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What's the story?
His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, founder of Brave Combat Federation has made an open statement in support to Zubaira Tukhugov, who was pulled from his fight against Artem Lobov at UFC Moncton.
In case you didn't know...
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. Mohammed Shahid, CEO of BRAVE was the man who was instrumental in assisting the Sheik towards the success of the promotion.
KHK MMA Fight Team works close with Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, legendary coach and father of Khabib Nurmagomedov and is home to multiple athletes from Dagestan, Russia including Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev during the initial days of the fight team.
Brave Combat Federation features multiple athletes from Dagestan, Russia. Tukhugov was involved in the UFC 229 brawl, he even bragged in the social media about his involvement in the brawl, stating he “slapped as promised.” The incident escalated further after Khabib issued a statement in which he threatened to leave the UFC if Tukhugov was axed from the promotion.
The heart of the matter
His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, founder of Brave Combat Federation has made an open statement in support to Zubaira Tukhugov, who was pulled from his fight against Artem Lobov at UFC Moncton.
Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad in the social media post that,
"Zubair does not need to be saved, he is a champ and well known and with much respect, what I really think is that UFC needs a lot of help for that poor decision to be saved!!! Anyways BRAVE CF will always welcome a guy like u my brother Zubaira Tukhugov keep ur head up and let them regret it".
The Sheik, not only welcomed Zubaira to the promotion but mentioned that the UFC will require help after the action against the fighter from Dagestan.
The promotion (UFC) was unable to enter the Middle East ever since UFC 112: Invincible hosted in 2010, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The debacle seems to have shut doors for the largest MMA promotion in the world to the Middle Eastern market.
What's next?
The manner in which the UFC president Dana White deals with this situation will be critical for the company's future. And, will determine the UFC roster maintains its status quo or not.
