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MIGHTY mixed martial artist and ‘the pride of Bahrain’ Hamzah Kooheji is gunning for the chance to make a title challenge after three Brave Combat Federation back-to-back wins and pushing his professional record to 6-1.
Kooheji, 24, put on what fight fans described as ‘an awesome performance’ in front of vocal home support in Isa Town on Friday night taking a unanimous decision in a bantamweight battle against India’s Mohammad Farhad.
The more experienced Farhad was riding a six fight winning streak but could not cope with the Bahraini star’s aggression or technique. “Hamzah Kooheji was amazing,” said spectator Imran Ali, marketing manager of Al Haddad Motors, the event’s official transporter. “His performance was 10-out-of-10 it was that good!”
Kooheji told reporters before the fight that he hoped that scoring a victory over Farhad would guarantee him ‘a shot at gold’. He trained for the challenge at Akhmat Fight Club in Chechnya along with the rest of the Bahraini national team who competed at the 2017 IMMAF Amateur World Championships taking place in Bahrain.
“This has always been my dream and I want to prove that Bahrainis can have a successful fighting career,” he told GulfWeekly in an earlier interview. “It is nice to see how the MMA scene in Bahrain is booming and it’s an honour to be part of it.”
Kooheji first took up the sport at the age of 19 under the tutelage of coach Mohamed Shahid, the current CEO of KHK MMA and President of Brave CF. He explained: “At the time, I wanted to do it as a hobby but then I started taking it more seriously and today, here I am!”
Before 12 months was up Kooheji had made his professional debut in India’s Super Fight League and made history after earning his first victory at an international MMA competition over Mihail Mihailovic.
A character-defining knockout loss to Jordanian Izzeddine Al Derbani made him even more determined to succeed. His competitive spirit gained him a spot on KHK MMA’s team, making him the first professional Bahraini fighter to join. Kooheji said: “It was an honour to be the first Bahraini fighter on the KHK MMA pro-team.
“Although I fought in big promotions such as the Super Fight League in India and the Middle Eastern promotion Desert Force, the KHK team has helped me develop even more.”
It appears to be working.
Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions results
Main card:
Lightweight title fight: Ottman Azaitar def. Alejandro Martínez by TKO – Round 3
Bantamweight title fight: Stephen Loman def. Gurdarshan Mangat by TKO – Round 1
Welterweight: Jarrah Al Selawe def. Carl Booth by unanimous decision
Lightweight: Alan Omer def. Gesias Cavalcante by TKO – Round 3
Lightweight: Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady def. Erick “Índio Brabo” by TKO – Round 2
Welterweight: Mohammad Fakhreddine and Tahar Hadbi ended in No Contest (Accidental low blow)
Bantamweight: Hamza Kooheji def. Mohammad Farhad by unanimous decision
Preliminary card:
Bantamweight: Felipe Efrain def. Nawras Abzakh by TKO – Round 1
Lightweight: Ahmed Amir def. Erik Carlsson by split decision
Bantamweight: Frans Mlambo def. Michael Deiga-Scheck by TKO – Round 1
Middleweight: Ikram Aliskerov def. Jeremy Smith by TKO – Round 1
Catchweight: Hardeep Rai def. Sam Patterson by TKO – Round 1
Lightweight: Charlie Leary def. Daniele Scatizzi by TKO – Round 3
Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja def. Jeremy Pacatiw by TKO – Round 1
Strawweight: Haider Farman def. Atif Mohammed by unanimous decision
