A look back to Kombat Kingdom: big stories, a new champ, the Flyweight Tournament, and lots of records

Welterweight world champion Jarrah Al Silawi’s successful debut in the MIddleweight division, with a unanimous decision over Melvin van Suijdam in the main event of BRAVE CF 43, was the final chapter of Kombat Kingdom, a series of events held by the truly global MMA promotion in its home country of Bahrain. The three fight nights in consecutive weeks portrayed what BRAVE Combat Federation is all about, with compelling stories, iconic bouts, and many records set.

Kombat Kingdom kicked off with one of the most emotional and anticipated moments of the year, with Middle Eastern superstar Mohammad Fakhreddine capturing the Middleweight world title against Brazil’s Daniel “Gaucho”.

Fakhreddine, whose 2020 was particularly tough, amidst a wave of bad news striking the whole world, managed do become the world champion after a series of personal and collective tragedies, that included the global Covid-19 pandemic, the port explosion in his hometown of Beirut, his house burning down, and a series of injuries and canceled bouts.

Still, despite all the adversities, Fakhreddine managed to stand victorious and fulfil his destiny inside the BRAVE Combat Federation arena, knocking Daniel out and becoming the new 84kg kingpin.

The following week saw the latest step in the meteoric rise of Bahrain’s own Hamza Kooheji. Looking sharper than ever, Kooheji remained undefeated in his home soil and won, arguably, the biggest fight in his career, topping Wales’ Aidan James and getting really close to a Bantamweight title shot.

The glory of the hometown hero was just a prequel of what was about to come. The first two bouts of the BRAVE CF Flyweight Tournament brought excitement and controversy to the table.

First, Russia’s Velimurad Alkhasov beat Brazil’s Flavio de Queiroz to secure a spot in the semifinals. In the main event of the evening, “the clash of Shorties”, between Jose “Shorty” Torres and Sean “Shorty Rock” Santella, ended in a draw, which in a tournament means that the two fellow Americans will meet again in a future date for a spot in the final four.

Apart from the abovementioned Middleweight debut for the Welterweight champion Jarrah Al Silawi, BRAVE CF 43 was also the stage for the quick turnaround of MMA phenom Muhammad Mokaev. The undefeated two-time IMMAF World Champion put on yet another stellar performance and extended his pro record to 3-0 with a unanimous decision win over Jamie Kelly.

In total, 23 countries were represented inside the BRAVE CF Arena during Kombat Kingdom: Lebanon, Brazil, Russia, England, Ireland, Bahrain, Philippines, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, USA, Wales, France, Sweden, Poland, India, Jordan, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, and Scotland. Some new additions expanded BRAVE CF global footprint, making the promotion reach the mark of 72 nations represented in the truly global MMA promotion.

Among the records broken, Mohammed Fakhreddine became the athlete with the most knockouts in BRAVE CF history, now with 5 KO’s under his belt. Hamza Kooheji and Ikram Aliskerov tied with Jarrah Al Silawi as the athletes with most wins in BRAVE CF, with seven each.

But, as they say, save the best for last, and in the last bout of Kombat Kingdom Jarrah Al Silawi took the lead once again, making it eight wins under the BRAVE CF banner. If that wasn’t enough, Jarrah also broke Jeremy Pacatiw’s record and now sits alone in the first place of the longest cage time in BRAVE CF history, with 125 minutes and 27 seconds spent inside the BRAVE CF Arena.