Maliha Ali wins bronze at IMMAF worlds; Pakistan appeals split-decision semi-final loss

Pakistan's Maliha Ali has won bronze at the IMMAF World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, after a split-decision loss to Russia's Polina Baldina in the featherweight (65.8kg) semi-final on Thursday 5 November, Dawn reported. The Pakistan MMA Federation has lodged a formal appeal against the decision.

The IMMAF World Championships are the top event in amateur mixed martial arts, the level below professional promotions such as the UFC. A world medal for a Pakistani woman at this level is rare, and Maliha got there by beating a two-time European champion on the way.

Maliha Ali's road to the bronze

1. Round of 16, Tuesday 3 November: beat Russia's Veronika Drozdova, a two-time European champion, by split decision. Our report on that fight.
2. Quarter-final, Wednesday 4 November: beat Andrea Gabriela Guzman Salazar of Mexico by unanimous decision.
3. Semi-final, Thursday 5 November: lost to Polina Baldina, 23, by split decision. Baldina is a former world champion in another MMA federation (Khanty-Mansiysk, 2024) and had won three bouts on her way to the final.

Three judges, three different cards

Dawn's reporter at the cage described a close fight in which neither fighter clearly won a round, with Maliha landing the cleaner shots in the third. The judges saw it very differently:

Pakistan's appeal

The federation has written to the head of IMMAF's Refereeing and Judging Commission asking for:

• a round-by-round breakdown of the scoring,
• an explanation of why the three cards differ so widely, and
• a face-to-face technical review of the fight.

Federation president Omar Ahmed pointed out in the letter that Pakistan also lost a semi-final on a split decision at last year's championships, and said that when "different explanations are provided for similar judging situations", federations struggle to know what standard their athletes are judged by. He also told Dawn that Pakistan had no officials on the judging panel, while Russia brought two fighters per weight class backed by national sponsors. IMMAF had not responded publicly to the appeal in the reports we have seen. A bronze medal stands unless the result is changed on review.

Manesha Ali out in the quarter-finals

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

Who Maliha Ali is

Maliha, 24, is from Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan. A wushu champion and national kickboxing gold medallist, she won silver at the IMMAF World Cup in Luanda this year before this world medal. The federation ran a six-week camp with an international grappling coach before Tbilisi, paid for with very little official money: Ahmed has called Pakistan's "the most underfunded" federation at the event.

For professional fights in Pakistan time, see our UFC schedule in Pakistan time.