MMA UK

BRAVE CF Arab Awards: five explosive bouts nominated for Fight of The Year

Frankie 12/01/2023

BRAVE Combat Federation showcased some of the most explosive fights this past year as athletes did their best to make a name for themselves in the most-global MMA cage. Now, with the inaugural BRAVE CF Arab Awards around the corner, the nominees for the BRAVE Combat Federation Arab Fight of the Year Award have been selected. The first entry is the BRAVE CF 57 battle between Lebanon’s Mohammad Fakhreddine and Switzerland’s Mohamed Said Maalem. Following their first challenge for the vacant Light Heavyweight title that controversially ended in a No Contest, the hype was shifted into overdrive as the two warriors prepared to settle the score in the rematch. BRAVE CF Middleweight champion Fakhreddine eventually became the first BRAVE CF and Arab double champion when he finished his Swiss opponent via TKO due to strikes in the second round after a barn-burner first round. The second entry is the BRAVE CF 65 Super Welterweight fight between Lebanon’s Ahmed Labban and England’s Carl Booth. These athletes proved why BRAVE CF matchmakers shifted this fight to the main card. It was wall-to-wall action, with the ever-entertaining and acrobatic Ahmed Labban taking control of the bout for the entire three rounds with his unorthodox striking before recording a unanimous decision (3x 30-27) win. One of the most nail-biting fights ever in the history of BRAVE CF took place this year at BRAVE CF 57. And the epic Bantamweight title fight between Canada’s Brad Katona and Bahrain’s Hamza Kooheji was always going to make the shortlist for the BRAVE CF Arab Fight of the Year. Both men had good moments in the war of attrition. Kooheji damaged Katona in the clinch, and the Canadian earned takedowns before dominating the grappling. In the end, two judges saw it in favor of Katona, who became only the second Bantamweight world champion in BRAVE CF history. The Featherweight division also lit up the BRAVE CF cage this year with incredible bouts. But Abdullah Al-Qahtani’s hard-fought unanimous-decision victory over Yong Soo Jung at BRAVE CF 58 eventually made the cut. The final bout to make the shortlist is the Bantamweight scrap between Bahrain’s Abdulla Al-Yaqoob and Jordan’s Fouad Shami at BRAVE CF 65 that ended in Al-Yaqoob securing the split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27) after three breathtaking rounds. The 2022 BRAVE CF Arab awards include four categories: Arab Fighter of the Year, Finish of the Year, Fight of the Year, and Breakthrough Arab Fighter of the Year. VOTE HERE: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnRzqOyslc6/ Fight of the Year Nominees Mohammad Fakhreddine(Lebanon) vs Said Maalem (Algeria) 2 Ahmed Labban (Lebanon) vs Carl Booth Hamza Kooheji (Bahrain) vs Brad Katona Abdullah Al-Qahtani (Saudi Arabia) vs Yong Soo Jung Abdullah Al-Yaqoob (Bahrain) vs Fouad Shami (Jordan)

Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series awards three prospects with $100k and ONE contracts

Frankie 09/04/2018

The finale of the first season of Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series, which took place Saturday, 31 March in Singapore, was recently concluded. After an exciting evening filled with thrilling bouts showcasing promising young talents, three winners of ONE Championship contracts were announced. Rockie Bactol, Woonkyum Kim, and Daesong Park all received USD $100,000+ ONE Championship contracts as overall winners of the reality documentary series. Rich Franklin, CEO of ONE Warrior Series, stated: “This event just proved that scouting is not a perfect science. While Rockie Bactol and Woonkyum Kim were both prospects in which I see promise, we initially passed on Daesong Park in the tryout process only for him to come back and blow us all away with his indomitable spirit. Congratulations to all three for earning their contracts in our first event, as well as JD Hardwick, Shahid Siddiqui and Faizan Khan on earning their Warrior Bonuses. Our first season was an incredible success and was a terrific experience for myself and the entire ONE Warrior Series team. Looking forward to doing it all again in the coming months.” Jonathan Fong, Director and Co-Host of ONE Warrior Series, stated: “Our goal for ONE Warrior Series was to highlight Asia’s most promising young talent and to prove to the world that martial arts is more than just a sport in Asia, it’s a lifestyle. I believe we achieved that and so much more with the great group of guys we were able to work within the first season. We would like to thank and congratulate all the warriors who competed in the inaugural ONE Warrior Series event. We saw an amazing night of competition from hungry competitors vying for their spot on the global stage.” 19-year-old Rockie Bactol, a Filipino martial arts prospect who lives and trains in Bangkok, first discovered martial arts to learn self-defence after experiencing childhood bullying. At the Season 1 Finale of Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series, Bactol turned in a spectacular performance, defeating opponent Mark Cuizon by first-round Americana. South Korean prospect Woonkyum Kim went through a troubled childhood after his parents got divorced at a young age. After discovering martial arts, however, Kim was able to change his circumstances and now leads a life of discipline and honour. In the finale, Kim faced Sanjidul Islam, winning by first-round technical knockout. Although impressive, South Korean prospect Daesong Park was initially passed on by the ONE Warrior Series judges in the January tryouts. However, he was selected as a late filler to compete against Eto Kimihiro, who was deemed as one of the top contestants. In the bout, Park overcame two illegal blows below the belt and an eye poke to take victory in the first round by technical knockout. In addition, athletes Shahid Siddiqui, JD Hardwick, and Faizan Khan each received a Warrior Bonus, a cash award of a variable amount, for their incredible performances, displaying unbreakable will and perseverance through adversity. Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series is a new travel series talent search which runs in 30-minute episodes. The show aims to discover new martial arts talent across Asia, providing promising young athletes with the platform to unleash their martial arts greatness. Franklin, who serves as the show’s host, travels across the Asian continent with co-host Jonathan Fong, searching for talent, experiencing local cultures and testing their boundaries. Season 2 of Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series will begin filming later this year. For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship. Episodes of Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series are available on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/OneFCMMA

UFC End Of Year Awards – 2017

Marcus Banks 01/01/2018

2017 was always going to be a difficult year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship following the many successes of 2016. MMA’s biggest star, Conor McGregor, did not fight once inside the octagon – instead losing to Floyd Mayweather in his professional boxing debut and pocketing over $100m in the process. Former light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, returned to action again to defeat Daniel Cormier but once again failed a drug test to cast serious doubt over his future in the sport. Anderson Silva also failed another drug test which taints his tremendous legacy. Many cards failed to deliver over the last 12 months, but as always the UFC did provide some of the best cards in history. 2017 also proved to be a breakthrough year for many fighters who climbed the rankings to capture UFC gold. We take a look back on the last 12 months with our 2017 end of year awards… #1 – Male Fighter Of The Year Winner: Max Holloway Runner-Up: Demetrious Johnson After beating Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 to become the interim featherweight champion, Max Holloway went on to unify the belt by defeating Jose Aldo at UFC 212 in Brazil. On enemy turf, the Hawaiin star put on a clinic, and the fight was stopped in the third round. He was expected to defend his belt against Frankie Edgar at UFC 218 but an injury forced ‘The Answer’ to withdraw. Aldo took his place, but Holloway again was victorious with a flawless performance in Detriot. Two victories over the greatest featherweight of all-time makes ‘Blessed’ my fighter of the year. Honourable Mentions: Robert Whittaker, Georges St-Pierre, Volkan Oezdemir, Rafael Dos Anjos, Brian Ortega #2 – Female Fighter Of The Year Winner: Cris Cyborg Runner-Up: Rose Namajunas The UFC finally realised the star power that Cris Cyborg possesses in 2017 with a new division tailor-made for the Brazilian. Cyborg would no longer need to defy death by cutting so much weight just to fight in the UFC as Dana White crowned an inaugural featherweight champion at UFC 208. After Germaine de Randamie vacated the belt, Cyborg knocked out Invicta’s bantamweight champion, Tonya Evinger, to add UFC gold to her collection. She defended her belt against former bantamweight champion, Holly Holm, at UFC 219 to solidify her legacy as one of the best fighters in the world. Honourable Mentions: Cynthia Calvillo, Nico Montano, Jessica Andrade, #3 – Fight Of The Year Winner: Eddie Alvarez vs Justin Gaethje Runner-Up: Michael Johnson vs Justin Gaethje Former World Series Of Fighting lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje, promised to put on a show for the fans after finally joining the UFC with a 17-0 record. He defeated Michael Johnson on his debut in a fight for the ages and was booked to fight Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 to crown ‘the most violent man on the planet’. The bout was an all-out war with Gaethje’s chopping leg kicks forcing Alvarez to search for the finish. It came in the third round with the former lightweight champion landed a flush knee to knock Gaethje out cold. Both men rightly received a fight of the night bonus for the spectacle and win my fight of the year. Honourable Mentions: Yancy Medeiros vs Charles Oliveira, Darren Elkins vs Mirsad Bektic, Dustin Poirier vs Jim Miller, Robert Whittaker vs Yoel Romero #4 – Knockout Of The Year Winner: Francis Ngannou (vs Alistair Overeem) Runner-Up: Edson Barboza (vs Beneil Dariush) Knockout of the year in the UFC was a no-brainer. Francis Ngannou’s spectacular knockout of Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 was beamed around the world for all the see. Ngannou, who holds the world record for punching power, landed an uppercut in the first round which stiffened the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion to make it five wins in a row. The Cameroonian native will meet reigning champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 for the heavyweight title. Honourable Mentions: Mike Perry (vs Jake Ellenberger), Volkan Oezdemir (vs Misha Cirkunov), Josh Emmett (vs Ricardo Lamas), Chan Sung Jung (vs Dennis Bermudez), Mike Brown (vs Diego Sanchez) #5 – Submission Of The Year Winner: Demetrious Johnson (vs Ray Borg) Runner-Up: Aleksei Oleinik (vs Viktor Pesta) As well as some superb knockouts, we have seen our fair share of excellent submissions over the last 12 months. We witnessed Aleksei Oleinik submit Viktor Pesta using an ezekiel choke from full mount – the first ever in UFC history. But my submission of the year goes to Demetrious Johnson. In his title fight at UFC 215 against Ray Borg, he was cruising to a decision win before throwing his opponent in the air and transitioning to a beautiful armbar. He broke the UFC title defence record with the win and done so in style. Honourable Mentions: Valentina Shevchenko (vs Julianna Pena), Jacare Souza (vs Tim Boetsch), Iuri Alcantara (vs Luke Sanders) #6 – Performance Of The Year Winner: Rose Namajunas (vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk) Runner-Up: Darren Till (vs Donald Cerrone) There were many shocks at UFC 217 in Madison Square Garden, but none bigger than Rose Namajunas’ win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The Pole had been dominant at strawweight since beating Carla Esparza for the title and was set to break Ronda Rousey’s title defence record. Namajunas had other ideas. She was given virtually no chance by oddsmakers of dethroning the strawweight queen. Her striking was excellent as she finished Jedrzejczyk in the first round to become the UFC strawweight champion. ‘Thug’ Rose’s victory also wins my upset of the year award. Honourable Mentions: Rafael Dos Anjos (vs Robbie Lawler), Alexander Gustafsson (vs Glover Texeira)), Daniel Cormier (vs Anthony Johnson), Khabib Nurmagomedov (vs Edson Barboza), Robert Whittaker (vs Jacare Souza) #7 – Comeback Fighter Of The Year Winner: Georges St-Pierre Runner-Up: Rafael Dos Anjos Despite Dana White’s insistence that Georges St-Pierre would never return to the cage, the Canadian returned to face Michael Bisping at UFC 217 for the middleweight championship. After over four years out of action, GSP returned to defeat the