IMMAF World Championships: Maliha Ali wins bronze, Pakistan appeals loss

Pakistan’s Maliha Ali has won a bronze medal at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the Pakistan MMA Federation says she should have been in the final.

Maliha, fighting at featherweight (65.8kg), lost her semi-final by split decision to Russia’s Polina Baldina, a 23-year-old former world champion with another federation. One judge scored it 30-27 for Baldina, one 29-28 for Maliha, and the third 29-28 for Baldina.

Pakistan files an appeal

The Pakistan MMA Federation has sent a formal letter to the head of IMMAF’s refereeing and judging commission asking for a round-by-round breakdown of the scores, an explanation of the scorecards, and a face-to-face technical review of the fight. The appeal is pending.

Federation president Omar Ahmed did not hold back: “It was a clear win. We were literally robbed,” he said, adding that Pakistan had no officials on the judging panel. He also alleged that judges from former Soviet states favour each other’s fighters, a claim that has not been tested.

How she got there

Maliha’s run to the medal included two strong wins:

• a split-decision win on Tuesday over Russia’s Veronika Drozdova, a two-time European champion
• a unanimous-decision win over Mexico’s Andrea Gabriela Guzmán Salazar

Her twin sister Manesha Ali, who won gold at the IMMAF World Cup in Angola earlier this year, lost a close split decision to Poland’s Martyna Caruk in the lightweight (70.3kg) quarter-final on Wednesday.

Why it matters

Amateur MMA in Pakistan has grown fast on very little money, and the Ali twins have become its best-known faces. A world championship medal against fighters from Russia and Europe, where the sport is far better funded, is a real result, whatever happens with the appeal.

IMMAF’s response to the appeal is the next thing to watch; a reversal of a result after the medals are handed out is rare.