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On September 23, 2016, the Kingdom of Bahrain created the spark which revolutionized the sport of mixed martial arts in the Middle East. BRAVE Combat Federation was born on this day two years ago. The promotion has moved from the middle east and has become a truly global phenomenon in the two years and the Combat World celebrates its 2nd anniversary today.
The Kingdom of Bahrain, thriving under its visionary leaders such as His Highness Sheik Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, is what catalyzed this majestic rise of the promotion. BRAVE CF CEO and Mr. Mohammed Shahid was the man who was instrumental in assisting the Sheik towards the success of the promotion.
Sheikh Khalid is the First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport and President of the Bahrain Athletics Association. His passion for combat sports evolved into the formation of BRAVE CF. Watching Hamza Kooheji - a fighter training at Mohammad Shahid's gym win in a Desert Force event significantly fuelled the Sheikh's interest in the sport.
The Sheikh’s Birthday coincides with the anniversary of Brave Combat Federation. To commemorate this occasion, the Sportskeeda MMA Squad pens the five major milestones in the BRAVE Combat Federation during the last two years. We the Sportskeeda team wishes His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa a very happy birthday on this auspicious occasion. So, without much adieu, here are the 5 most significant moments in the last two years of BRAVE CF.
#5 KHK MMA Fight Team is found bringing global athletes under one roof
The KHK MMA team opened their doors in March 2015, but it was only in December that fans and pundits truly took notice of their involvement in the sport. The Prince cornered former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar during his TUF 22 Finale main event against Chad Mendes, a fight that Edgar won by KO. To celebrate, the former champ wore the flags of both the USA and Bahrain during his post-fight interview.
The KHK team rose quickly with the support of the country's royal family. They signed the likes of former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, and the undefeated Russian sensation Khabib Nurmagomedov to the roster. This provided the team with top-notch experience and gave the young fighters the opportunity to closely watch and learn from these titans. The team initially recruited new fighters within Bahrain and other Nations like India, Pakistan, and Ireland.
Mohamad Shaheed, the charismatic head of the team was a former fighter himself, and he knew what it meant to be a fighter in a society where MMA is still in the nascent stage of its evolution as a spectator sport. He made sure that all fighters, amateur or professional, are given a monthly stipend to live on so that his or her entire daily focus is simply on fighting and self-improvement.
KHK MMA thus removed livelihood concerns from their fighters which enabled the fighters to train with their full potential without any hindrances. All these brilliant moves permitted KHK MMA to foster some world-class athletes who returned the favor by bringing glory to the Kingdom of Bahrain by winning accolades all over the world.
#4 First Global MMA event in Africa
The continent of Africa has given the MMA world fabulous fighters like Francis Ngannou, Abdul Razak Alhassan, and Kamaru Usman. But this is just the tip of the African Talent Pool, the continent boasts brave men and women from traditional warrior clans with some extraordinary genes and natural ability to fight.
Unfortunately, only a very few lucky men get the right motivation and opportunity to shape themselves into successful prizefighters. But everything about MMA in Africa is to change in the near future, BRAVE CF, with a vision to bring the fighting to the grassroots, have huge plans for the continent. Brave Combat Federation hosted the first global mixed martial arts event on the continent of Africa.
Brave Combat Federation hosted a massive fight card in Tangier, Morocco which lived up to its expectations. The fight card showcased explosive bouts filled with knockouts. 7 out of 9 fights ended in knockouts while 3 of the knockouts came within the first round of action. The fight card featured two matchups pitting two American fighters facing challenges from Russia (Dagestan).
The highlight of the night was stolen by Ottman Azaitar who lived up to his nickname - Bulldozer. The Moroccan superstar thrilled the nation with a showstopper. After the main event, the arena erupted in celebration. It also had Team Lakay fighter Jeremy Pacatiw facing the brother of UFC star Kevin Lee, representing Xtreme Couture from the USA. The bout was won by the Lakay star Pacatiw.
The fight night took place before a passionate crowd at the Omnisport Indoor Sports Club in Tangier, Morocco on 18th August 2018. The event was held under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco. Brave 14 in Morocco is just a beginning, the promotion will be back with bigger, more grandiose events in the African continent in the coming days.
#3 First IMMAF World Championship outside the USA
IMMAF World Championship is the world’s most prestigious amateur Mixed Martial Arts tournament, and 2017 marked the first time the event was conducted outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. The 2017 IMMAF World Championships took place Saturday, November 18, 2017, with 14 MMA fights at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Manama.
The event took place at the Khalifa Sports City Arena, the IMMAF’s nation vs nation tournament was featured as part of a festival programme that included professional MMA event, ‘Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions” on the 17 November.
Bahrain became the first Asian or Arab country to host an IMMAF World Championship, and indeed the first country to host the event outside of the USA.
Kerrith Brown, the President of IMMAF stated that the event in Bahrain was the biggest compared to initiatives held during the UFC Fight Week. World champion gold medalists, plus silver and bronze medal winners were crowned across 14 exciting weight divisions.
The event featured the most number of athletes along with the highest number of female athletes participating, 375 athletes from 45 nations participated in the event making the biggest IMMAF World Championships hosted by any nation so far. The event was also televised live for the first time.
For the first time, competing nations included Egypt, Panama, Mexico, and Thailand. Brazil returned for its first IMMAF outing since the inaugural IMMAF World Championships in 2014.
#OneBillionStrong
#2 The first event in India
As per some popular theories, it was Bodhidharma who carried Kalaripayattu (Indian martial arts) from the southern Indian state of Kerala and introduced it in Shaolin temple, which set the ball rolling for the evolution of martial arts. It is an ancient storyline and is questionable, but Indians love to fight and appreciate watching a fighter give it all during a fight.
Cricket is the ubiquitous sport in the Indian subcontinent, but Wrestling and boxing are also widely practiced and have been steadily serving the Nation of One Billion gain medals at Olympics and other high-level competitions.
After the birth of Super Fight League in 2012 and the arrival of BRAVE CF in 2017, MMA has shown a rapid increase of fanbase in India. As a result of it, the traditional rooftop martial arts dojos, a popular thing even in Indian villages, have evolved into state of the art MMA Gyms or at least transformed into a gym with the matted floor where young fighters train BJJ.
Brave 5 in Mumbai was the first global mixed martial arts event hosted in India by the promotion. The event featured Indian mixed martial artists, Abdul Muneer facing Gurdarshan Mangat in the greatest rivalry in the history of Indian mixed martial arts. The promotion featured multiple Indian stars including Mohammed Farhad, Atif Mohammad, Bharat Khandare, Hardeep Rai, Sunny Khatri, Irfan Khan, and Nelson Paes.
The Indian roster has become more talented now. And there are more eyeballs glued into the MMA world from India now, and these are extraordinary numbers. The Irish are only 6 million and Russians are 150 million, but the Indians are a Billion Strong. One Conor McGregor of Indian origin or at least a huge win for an Indian can do wonders for the Sport in India, which will directly impact the global MMA scene.
Brave Combat Federation announced Mercury Sports Entertainment as its official partner and promoter in India. Brave 21 will be hosted in India on 21 December flagging off the partnership. Brave Combat Federation is the only global mixed martial arts organization to host events in India till date. Brave confirmedCF plans to return to India to host a global fight card in the month of December 2018. The announcement was made during the Brave Global Expansion 2018 conference held in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The initiative will develop reality TV shows, gyms, merchandise, nutrition and multi-city leagues in India by Brave Combat Federation. The initiative will have a significant impact in providing opportunities for the upcoming athletes as well as strengthening relations to develop cultural, economic and investment opportunities between the two Nations.
Honorary Mention:
# Robin Black Joins the team
Robin Black is a Canadian Mixed Martial Arts expert and analyst, known for his passionate style and unique technical breakdown covering the psychological and biomechanical aspects of the fight. Black is a notable figure in the MMA world and one among the top talents in combat sports broadcasting and commentating industry.
He's also known from the glam rock band, 'Robin Black and the Intergalactic Rock Stars', formed in 1998. He has left the music world and dedicated his life to combat sports now and has become the face of Canadian MMA media. He is also a frequent guest on the JRE MMA Show and UFC broadcasts.
Robin began his new mission at BRAVE CF during the Brave 15 event in Colombia, BRAVE 15 marked the first event taking place in the continent of South America, in a nation other than Brazil. The main event at BRAVE 15 featured Godofredo "Pepey" Castro from Brazil facing Alex "Rolo" Torres from Colombia in a lightweight matchup, the bout was won by 'Pepey' with a submission victory.
Robin Black has a very unorthodox way of looking at fights and is highly respected in the industry for the same. He has a futuristic vision for BRAVE CF and KHK MMA team. He shared some of these thoughts with the Sportskeeda MMA Squad during an exclusive interview before his promotional debut at BRAVE CF.
Read: Robin Blacks Interview with Sportskeeda ahead of his BRAVE CF debut.
#1 Bahrain rank No.2 in the world
Kingdom of Bahrain made a leap in world rankings to secure the second place in the latest IMMAF world rankings released for amateur mixed martial arts. BRAVE CF, the initiative led by His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa had transformed the Kingdom of Bahrain into a leading force in combat sports.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is the only nation that made it to the list from the Middle East. The Nation secured this achievement after overtaking regional powerhouses in the sport including the USA, Russia, UK, Brazil, Japan and more. KHK MMA Bahrain gym also attracts professional MMA fighters from around the world to set up camps to train ahead of competitions.
Champions from multiple global promotions including Brave Combat Federation had trained in KHK MMA Bahrain. KHK MMA fighters had recently secured medals in the IMMAF African Open and in the IMMAF European Open which contributed to the improvement in global ranking for the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain is preceded by Sweden who is currently leading the rankings.
KHK MMA Fight Team, representing the Kingdom of Bahrain, has been placed fifth in world rankings for amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in 2017. Bahraini fighters showcased a dominant performance during the 2017 IMMAF World Championship which helped Bahrain improve its rankings. Bahrain has beaten major countries such as the US, Russia, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, and China to achieve this feat.
