The curse of the BRAVE CF Lightweight world title continues. No man in the history of the truly global MMA promotion has been able to defend the 70kg belt and it wasn’t different with Amin Ayoub. But it’d be unfair to put it all to a curse because Egypt’s Ahmed Amir looked absolutely fantastic across the cage.
The Egyptian-Bahraini fighter, who represents KHK MMA Team, put on a true wrestling clinic, with absolute control of levels and scored takedowns in every single round of the bout. With his triumph, Amir became the first fighter from Egypt to become a world champion in combat sports history.
The main event of BRAVE CF 54, held this Saturday (25) in Konin, Poland, and promoted in association with Galana Exclusive Championship, was nothing but fireworks.
The title fight started very busily, with Ahmed Amir managing to secure an early takedown. But Amin Ayoub is known for his slick grappling skills, even when working from the bottom, and he remained very active in his guard. When Ayoub tried to lock in an omoplata, the two got back to standing up. Ayoub connected a couple of good strikes but right before the end of the round, he got taken down by Amir once again.
In the second round, with Ayoub becoming more and more confident in striking, Ahmed Amir went for another takedown and almost got trapped into a guillotine choke. Free of the submission, he passed the guard and, while they were still scrambling, Ayoube managed to regain half and then full guard.
When they returned to the third round, the champion came back determined to avoid the same scenario of the previous two and started by imposing his European-champion-level kickboxing and denying Amir’s takedowns. Well, at least for most of the round, as the challenger scored a takedown with 30 seconds left on the clock.
Coming into the championship rounds, Fierceness denied yet another of the Butcher’s takedowns and this time managed to reverse the position, only for it to be reversed once again, with Ahmed Amir gaining the top position and working his ground and pound. Amir still escaped an arm-lock attempt late in the round and scored another takedown before the belt rang.
The fifth round was a treat to the fans’ eyes. A battle fought almost entirely on the ground, with a succession of sweeps, reversions, and finishing attempts, which included a very unorthodox reverse triangle choke from the champion. But it was Ahmed Amir who finished the fight from the top, scoring important points and damaging Amin through the last seconds.
At the end, all three judges scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Ahmed Amir whose celebration was a mix of happiness and gratefulness. “This is a gift to His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad Al Khalifa, for his birthday. Thank you very much. I’d also like to thank my team at KHK MMA, with a head coach like Eldar Eldarov, everything becomes really easy”, he said.
Mokaev submits O’Driscoll, remains undefeated
Muhammad Mokaev isn’t the future anymore. Despite being still in his fifth professional bout, the two-time IMMAF World Champion is the present of Mixed Martial Arts, a statement which he proved once again inside the cage by submitting Ireland’s Blaine O’Driscoll in the co-main event of the evening.
The fight started at full throttle for both men but Mokaev managed to get an early takedown and get O’Driscoll’s back. The Irishman kept his composure, stood up, and immediately started to move forward. At the end of the round, Mokaev shot for a very low takedown attempt, which was promptly denied by Blaine, who controlled the opponent’s head and landed a beautiful knee.
Despite looking quite tired at the end of the first round, Mokaev returned to the second at the same insane pace. He connected a perfectly executed spinning elbow and transitioned to Blaine’s back. From there, it was only a matter of seconds until he locked a tight rear-naked-choke that forced O’Driscoll to tap.
After the biggest victory of his professional career, Mokaev was straight to the point when speaking after the fight. “I fought a guy three times more experienced than I am but it doesn’t matter, the new generation is taking over. I am the real gangster of the Flyweight division!”.
Check out the results of BRAVE CF 54:
Ahmed Amir def. Amin Ayoub via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) to win the BRAVE CF Lightweight World Championship.
Muhammad Mokaev def. Blaine O’Driscoll via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:36 of Round 2.
Marcin Bandel def. Magomed Ayskhanov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:38 of Round 1.
Marcel Grabinski def. Mihail Kotruta via TKO (strikes) at 4:57 of Round 1.
Ismail Naurdiev def. Olli Santalahti via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).
Ewelina Wozniak def. Samin Kamal Beik via TKO (strikes) at 0:30 of Round 2.
Omar Solomonov def. Rafael Hudson via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:12 of Round 2.
Axel Sola def. Wawrzyniec Bartnik via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Bilal Tipsaev vs. Glenn McVeigh ends in a draw (28-28, 28-28, 28-28).
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