BOMAC championships set for tonight

Fri, Apr 24th 2015, 09:57 PM

Tonight is the night that the Bahamas Open Martial Arts Championship (BOMAC) reaches yet another milestone in Mixed Martial Arts as it gets set to host the first ever cage fight at Mario's Bowling and Entertainment Palace. The first edition of BOMAC Cage Fights gets underway at 7 p.m. and the 10-match card will feature some of the top local talent, along with fighters from Trinidad, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the United States.

Organizer of the event and founder of Empire Mixed Martial Arts Dr. Kent Bazard said that he expects the appeal of cage fighting to grow in the country after tonight, and that he was slightly overwhelmed by the level of support the event has received so far.

"This is just the beginning of things to come. We've come a very long way in the sport. I think from here on, BOMAC will have cage events at each of our events," he said. "So far, things have been going well, I didn't expect it to be this busy. I have done shows before, but this is my first really big show that's open to the public. However, things have been going smoothly, tickets are selling well, we're almost sold out in the VIP. Over the past few days we have been replenishing our ticket outlets frequently, because the tickets have been going so fast."

The cage fight event is billed as a part of the larger BOMAC Championships, 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.

The tournament will feature five weight classes, including 125, 135, 145, 150, 170, 180 and 200-pound divisions for men and a women's division at 115 pounds. Bazard said that The Bahamas would be well represented tonight, as nine out of the 10 fights on the night will feature a Bahamian fighter. Local fighters expected to take part include Giovanni Johnson, DJ Brown, Pierre Simmons, Tyson Isaacs, Cameron Lewis, Marcian Tucker, Kenny Neymour, Jasmine Wilchcombe and Mark Miller.

"All of the fighters are excited to showcase their skills right here at home. We usually fight in a hostile environment so to have our people here at home encouraging us is huge," said Bazard. "We really want Bahamians to come out and support these fighters because it is going to be a fun and exciting show."

BOMAC has hosted over 500 competitors from 11 countries in its history. In addition, it also hosts various martial art 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 have all sanctioned this event.

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