu Sanda Association and the Bahamas Martial Arts Federation sanctioned the event.
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