THREE NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED IN A LEGENDARY NIGHT OF FIGHTS AT BRAVE CF 23

Brave 23: Pride and Honor promised to be the biggest night in Brave Combat Federation history. And the fight card delivered, with three new world champions crowned, knockouts of the year candidates in abundance and an amazing atmosphere provided by the loyal Jordanian fans. They sold out the Al Hussein Youth City, Martyr Rashid Al-Ziyoud Hall (Boxing Arena), in Amman, to watch Abdoul Abdouraguimov, Eldar Eldarov and Luan Santiago rise to the top of their respective weight classes.

The main event of the evening saw the rise of Abdoul Abdouraguimov, who maintained his undefeated record albeit in controversial fashion as he edged former Welterweight world champion Jarrah Al-Selawe. While “The Conqueror” almost finished the fight in the first ten minutes, he tired badly, and let Jarrah take over. “The Jordanian Lion” put on a ferocious performance for the remainder of the fight, but was deducted a point in the fourth round for striking at the back of Abdoul’s head.

It proved to be the difference maker, as two judges saw the bout 47-46 for Abdouraguimov, who moves to 10-0, 1 NC, in his professional career. Al-Selawe saw his six-win fight streak come to an end in front of his home crowd.

In the night’s co-main event, Eldar Eldarov delivered the first world championship for Bahrain with a gritty performance against top striker Mounir Lazzez. Using his wrestling to dominate his previously unbeaten opponent, Eldarov made history by becoming the first-ever Super Lightweight world champion.

Meanwhile, Luan “Miau” Santiago stayed true to his word by snatching the world Lightweight belt from the hands of Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady with a historical KO victory. Dominating the fight from the start, the Brazilian landed at will on the former champ and used a spinning elbow to knock Al-Selwady out cold in less than four minutes and became the new Lightweight titleholder.

Before the three title fights, however, fans were treated to other two KO’s of the year contenders. Khamzat Chimaev took the next step toward the Welterweight championship with a vicious KO of Ikram Aliskerov. “Borz” connected with an uppercut that separated the Russian from his senses in devastating fashion, moving to 3-0 under Brave with three first-round finishes to his name.

Finally, Jordanian MMA pioneer Hashem Arkhagha came back from a six-year layoff to deliver the biggest performance of his career as he landed a counter punch to make Jeremy Smith land his face flat on the canvas in the opening seconds of their Catchweight bout.

Rounding up the main card, Jose “Shorty” Torres had to work hard for his first Brave CF victory as he used his wrestling defense and striking accuracy to edge a game Amir Albazi, who almost finished the American Flyweight in the second round.

Brave 23: Pride and Honor results:

Main card

• Welterweight: Abdoul Abdouraguimov def. Jarrah Al-Selawe by split decision.
• Super Lightweight: Eldar Eldarov def. Mounir Lazzez by unanimous decision
• Lightweight: Luan Santiago def. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady by Knockout – Round 1
• Catchweight: Hashem Arkhagha def. Jeremy Smith by Knockout – Round 1
• Welterweight: Khamzat Chimaev def. Ikram Aliskerov by Knockout – Round 1
• Flyweight: Jose Torres def. Amir Albazi by unanimous decision

Preliminary card

• Bantamweight: Aidan James def. Jalal Al Daaja by TKO – Round 3
• Lightweight: Anas Siraj Mounir vs Alex Martinez ends in No Contest (accidental low blow by Martinez on Mounir)
• Bantamweight: Ali Qaisi def. Georges Bardawil by unanimous decision
• Featherweight: Akhmed Magomedov def. Steven Gonçalves by unanimous decision
• Lightweight: Ahmed Amir and Sam Patterson fought to a split draw
• Featherweight: Hassan Talal def. Mohammad Aly by TKO – Round 2