Tag: BRAVE Combat Federation

IMMAF World Championships – Top Prospects

The 2021 IMMAF ( International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) World Championship begin this week (Jan 24-29), with the tournament taking place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The event was initially set to be held last November in Kazakhstan, but the rapid rise of Covid cases in the Central Asian nation […]

The 2021 IMMAF ( International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) World Championship begin this week (Jan 24-29), with the tournament taking place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The event was initially set to be held last November in Kazakhstan, but the rapid rise of Covid cases in the Central Asian nation forced a location and date change. 

This week’s event will see athletes from over 30 different nations competing inside the IMMAF cage as they each strive for gold. Amateur MMA is still developing, but the competition grows more competitive each year.  Former IMMAF bantamweight junior world champion Muhammad Mokaev will make his highly anticipated UFC debut on March 19 and he looks set to be the first of a new wave of IMMAF fighters making their way to the pro ranks. 

Here are a few of the top prospects to watch out for when the World Championship kicks off. 

Ramazan Gitnov

The 24-year-old Gitinov is the reigning welterweight world champion and a stablemate of Mokaev at KHK MMA. The Dagestan-born fighter who competes under the Bahrain flag is, as one would suspect, a skilled grappler. BRAVE CF Super Lightweight Champion Eldar Eldarov, who trains Gitinov, has been developing his young charge’s striking, and with each outing he seems to be improving. After Covid forced the cancellation of almost all IMMAF events in 2020, Gitinov finally returned to action at last year’s European Championships, where he won gold medal. He is ranked No.1 in the IMMAF pound-for-pound list, and it is hard to see anyone taking that spot off him in the near future.

Hazem Kayyali

 The 21-year-old Jordanian has been training in martial arts since he was five years old, and his talent is backed with a sense of showmanship. At last year’s World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic, Kayali could be seen talking to his opponents and chatting with the camera on his way to claiming the middleweight gold. The BJJ-brown, who speaks four languages, will be looking to cement his status as a rising MMA prospect with a World Championship title.

Sabrina Laurentina De Sousa

De Sousa is the women’s reigning featherweight champion and fights out of Team Bahrain. Born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, De Sousa moved to Bahrain to train full-time as a mixed martial artist, and so far, the experience is paying off. The 21-year-old has a 7-0 record, and her team at KHK MMA firmly believes she will eventually be one of the top female fighters in the women’s professional ranks.

Look out for a possible matchup between De Sousa and New Zealand’s Michelle Montague. The New Zealand fighter is the current lightweight world champion but recently moved to featherweight. She and De Sousa fought in the semi-finals at the European Open, with De Sousa earning the victory. However, Montague was limited in what she could do after an injury to her leg in the opening round. A rematch between the two would be one of the most anticipated bouts of the tournament.

Bagdat Zhubanysh

The two-time strawweight world champion will be looking to make history this week by becoming the first fighter to capture three world titles. The Kazakhstan mixed martial artist has an 8-0 record and is equipped with an explosive stand-up game. The 25-year-old won the IMMAF 2020 Senior Male Athlete of the Year Award, and after this tournament, will look at moving to the professional ranks. 

If you want to follow all the action this week just head over to IMMAF TV to watch the fights live and on replay.

Exclusive: BRAVE CF Broadcast Team’s Favorite Fights Of 2021 & Fights To Be Made In 2022

BRAVE CF 53BRAVE CF held its final show of the year this weekend, with BRAVE CF 56 going in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sat. December 18. It has been an eventful 12 months for the Bahrain-based promotion, with 11 events being staged throughout the year.  To celebrate the year that was, LowkickMMA caught up with the three wise […]

BRAVE CF 53

BRAVE CF held its final show of the year this weekend, with BRAVE CF 56 going in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sat. December 18. It has been an eventful 12 months for the Bahrain-based promotion, with 11 events being staged throughout the year. 

To celebrate the year that was, LowkickMMA caught up with the three wise men of the BRAVE CF broadcast team, Commentators Phil Cambell and Kirik Jenness, and “The Roaring Lion,” BRAVE CF’s in-ring announcer Carlos Kremer. 

We asked them to share with us their favorite moment of the Year, Fight of the Year, and the match-ups they most wanted to see in 2022. Here are the picks they made for Fight of the Year— for Jenness, he selected one from the end of 2020 as it left a deep impression — as well as the fights they most want to see in 2022.

Phil Cambell – BRAVE CF commentator 

Fight of the Year

My favorite fight of the year has to be the main event of Brave Combat Federation 53 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. That was Tae Kyun Kim taking on Nurzhan Akishev. These guys fought for three rounds and threw the rulebook completely out of the window.

They stood in the pocket, blasting each other with huge shots. Both guys looked like they could have been finished at any stage. Their faces were completely unrecognizable after the fight. Both guys landed huge shorts. Both guys took huge shots.

Tae Kyun Kim came away with the decision, but if anything, Nurzhan Akishev enhanced his reputation in a loss which is very, very rare in MMA. Tae Kyun Kim solidified his position as one of the best featherweights in the world and really staked his claim for a title shot.

Fights to be made in 2022

Sam Patterson has to fight for the title categorically. He has to fight for the title. If you look at his body of work in Brave Combat Federation, not just this year, but as a whole, that young man has grown into one of the Premiere lightweights in the world with his performances as last fight against [Kamil] Magomedov finished him with a high elbow guillotine was absolutely huge.

Before that, beating a 25 fight veteran in Yiles Djiroun beating him over the course of three rounds. I’ve said in commentary multiple times. He has made himself undeniable as a bona fide contender in the lightweight division. So that’s a fight I would love to see—also, the rematch in the light heavyweight division, Mohammad Fakhreddine versus Mohamed Said Maalem. That’s a fight that has to happen.

Said Maalem believes that he should never have had the belt taken off him, and the decision should never have been changed to a No Contest. So there’s genuine animosity between these guys, and both these guys are fantastic fighters in their own right.

So that is another huge fight that we’ll hopefully see in 2020—keeping with Mohammed Fakhreddine. He is the middleweight champion. But waiting in the wings is Ikram Aliskerov. His only loss in his professional career is to Khamzat Chimaev, and since losing Khamzat Chimaev. He has gone three and o three finishes. He is an absolute wrecking ball of fury in the middleweight division. He there’s very little else he can do to strengthen his claim to be the No.1 contender in the middleweight division.

So potentially a very, very busy year for Muhammad Fakhreddin.

Carlos “The Roaring Lion” Kremer – BRAVE CF In-Ring Announcer

Fight of the Year

Ares Tae Kyun Kim vs. [Nurzhan] Akishev. This fight brought back memories of Forest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonner. Pure skill, heart, and soul.

Fights to be made in 2022

The fight I’d most like to see is the rematch between Sam Patterson against Brave Lightweight Champion Ahmed Amir, Egypt’s first Combat Sports Champion.

Kirik Jenness – BRAVE CF commentator 

Fight of the Year

It was Wednesday, September 17, 2020, the Year of the Pandemic, in Kombat Kingdom, the magnificent Kingdom of Bahrain. I was helping out at the faceoffs for BRAVE CF 41; the second fight on the card was Abdulmanap Magomedov from Russia vs. Rahmatullah Yousufzai from Afghanistan.

I know Abdulmanap means something like Servant of Allah, and I know Magomedov is a popular name in Russia. There’s rules in MMA, and one of them is, if a fighter has an Arab-sounding first name and a Russian-sounding last name … he will win. I’m kidding kinda, kinda not. But Abdulmanap Magomedov was a former IMMAF WORLD CHAMPION making his pro debut. In sum, this man is a stepping razor.

Facung him was the unherladed Rahmatullah Yousufzai. BRAVE Combat Federation provides opportunities for some of the most storied fighters coming out of the amateur ranks, like Magomedov. It also provides opportunities for fighters from areas with precious little support for the sport, like Afghanistan. And BRAVE has the best scouting team in the sport. So I knew Yousufzai had to have talent, but still, he was a mid-card fighter from events I had never heard of, and I’m the sport’s official records keeper. In my mind, I thought Yousufzai faced enormously long odds. Not like Burj Khalifa long, like Great Wall of China long.

But when I saw Yousufzai stare into Magomedov’s eyes at the faceoffs, I realized he knew something I did not. The next day, fight day, Yousufzai was called into the BRAVE cage, and before entering, he prayed so fervently to his creator that I was overcome with emotion, felt honored to be witnessing what was about to happen, come what may.

Rahmatullah Yousufzai knocked out Abdulmanap Magomedov in 42 seconds. In that moment, I felt the vision of Shaikh Khalid like never before. BRAVE identified an unknown talent from a region where the sport is entirely on its own, gave him an opportunity, and, man; he took it. He took it.

Fights to be made in 2022

I love the easy questions! I want to see Mohammad “The Latest” Fakhreddine fight in 2022. What weight division? I don’t care. Versus who? don’t care. Where? Don’t care. I just want to see The Baddest Mo Fakhro in MMA step into the BRAVE cage soon.

What were your favorite BRAVE CF moments of 2021?

BRAVE CF 56 Results

BRAVE CF 56 went down today in Belgrade, Serbia. It was the first time the promotion held an event in the Balkan nation, and it was the company’s final event of 2021. Former UFC featherweight Rolando Dy took on Serbia’s Slobodan Maksimovic in a lightweight bout in the main event. Dy was looking to bounce […]

BRAVE CF 56 went down today in Belgrade, Serbia. It was the first time the promotion held an event in the Balkan nation, and it was the company’s final event of 2021.

Former UFC featherweight Rolando Dy took on Serbia’s Slobodan Maksimovic in a lightweight bout in the main event. Dy was looking to bounce back from a second-round TKO loss to Abdisalam Kubanychbek at BRAVE CF 47. 

In the co-main event, Serbia’s Miro Jurkovi? took on Russia’s Mikhail Allakhverdian in a middleweight clash. 

Here are the full results from BRAVE CF 56

  • Lightweight: Slobodan Maksimovic def. Rolando Dy via unanimous decision
  • Middleweight Mikhail Allakhverdian def. Miro Jurkovic via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Super Lightweight: Ahmed Labban def. Nemanja Kovac via RD 2 Submission 
  • Bantamweight: Borislav Nikolic def. Matiss Zaharovs via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Light Heavyweight: Jakob Nedoh def. Zvonimir Kralj via RD1 KO
  • Super Welterweight: Jovan Marjanovic def. Tomek Langowski via RD1 TKO
  • Featherweight: Abdullah Al-Qahtani def. Nejc Preloznik via RD3 TKO
  • Catchweight (77 KG): Nikolay Nikolov def. Milos Cvetkovic via RD2 Submission
  • Bantamweight: Miljan Zdravkovic def. Ahmet Simsek via unanimous decision

Exclusive: BRAVE CF Broadcast Team’s Favorite Moments Of 2021

From left to right, Carlos Kremer, Phil Campbell & Kirik Jenness BRAVE CF wraps up its 2021 calendar this Sat, December 18, with BRAVE CF 56 going down in Belgrade, Serbia, inside the BelExpo Centar. Headlining the nine-fight card will be a lightweight clash between the Philippines’ Rolando Dy and hometown hero Slobodan Maksimovi?.  Ahead […]

From left to right, Carlos Kremer, Phil Campbell & Kirik Jenness

BRAVE CF wraps up its 2021 calendar this Sat, December 18, with BRAVE CF 56 going down in Belgrade, Serbia, inside the BelExpo Centar. Headlining the nine-fight card will be a lightweight clash between the Philippines’ Rolando Dy and hometown hero Slobodan Maksimovi?.

 Ahead of this weekend’s event, LowkickMMA caught up with the three of BRAVE CF’s most recognizable voices: Commentators Phil Cambell and Kirik Jenness, as well the “The Roaring Lion” himself, BRAVE CF’s in-ring announcer Carlos Kremer.  Cambell, Jenness, and Kremer have all had front-row seats to the action and drama that has unfolded at BRAVE CF throughout 2021. We asked them to share with us their favorite moment of the Year, Fight of the Year, and the match-ups they most wanted to see in 2022. Here are the moments that resonated most with them in 2021.

Favorite Moment of the Year

Phil Cambell – BRAVE CF commentator 

The favorite moment of the Year isn’t just one singular moment caught in time. It has to be the return to Kombat kingdom four shows over the course of 21 days, and [in] one of the most beautiful settings Arad Fort in Bahrain. You could just feel that there was so much history steeped in this place. It was like a Roman Coliseum times 10. Such an amazing backdrop, four incredible shows stacked with incredible fighters. You know, you had some of the best fighters in the world coming together in that moment.

Carlos “The Roaring Lion” Kremer – BRAVE CF In-Ring Announcer

Top moment for me would be “The Butcher” Ahmed Amir winning the Brave CF Lightweight World Title over heavily favored former Champion Amin Ayoub and becoming the first Egyptian Combat Sports World Champion.

I announced Ahmed’s fight against Richie Martinez five plus years ago at Brave CF 1, and he shocked the world then with a victory over “The Boogieman” , who is one of the top Jiu Jitsu stars on the planet. Six full years of dedication, Amir left his home and family in Egypt to train under the guidance of His Highness Shaikh Khaled Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and the No.1 team in the world, KHK Team Bahrain, and proved to all of us and millions of Egyptians that you can become a World Champion with Brave CF if you want it bad enough that it consumes you.

I’m so happy for him and the team—what a way to end another historic year for us.

Kirik Jenness – BRAVE CF commentator 

My favorite style of fighter is the grind. There are fighters who chase highlights, knockout artists, submission machines, relentless wrestlers, but the highest level, to me, is the grinder. That’s a fighter with the highest level of conditioning, the strongest mind, who relentlessly pressures in all aspects of the game. And that, to me, is BRAVE Combat Federation. 

We opened in Russia, then saw an extraordinary four cards on successive weekends in Kombat Kingdom capped with the ecstatically great BRAVE 50, before pouring into Belarus, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, then back to Russia, and before the year is out Serbia. 2021 will end with BRAVE visiting 25 countries across five continents, well ahead of any other promotion on Earth ever in the same span.

Inspired by Shaikh Khalid and led by Mohammed “The Hawk” Shahid, the BRAVE team, I should say the BRAVE family, we charged across the globe, grinding every minute of every hour of every day.

That’s my favorite moment – the grind – and that moment, it lasted all year long.

What was your Favorite BRAVE CF moment of 2021?

BRAVE CF 55 Results: Ali Bagautinov Books Spot in Flyweight Tournament Final

BRAVE CF flyweight Ali Bagautinov is one fight away from claiming the inaugural BRAVE CF Flyweight Championship after his first-round TKO victory over the USA’s Sean Santella saw him advance to the final of the BRAVE CF flyweight tournament. The pair faced off in the main event of BRAVE CF 55, which took place today( […]

BRAVE CF flyweight Ali Bagautinov is one fight away from claiming the inaugural BRAVE CF Flyweight Championship after his first-round TKO victory over the USA’s Sean Santella saw him advance to the final of the BRAVE CF flyweight tournament. The pair faced off in the main event of BRAVE CF 55, which took place today( Sat. November 6) in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

Bagautinov was set to meet Jose Torres, but Torres was forced to pull out of the contest due to issues with his weight cut. Fortunately, Santella, who drew with Torres in the quarterfinals, but left the tournament following injury, was due to compete on the undercard and leaped at the opportunity to take on Bagautinov.

Bagautinov took control of the contest from the outset, landing a couple of quick shots early on as Santella unsuccessfully attempted to earn a takedown. The 37-year-old Santella maintained his pursuit as he looked to implement his noted ground game, but in doing so, opened himself to heavy shots from Bagautinov.

The Russian veteran landed a crashing elbow from a standing position as Santella held on to the left leg, which rocked the American. Bagautinov then unleashed a series of heavy shots forcing the referee to step in and wave the contest off. In his post-fight interview Santella felt that the elbow landed on the back of his head, but still vowed to come back stronger in the future.

The stage is now set for an all-Russian final between Bagautinov and Velimurad Alkhasov. The Chechen booked his passage to the championship bout with a win over former UFC flyweight Zach Makovsky at BRAVE CF 50. However, the date for the championship bout has not yet been set.

In the semi-final bout, super welterweight Ibrahim Mane and Artur Sviridov fought to a draw. All three judges scored the fight 29-29. Earlier in the night, UK lightweight Sam Patterson scored his fourth straight win under the BRAVE CF banner, with a submission victory over Kamil Magomedov.

The win takes Patterson’s BRAVE CF record to 4-0-1, with the draw coming against the recently crowned lightweight champion Ahmed Amir. A meeting between the two seems now to be a very distinct possibility. 

BRAVE CF 55 was the year’s final show for the Bahrain-based promotion, and the company heads into 2022 with several intriguing options on the cards for future events. 

Here are the full results from BRAVE CF 55 Full Results

  • Flyweight Tournament Semi-final: Ali Bagautinov def. Sean Santella via TKO (punches) at 1:01 of Round 1
  • Super Welterweight: Ibrahim Mane vs. Artur Sviridov settles with a unanimous draw (29-29, 29-29, 29-29)
  • Lightweight: Sam Patterson def. Kamil Magomedov via submission (guillotine) at 3:21 of Round 2
  • Middleweight: Abusupyan Alikhanov def. Rustam Chsiev via majority decision (29-29, 30-28, 30-29)
  • Welterweight: Sergey Yaskovec def. Andrey Bragovskiy via TKO (punches) at 4:53 of Round 2
  • Super Welterweight: Kamal Magomedov def. Vitaly Tverdokhlebov via submission (armbar) at 0:52 of Round 1
  • Catchweight (72,5kg): Ali Abdulkhalikov def. Artur Aliev via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 30-28)
  • Middleweight: Gazimurad Magomedov def. Djabrail Aidamirov via knockout (punches) at 0:46 of Round 1
  • Featherweight: Albert Mallakurbanov def. Ahmed Omarov via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)
  • Bantamweight: Vadim Pavlikov def. Alan Balaev via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:56 of Round 3

Sean Santella Set For Main Event At BRAVE CF 55 After ‘Crazy’ 24 Hours

Two weeks ago, Sean “Shorty Rock” Santella was joking about how if it weren’t for bad luck, he would have no luck at all. However, he may have to rethink that statement after a whirlwind 24 hours saw him go from fighting on the undercard of BRAVE CF 55 to competing in the main event […]

Two weeks ago, Sean “Shorty Rock” Santella was joking about how if it weren’t for bad luck, he would have no luck at all. However, he may have to rethink that statement after a whirlwind 24 hours saw him go from fighting on the undercard of BRAVE CF 55 to competing in the main event against Russian flyweight Ali “Puncher King” Bagautinov.

The pair will clash this Sat. November 6 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. The bout will double as the main event and the second semi-final of the BRAVE CF flyweight tournament. The winner of Saturday’s clash will meet Russia’s Velimurad Alkhasov in the final for the right to be crowned the inaugural BRAVE CF Flyweight Champion.

“The last 24 hours have been crazy. It’s gonna be an honor to go to battle against one of the greatest flyweights in history,” Santella says.

“I get to fight somebody that I have always looked forward to fighting. I wasn’t sure if I would ever get the opportunity as I always considered him one of the flyweight kingpins next to Demetrius Johnson, so it’s another bucket list thing I can do.

Bagautinov was set to face Jose Torres, who had based himself in Russia in preparation for the bout. Unfortunately, issues with his weight cut meant that Torres was forced to withdraw from the clash, but in 37-year-old Santella, BRAVE CF had the perfect last-minute replacement.

Initially, in the flyweight tournament, Santella fought Torres in the quarter-final, with the bout ending in a draw. The pair were set to rematch at BRAVE CF 49 until an injury saw Santella pull out of the contest and the tournament.

Torres went on to defeat Ireland’s Blaine O’Driscoll to book his semi-final slot against Bagautinov, but now it will be Santella who will lock horns with one of the greats of the flyweight division.

The New Jersey native even feels that the last-minute change of plans will benefit him.

“I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, I don’t think anyone in the world has my style, and it’s impossible to prepare for, especially on 48 hours. I am super excited. I think it’s going to be a great fight,” Santella explains.

Santealla’s only loss at BRAVE CF was against Alkhasov, and even though he does not need any extra motivation ahead of Saturday’s bout, he would relish the chance of going up against Alkhasov one more time.

“Saturday night, my hand will be raised, and I’m going to move on to the finals of the Flyweight tournament to avenge my only loss at BRAVE CF.”

What do you think of this new main event fight?