'A beautiful knockout'

Mixed martial arts favourite Mohammad Ali Fakhreddine has promised to excite fight-fans in the kingdom with a ‘beautiful knockout’ victory as he prepares for one of the toughest challenges of his career against undefeated Brazilian Thiago Vieira.

The pair will be battling it out for glory in the kingdom’s inaugural Brave Combat Federation contest next month and said he was ‘honoured’ to be signed up by the organisation’s chief executive officer Mohammed Shahid.

The 32-year-old Lebanese star, nicknamed The Latest, told GulfWeekly: “I’m really excited about this encounter. Vieira is a tough guy so the fans can expect a really thrilling fight.

“I want to thank my fans in Bahrain for being so supportive. I visited the kingdom during the launch of the federation in July and could see how welcoming the people were. I expect to return that affection with a great win at the premier event of Brave 1.

“My goal is to finish it with my arm raised high which I expect will be after a beautiful knockout.”

Fakhreddine has always enjoyed ring sport and although his family would have preferred him to take a different career path, he was bitten by the mixed martial arts (MMA) bug.

He said: “My father was a boxer … although he never really wanted me to fight in the first place. But I grew up in a tough neighborhood so fighting has been in my life for as long as I can remember. I trained in boxing for a while, had a couple of amateur bouts and then ended up in the MMA world which turned out to become my profession.”

He is now concentrating on the coming challenge and is currently in extensive training. The brawny Beiruti welterweight has so far notched victories and only one defeat, which he has since avenged, during a six-year professional career

His last major bout was in January against the highly-rated Jordanian Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi during the Desert Force 20 Dubai competition.

It was a day of reckoning for the 170lb Fakhreddine as Al-Sliwai was the one man that has inflicted defeat on him in a fight in February 2015. Victory was sweet but you cannot simply rest on your laurels in this game.

Fakhreddine said: “I started studying Vieira and training specifically for his fight style. As I said, he is a very tough opponent. He’s unbeaten as a professional and has a belt in a Brazilian event. I’m watching his previous fights and I’m sure he’s doing the same about me.”

The Brave 1 Show will be staged at Khalifa Sports City on September 23. It is the first international MMA promotion held in the Middle East.

A few weeks before the Isa Town main event, the weight cut begins which Fakhreddine says is one of the most challenging parts of being a professional athlete.

“We take on a very restrictive diet but still have to keep training hard,” Fakhreddine explained. “On the fight week the weigh cut is even more severe. I cut up to 8kg over the last days prior a show.”

Fakhreddine, who already had four knockouts under his belt, believes that victory is within his grasp thanks to the guidance of his trio of experts advising him - coach Renat Iusubov, grappling coach and jujitsu black belt Hamidou Dabo and grappling and MMA coach pro-fighter Eldar Eldarov, the latter who will also be stepping into the ring as a contender in a supporting bout.

Eldarov, a professional fighter for the KHK MMA team, as well as its amateur head coach, will take on Ireland’s Peter ‘The Showstopper’ Queally in a welterweight event.

Eldarov is on a six-fight winning streak and Fakhreddine said: “I trained with Eldarov for a couple of hours during my stay in Bahrain and man he’s tough! He’s one of the most impressive Russian grapplers and it’ll be an honour to be on the card with him. I’ll enjoy it, for sure.”

Fakhreddine also believes that the event will help promote MMA in the region. He said: “It is the fastest-growing sport in the world and Bahrain is following that trend. The support of Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad al Khalifa with KHK MMA is also an unprecedented contribution for its development in the country, in the region, and now the message is spreading worldwide with Brave.”

MMA is a full-contact combat sport that allows both striking and grappling, both standing and on the ground, using techniques from other combat sports and martial arts.

THE show on September 23 will also feature accomplished American grappler Richie ‘The Boogieman’ Martinez as he flies over to Bahrain to take on Egypt’s Ahmed ‘The Butcher’ Amir (5-1) in a MMA fight.

Martinez is an expert in Brazilian JiuJitsu which makes for an interesting clash of styles.

Amir has won his last four fights all by submission, which will give him confidence going into this battle.

KHK MMA has launched a scouting programme to help youngsters improve their sporting skills and to build a new generation of MMA challengers.

The search for new talent, which started at the end of last month, has concluded and an announcement will be made on September 4 regarding which fighters have been selected as the brightest prospects.

Recently enthusiasts joined in a training session and took part in bouts to show off their prowess and hope for selection at Bahrain MMA Gym in Isa Town. Many of the hopefuls impressed Brave CEO Shahid, who is also the CEO of KHK MMA.

He said: “We saw some excellent talent, particularly the boys aged between 13 and 16. It shows how much KHK MMA has inspired Bahrain’s future generation.

“We will be announcing a list of successful candidates after the last day of scouting, where some of these kids will have an opportunity to be developed under some of the best coaches and facilities in the world.”

For more details about the programme, contact Shehab Ali on 37226066.