Beating All Odds And Bringing Home Gold: Maltese Athletes Dominate At MMA Championship In Rome
Martial arts requires a whole lot of discipline, training and sheer skill… but if Malta’s new athletes on the block are anything to go by, our island is on the cusp of dominating the international scene.
Jolie Galea, one of Malta’s promising young athletes in the sport, just took home Gold at her first-ever international grappling competition in Rome. Not too shabby for a teenager who’s just starting out!
At 18 years old, Jolie Galea was enlisted for the ‘Absolute’ category, where she faced some of the toughest and most experienced fighters at the competition. Odds stacked against her, Galea won all three of her fights and came up with the coveted top spot.
Jolie Galea - 1st Place
And Jolie wasn’t even the only Maltese athlete to come away with an awesome result
Malta’s Checkmate Fight Club took several athletes to the meet in Rome, and the club came back with a whole lot of winners.
Clyde Grech and Dejan Briffa also received gold medals, while Marilyn Micallef, Denilson Manicaro, Vince Galea and Alessandro Ragusa won silver.
Clyde Grech - 1st Place, Sean Borg - 3rd Place
Dejan Briffa - 1st place, Danilson Manicaro - 2nd Place
Marilyn Micallef - 2nd Place
One of the most exciting fights of the night was 18-year-old Aleandro Manicaro’s, who with only two years of experience, attracted a rather large crowd by entering the Absolute category and putting in a strong performance against an athlete with over 15 years of experience before succumbing.
The athletes’ head coach himself, Charlo Spiteri, also competed, taking part in the Master Division. With seconds to go until victory, Spiteri was unfortunately injured and had to bow out of the competition… but that didn’t stop him from supporting all his students as they brought home some shiny medals.
Those are some impressive results. Competitive mixed martial arts has a bright future in Malta and these results clearly demonstrate the potential our young athletes have. Kudos!
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