McKay…It’s a great time in the history of combat sports in our country to be able to put together a team that includes fighters that we can guarantee can beat the best fighters in the world.
Founding coach Jason McKay of Jamaica’s mixed martial arts team is pinning his hopes of winning a gold medal at this week’s International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) U.S. Open on key fighters such as Richard Stone, Nicholas Dussard, Aquino Lindsay and Nikolaj Reid, whom McKay describes as “arguably the best kickboxers on the tatami in the world.”
Praise was sung for MacKay after Stone, Dussard and Lindsay each won double gold medals at the International Sport Kickboxing Association Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) World Championships Kickboxing and Muay Thai in Munich, Germany last year.
This year’s U.S. Open begins on Thursday at Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The trio will be joined by captain Akeem Lawrence and Sharik Bowen, who will compete in a sponsored joint team for the second time, competing for the title in back-to-back and crash sparring.
Lindsay, one of Jamaica’s most decorated ISKA fighters, will face Ireland’s Riad Sheradini in a special Night of Champions bout at the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Championships, broadcast on ESPN on Saturday.
The US Open will be Jamaica’s first major tournament since Germany.
“It’s a great thing in the history of our martial arts to be able to put together a team of fighters that you can guarantee can compete with the best in the world,” MacKay said, reflecting on Jamaica’s performance at the kickboxing and Muay Thai world championships, held from Oct. 18-22, in which the country won eight medals from four fighters.
When Jamaica returned to the U.S. Open after a COVID-19 hiatus last year, members of its combined team led the senior field with four gold medals. Daniel White of the Jamaica Taekwondo Centre was the only senior athlete not on the combined team to win a gold medal, winning the 18-34 Advanced Clash Sparring division.
Lawrence believes the JV team members will once again lead the way with multiple medals.
“I have absolute confidence in our players who have been training under Master Claude Chin and Coach Jason McKay for the past six months,” Lawrence noted.
“We expect our more experienced fighters to perform well, continuing to clash and spar in their respective weight classes, as they will be aiming for the double gold medal as always,” Lawrence added.
Last year, Dussard won the light heavyweight black belt title in back-to-back and crash sparring, while Reed defeated Germany’s Jamie Lindner in back-to-back sparring to win the middleweight black belt world title.
Jamaica’s Stone, a three-time U.S. Open champion, defeated America’s Sheldon Spencer during an ESPN Night of Champions special at the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Championship matches.
