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Mohammed Farhad, one of the most promising prospects in BRAVE CF's bantamweight division, recently lauded the MMA culture in Dagestan, Russia. Dagestan has emerged as a hotbed of world class talent in the sport in recent times.
The Indian MMA fighter returned to action yesterday at BRAVE CF 57. He suffered a second-round TKO loss to Egypt’s Maysara Mohamed on the night. Despite the loss, Farhad is still a notable name in the bantamweight division. He owns a promotional record of 4-2 and a professional MMA record of 12-4.
Ahead of his fight, 'Sher-E-Hind' had a long camp in Dagestan and he said that the Indian MMA circuit has a lot to learn. He told Sportskeeda:
“One beautiful thing that I noticed over there was fighters from one team going and training in other gyms. They are not holding fighters or restricting them from cross training with other gyms. I don’t know about other countries but I’ve seen this in India where coaches try to hold their fighters. If you are a coach, and if you are not good in grappling, you know inside that you are not good. Learning from YouTube and you are teaching, it is not going to work."
He added:
"You have to send your fighters to different training camps. They don’t have to represent that other gym but they need to cross train. In Dagestan, every kid is a grappler and still they go and explore. They go to other gyms and learn and comeback, that is how you will improve your techniques. That unity is missing in India and that should come."
MMA is bigger in Dagestan than cricket in India, says BRAVE CF's Mohammed Farhad
After training in Dagestan ahead of his most recent bout, Mohammed Farhad claimed that MMA in Dagestan is bigger than cricket is in India. He believes that the growth of the sport in the region has compounded as a result of former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov's rise to prominence. The 32-year-old said:
“Talking about training there, MMA is huge over there after Khabib Nurmagomedov became a champion in the UFC. Like cricket is here in India, I would say MMA is bigger in Dagestan. It is that huge. All the fighters over there, they are training since childhood."
Farhad, a former multi-time Muay Thai national champion, also spent time in Mumbai and Nagaland for his training camp. He was touted to be the next bantamweight title challenger ahead of his fight at BRAVE CF 57.
BRAVE CF 57 went down this past weekend at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Bahrain. It was headlined by the bantamweight title fight between Brad Katona and Hamza Kooheji. Katona was crowned the champion in the main event, while Mohammed Fakhreddine captured the BRAVE light heavyweight title in the co-headliner.
