BRAVE success confirmed

Manama, Sep. 25 (BNA): The Kingdom of Bahrain had an unforgettable excitement filled night last Friday in the matches of the first edition of BRAVE mixed martial arts championship, held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of Bahrain Athletics Association, founder of the Khalid bin Hamad Mixed Martial Arts (KHK MMA) Organization, organized by BRAVE Combat Federation in cooperation with KHK MMA Organization, Khalid bin Hamad Organization and the Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts Association. The night was full of breath taking suspense, strength and tough competition with 20 fighters from 10 different countries, who came to participate in this event. This is the first of its kind event in the Middle East aimed to transform Bahrain into a new destination for mixed martials arts sport. The BRAVE championship achieved a great success in its first edition, as it featured high level performances, outstanding organizational aspect and follow-up from high level figures such as His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of Bahrain Olympic Committee; His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa; several members of the Royal family; a number of diplomats and officials from the Youth & Sports sector. This global event witnessed a large crowd that exceeded expectations. Nasser bin Hamad, Khalid bin Hamad meet the crowd HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa were keen on meeting the crowd during the matches held at Khalifa Sports City. Their Highnesses chatted with the crowd, who seized the opportunity to take pictures with their Highnesses Communities talk about MMA The championship has seen a large presence from a number of communities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, that were keen on following-up on the matches, cheer the fighters, and take commemoratives pictures with the fighters and their autographs. Outstanding organisation praised The crowd praised the organizational aspect of BRAVE championship, which reflected on the success of the event which is held for the first time in the Kingdom of Bahrain. They said that this event reflected on the development of the sports sector in the Kingdom and contributed to the revitalization of tourism. Decisive victory Mohammad Atif ‘The Little Hawk’ and his opponent Sunny Khatri faced off against one another in the curtain raiser fight of the first ever ‘Brave Combat Federation’, and what a fight it was! Atif, the KHK product who fights out of Bahrain was clearly the crowd favourite and went into the bout looking to put on a striking show that his fans wouldn’t soon forget! After a tentative feeling out process during the first two minutes, Atif began pushing the pace landing low kicks and powerful strikes to Sunnys’ body and head. Atif was clearly not very comfortable with Atifs’ aggressive approach and circled around the perimeter of the fence in an attempt to avoid the oncoming strikes. Sunny attempted to slow down Atifs’ aggression in the 2nd round with a big overhand right which was swiftly countered by the ‘Little Hawk’ who began taking complete control of the fight at this point, scoring with a variety of strikes during the third round including a flying knee! Atif and his fans will be delighted with his performance! Loman decisions Mlambo in an instant classic! Stephen Loman, who trains out of the famed Lakay Team, faced Frans Mlambo, winner of last years International Mixed Martial Arts Federation’s amateur championship in Las Vegas in the 2nd bout of ‘Brave: The Beginning’ with both fighters putting on an instant classic! The first round had the taller Mlambo take the center of the octagon baiting his opponent to try to close the distance. On one such instance where Loman did attempt to close the distance he was caught flush with a powerful counter right hand by Mlambo that had him stunned. Loman managed to recover however and successfully worked for a takedown delivering a series of strikes from half guard. Mlambo managed to get back to his feet however but was rewarded for his efforts with a strong kick to the face by Loman. The fighters began the 2nd round baring the scars of the first round. Mlambo reverted to his tried tactic of waiting for the counter opportunity but was taken down again by Loman who slammed the ‘Black Mamba’ to the mat. Frans threatened with a guillotine choke but Loman would escape his attempt and continue his onslaught on the ground. In the final frame Loman quickly went back to the takedown which had proved so effective and at one point had Frans in all kinds of trouble after he had taken his back and was attempting a rear naked choke. Loman improves to 7-2 with his performance while Frans drops to 2-2 although one could argue that no one lost this fight. Farhad TKO’s Badr-Eddine inside two! Mohammad Farhad scored an impressive TKO win over his Moroccan opponent Badr-Eddine in the 2nd round of their fight at Brave: The Beginning. Badr-Eddine started the match looking the quicker fighter scoring with a plethora of low kicks that at one point dropped Farhad. Farhad was patiently waiting for the counter opportunity and would on two occasions drop Badr-Eddine with an overhand counter punch. One such counter overhand would prove the beginning of the end as it would drop Badr-Eddine with Farhad quickly following him to the ground securing the win via TKO! Ivan Lopez makes it six wins via submission against Rafols! Ivan Lopez won his promotional debut at Brave Combat Federation via rear naked choke in the first two minutes of round 1! The Tijuana native was facing Jessie Rafols who came into the cage with a record of 8-5. Lopez quickly looked for the takedown and his grappling superiority paid dividends. He had Rafols up against the cage and was sitting in his half-guard waiting for the opportunity to progress his position. The end came once Rafols attempted an armbar from the bottom which Lopez used to quickly and fluidly transition to side mount, then full-mount then back mount from which he secured the submission! Lopez now has record six of 14 victories via submission! Kooheji wins via North/South Choke in his Bantamweight debut! Hamzah Kooheji made his long awaited and victorious comeback into the Octagon today against the Egyptian Mohammad Mashaly winning via north/south choke 3 minutes into the 2nd round! Kooheji employed a patient game plan against the faster striker in Mashaly during the first half of the 1st round waiting for the opportunity to shoot for the takedown. Once the opportunity presented itself, Kooheji was quick to take advantage of it and showed tremendous improvement on his grappling capabilities. He fended off a guillotine attempt before swiftly transitioning to a mounted crucifix where he landed punishing elbows until the end of the round. The 2nd round started siimlar to the first one with Kooheji waiting for the opportunity to take Mashaly to the ground. He once again worked for the mounted crucifix position before transitioning the north/south choke and forcing Mashaly to tap! The pride of Bahrain is back! Eldarov grinds out Koldobsky for the decision win KHK representative Eldar Eldarov (7-1) beat Kevin Koldobsky (6-2) by way of unanimous decision after three rounds. Their fight took place as the first fight of the Main Card of Brave: The Beginning Koldobsky was eager to make use of his advantage in the striking realm using unorthodox strikes during the bout including a trio of flying knees. Eldarov stood with Koldobsky in phases but when the takedown presented itself the Daghestani grappling phenom wasted no time in taking Koldobsky into his world. And once it got there things went south for Koldobsky. Although he was quite active on his back he struggled to work his way back to his feet. He frequently looked for the armbar off the cage and had a nasty looking armlock almost locked in in the 2nd round. Eldarov would prevail in the end and the Daghestani now rides a 7 fight win streak! Masio Fullen the victor after a wild brawl! Many fans had earmarked this fight as their potential fight of the night and they might be right on the mark! In a wild brawl between two featherweights Masio Fullen would emerge victorious in the dying seconds of the first round after surviving a scare of his own earlier. Muneer has become known for his explosive starts to his fights (finishing all of his victories in the first round) and he started off on the front foot here rushing Fullen with a series of strikes and extremely well timed counters. Masio Fullen threw a spinning kick that Muneer did well to side step and launch a haymaker of strike that connected on the Mexican chin. It was shortly thereafter that Fullen made the match into more a grappling contest where he felt he had the advantage, taking Muneer against the cage and delivering a knee to the head of Muneer's that dropped the fighter and signaled the beginning of the end. Both fighters showed great sportsmanship after the bout and a clearly visible Fullen thanked the crowed for their support and for being a part of his tremendous come-from-behind victory! Ahmed Amir reigns supreme! Ahmed Amir pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the night when he beat Richie ‘The Boogeyman’ Martinez by TKO in the first round. At points in the fight it looked like Amir on the verge of defeat when he was caught in a dangerous position by the boogeyman who began working his slick ground skills including a closely contested heel hook! The Boogeyman started the fight quick making use of his long frame to throw kicks that connected with Ahmed’s upper body. Martinez rushed in and took Amir down against the cage but Amir was able to survive the initial scramble and get back to his feet. Ahmad then connected with a massive right hand that dropped the Boogeyman who tried to scramble into a better position but Ahmed would not let the American recover and went on to secure the win by TKO. Gaziev triumphs against the odds! Gadzhimusa ‘Deadshot’ Gaziev will go down as the first person to hand Thiago ‘Monstro’ Vieira his first professional career loss in a terrific fight! Vieira, who was originally supposed to face Mohammad Fakhreddine, made extremely well use of his long frame and 10cm reach advantage to land devastating low kicks in the initial exchanges of the fight. Gadzhiev appeared patient and was waiting for the chance to close the distance with looping overhand strikes when given the chance. When the chance did not come, Gadzhiev rushed in with a takedown which he was able to get but Vieira managed to wall walk his way back up and throw a devastating three strike combo that appeared to have Gaziev in a world of trouble! The unpredictability of MMA reared its head however once more and just as it appeared that Gaziev’s night would be cut short he threw a cracker of a right hand that dropped a stunned Vieira against the cage. All it took was a few strikes more for the referee to call the fight and award the victory to the Daghestani! A Rear-Naked Choke Settles The Score For Selwady! The bad blood was indeed real and these two fighters made no secret of their discontent for one another in the run up to this fight. After being years in the making, Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady managed to settle the score in the first round by way of Rear-Naked-Choke! During the opening exchange Rami threw a punch that threw him off balance and caused him to crash into Selwady who used his opponent’s momentum to take him down to the ground. From then on he displayed the immense progress he has made in his grappling prowess leaving Aziz with little room to navigate on the ground. He rolled from half-guard to side mount then crucifix before forcing Rami to give up his back and force the tap! An emotional Selwady was then also awarded his Purple Belt by his coach Ashraf Shishani during his post-match speech.