AZAITAR AND KENNEDY LEAD KO-FILLED BRAVE 14

Brave 14 delivered an unforgettable night for Moroccan fans as the promotion’s first trip to Africa ended in an emotional comeback for Lightweight champion Ottman Azaitar. Fighting at Welterweight, the Moroccan hero gave his loud fans a fight to remember as he knocked out Danijel Kokora inside 32 seconds, making it the second-fastest KO in Brave history – first place was acquired by Djamil Chan earlier in the evening. In total, seven out of nine bouts ended in first-round knockouts.

After the fight, Azaitar admitted to feeling nervous beforehand due to the fact that it was the first time he was headlining a world-class show in front of his home crowd and opened the door for a title unification bout against interim champion Lucas Mineiro.

“I was dealing with new and different emotions throughout the week. It was the first time I was going to represent my home country in my own home. But I was able to do well, and I’m thankful for that. (Title unification talk) it’s for my management team. We don’t fear anyone and we take every fighter serious”, said “The Bulldozer”, who improves to 11-0.

In the co-main event, Jeremy Kennedy also showed composure and power as he dropped Danyel Pilò and worked from top position landing elbows from half-guard and putting his Italian opponent to sleep.

“I’m very happy to be a Brave fighter. This is an organization that puts fighters first. They are going all over the place, breaking new ground and taking MMA everywhere. I want to fight for that title and I want to keep busy, I’m the man to beat at Featherweight now”, claimed a very animated Kennedy.

Other impressive victories were in store for Bantamweight Felipe Efrain, who knocked Arnold Quero out cold, and Abdoul Abdouraguimov, who used his world-class grappling to dominate Sidney Wheeler and force a stoppage at the end of the first round of their Welterweight contest.

Record and title fight set

Making his Brave debut after two years away from the sport, Velimurad Alkhasov had some trouble to figure out Sean Santella, but was able to eventually dominate with his wrestling en route to a unanimous decision nod. After the fight, it was announced that the Russian will take on Brazilian knockout artist Marcel Adur for the inaugural Brave Flyweight championship in his next fight.

Meanwhile, Dutch striker Djamil Chan had a debut to remember as he became the record-holder for fastest KO in Brave history. “Dynamite” only needed 29 seconds to finish former title challenger Alejandro “Pato” Martínez and put the Lightweight division on notice.

Brave 18/WFCA 54 full results:

Brave 14 official results:

• Welterweight: Ottman Azaitar def. Danijel Kokora by TKO – 32s, R1
• Featherweight: Jeremy Kennedy def. Danyel Pilò by KO – 2m02s, R1
• Welterweight: Abdoul Abdouraguimov def. Sidney Wheeler by TKO – 3m20s, R1
• Bantamweight: Felipe Efrain def. Arnold Quero by TKO – 40s, R1
• Flyweight: Velimurad Alkhasov def. Sean Santella by unanimous decision (3x 29-28)
• Middleweight: Ikram Aliskerov def. Joey Berkenbosch by TKO – 2m15s, R1
• Bantamweight: Jeremy Pacatiw def. Keith Lee by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Catchweight: Tarek Suleiman def. Artur Guseinov by TKO – 4m43s, R1
• Lightweight: Djamil Chan def. Alejandro Martínez by KO – 29s, R1