St. Maarten Martial Arts Federation (SMMAF) held its third martial arts competition on Saturday, November 10, at the Milton Peters College gym. The event showcased two martial arts, for adults and children – Muay Thai (MT) Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ).
Invitations were extended to all combat martial arts organisations on St. Maarten; and 50 Jiu Jitsu competitors and 33 Muay Thai Kickboxing competitors, ranging in age from four to 50, participated.
Competitors hailed from Marco London's Sityodtong Foundation, SXM BJJ/Renzo Gracie St. Maarten’s Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Teams, French St. Martin’s Shidokan and Saint Barths Jiu Jitsu Team.
MT and BJJ took place on two different mat areas at the same time. The match time for jiujitsu competitors ranged from two to seven minutes, depending on age and belt rank.
A handful of notable athletes competed in both the BJJ and MT events: Vlad Ahlip, Lucas Bardfield, Justice Lawrence, Douglas Pearson and Sacha Leal.
In the Jiu Jitsu arena, Vlad Ahlip defeated Amir Baharani on points. Brandon Bertrand defeated Lucas Bardfield on points. White and grey belt Liam Van Windt defeated a brave five-year-old Luna Fourie who only began training two months ago.
For the seven- to nine-year-olds; Justice Lawrence defeated Jaali Galvani, Christian van der Horst defeated Julia Hinkfoot and Brandaen Illis defeated Christian van der Horst. Six-year-old Selah Romney showed incredible confidence and poise with a victory over Topper Jr. Daboul and Jaali Galvani. Topper defeated five-year-old Rylan Benjamin who courageously competed after only two months of training.
In the eight- to nine-year-old heavy weight division, Nakysha Jederon came in first place with victories over Zeo Doncher-Arrindell and Eldrik Thebe. Eldrick came in second with a victory over Douglas Pearson.
In SXM BJJ’s 10- to 12-year-old heavy weight bracket, Niel Jederon defeated Jayden Bertrand, Seybian Ortega defeated Jet Fleming, and Seybian defeated Niel in an impressive display of technique, with Seybian winning on points. Aiden Wilkie edged a close victory over Moises Martina 5-4.
Teenagers Derek Matser defeated Renard Brison.
In matches between SXM BJJ and St. Barths athletes: St. Maarten’s Megan Whyte defeated Louisa Gautier 17-0. St. Maarten’s Keziah Hoeve edged a close victory by one advantage over Floriane Aubin who had a 9kg weight advantage over her, and seven-year-old Julia Hinckfoot defeated Louka from St. Barths. St. Maarten’s Connor Scripps-Ewing defeated Timote Gautier via triangle choke.
St. Barths’ standout athlete Keziah Collet-Delannay and SXM BJJ’s Keziah Hoeve had a repeat of their last match with St. Barth’s Keziah winning by referee decision due to a tied scoreboard.
Keziah Collet-Delannay also edged another close victory by referee decision to the older Connor Scripps-Ewing. Connor Scripps-Ewing went on to defeat St. Barth’s Kalani Giraud.
St. Maarten’s Renard Brison defeated both Manon Aubin and Clément Georges of St. Barths. St. Maarten’s Leandro Zabala defeated both Timote Gautier via triangle choke and Kalani Giraud via points 17-0.
St. Maarten’s Sacha Leal defeated Manon Aubin and Clément Georges but suffered a loss to St. Barth’s 66kg green belt Samana Bidet on points. Powerful young Samana outweighed Sacha by 16 kg and as a green belt holds the highest rank permitted for her age – the coveted green belt is a “black belt for kids”.
St. Maarten’s 15-year-old Shaquannie Vanterpool earned a victory over the Samana of St. Barths.
Nine-year-old Nakysa Jederon had an impressive victory over 13-year-old Amalya Aufrand of St. Barths. Amalya showed heart and courage and earned a victory over Neil Jederon age 10 on points.
In the Muay Thai Kickboxing competition, St. Martin Shidokan was represented by eight fighters, nine fighters hailed from Marco London’s Sityodtong Sint Maarten (St. Peters) and 16 fighters from the SXMBJJ Sityodtong Sint Maarten (Cole Bay).
In the youngest bouts (ages four-seven) Aram Jagtiani and Lazaro Ahlip ended in a draw. Vlad Ahlip defeated Lewys Whyte via points. Justice Lawrence defeated Adrien Dumon via TKO (technical knockout).
In the eight- to 14-year division, Arhan Baharani defeated Stella Palmer via points, Martin Guihard defeated Licio Marsham via points, Alexandre Marchi defeated Christopher Williams via points.
SXM BJJ’s Jayden Jacobus put up a tough fight but lost to Tyler Duzant via points. Douglas Pearson defeated Matteo Fourie via points, Brandaen Illis put on a fierce performance to secure a victory over Noa Saint-Leger via points. Nihal Chugani lost to Noa Habichdobinger via points, Lucas Bardfield lost to Alexandre Macchi via points, Gilson Duzant lost to Licio Marsham via points and Lucas Bardfield vs Arhan Baharani ended in a draw.
Sacha Leal (14) lost via points to adult fighter Loic Bryan, David Henry defeated Venizio Sherwood via points.
SMMAF board of directors Marco London, Melissa Bardfield, Akeem Lewis and Moreland Le Blanc would like to thank all the athletes, coaches, volunteers and supporters for their time and energy and special thanks to the management of Milton Peters College for making the venue available. Official sponsorship was generously provided by Heavenly Water. For information on martial arts training on St. Maarten, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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