Sweden
IMMAF World Champion Hanna Palmquist: “I just hate to leave anything to the judges”
Hanna Palmquist. Photo via Instagram (@hannapalmqvist94)
Gothenburg’s Hanna Palmquist is the new IMMAF flyweight World Champion after steamrolling her opponents in Albania.
The Swede delivered a string of strong performances in the tournament, and a clear win over England’s Lauren Reay in the finals, to finally lay her hands on the well deserved gold medal at the Tirana Olympic Park.
Frontkick gets a hold of the champion as she returns to the gym for her first training session after the championships.
“I’m happy that it went my way this time,” Palmquist says. “I had my coach Joakim Engberg in my corner so I kinda knew it would work out in the end.”
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Hanna Palmquist hate to leave it to the judges
The 29-year-old Swede defeated her long-time rival Marta Pankiv from Ukraine, and England’s Chloe Gowen, to reach the finals.
“I’ve faced Marta twice before. At the European Championships the referee robbed me blind as he stopped the fight when I stumbled on my own feet. The second time I faced her I avenged the loss by a second-round armbar, and this time I got it done by a solid unanimous decision. Enough with Marta from now on,” Palmquist laughs.
After defeating Gowen via a unanimous decision she faced another English fighter in Lauren Reay in the finals.
“I was unusually calm going into the fight, but we were scared to death to leave anything to the judges. There were so many weird decisions.”
After three rounds of action, the Swede got the win by a clear 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 on the scorecards.
“In the end, my gameplan worked but I just hate to leave anything to the judges.”
Photo via Instagram: (@hannapalmqvist94)
“I don’t get any fights”
Even though Hanna Palmquist is quite a veteran in the National Team, she has fought very little outside the IMMAF tournaments. If it was up to the newly crowned champion, that wouldn’t be the case.
“I don’t get any fights, I’ve tried so much but everyone turns me down. And I guess it won’t be easier now,” Palmquist sighs. “I’ve tried all over Europe but no. And I don’t think I’m that good, I haven’t done anything remarkable, so I don’t know why people are so scared.”
“It’s super frustrating. I want to be as active as possible. I’m still new to the MMA game and want to get all the experience I can.”
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