Help get the Edwards brothers to the All African Mixed Martial Arts Championships

Crystal Orderson spoke to Umar and Yasin Edwards.

Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below.

South African gold medalists Umar and Yasin Edwards need your help getting to the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation’s (IMMAF) African Championships.

The Championships take place from 27 May to 1 June in Namibia.

Last month, the brothers won gold in their respective categories at the South African Mixed Martial Arts Championships which saw them qualify to compete at the African Championships.

The brothers, aged 15 and 16 respectively, have accomplished numerous accolades including:

• Being the 2022 Western Province Kickboxing Champs
• Medals in numerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions 
• They have obtained a medal each time they competed for the past four years at every South African MMA Championship

"MMA takes really a lot of discipline. We train six days a week, we only have a break on a Sunday. Minimum training sessions are two hours so we make a lot of sacrifices and we always have to find that balance between our sports and our schooling." 

- Umar Edwards, MMA athlete

"For kids that are getting bullied and are not confident, I think it's really good to start doing MMA as a confidence booster. MMA is not really violent, it teaches you a lot of values and discipline." 

- Yasin Edwards, MMA athlete

You can help them pursue their dream of representing the country and hopefully become African champions by making a monetary donation, whether big or small, on their BackaBuddy account. 

"I feel excited. I know I am not just going to participate, I know I am going to win and put our names on the map."

-Yasin Edwards, MMA athlete

Below is the breakdown of the cost for both brothers:

• Entry competition fee - R2000
• National Kit - R3200
• Medicals - R2000
• Food - R2000
• Travel - R11 000
• Accommodation - R5000

"MMA is not a mainstream sport so the government doesn't back us...Everything comes from our parents...it's quite costly."

- Umar Edwards, MMA athlete

Scroll up to listen to the full interview.