Brad Katona claims Brave CF bantamweight title in split decision victory
The stage was set for a historic night for Bahrain, but the entire sport of mixed martial arts was elevated with BRAVE CF 57. Despite a disappointing ending for the home crowd, Brad Katona was applauded as he held the newly-won BRAVE CF Bantamweight world title after picking up a split decision over hometown hero Hamza Kooheji.In a war of attrition, both men had good moments, with Kooheji damaging Katona on the clinch and the Canadian earning takedowns and dominating the grappling. In the end, two judges saw it in favor of “Superman” who became only the second Bantamweight world champion in BRAVE CF history.An insane show with several intriguing and dramatic moments, BRAVE CF 57 will go down as an event that elevated the sport in the region to a new level. Athletes from 15 nations were represented in the Khalifa Sports City Arena, with two world champions crowned and an interim title fight left without a winner.Before Katona narrowly beat Kooheji to become the Bantamweight champion, Mohammad Fakhreddine became the first-ever Arab and BRAVE CF double titleholder, as he claimed the Light Heavyweight world title in an epic thriller against arch-rival Mohammed Said Maalem.In the first title fight of the evening, Cleiton Silva and Abdisalam Kubanychbek had an amazing first round, which was marred by blows to the back of the head of Silva, which made the fight a No Contest.Before that, there were big victories for Sam Patterson, who showcased crisp boxing to knock out Khunkar-Pasha Osmaev, and Maysara Mohammed, who knocked out Mohammed Farhad.There were noteworthy submissions as well in the evening, with the likes of Kamil Magomedov and Murtaza Talha picking up momentous victories.BRAVE CF 57 Full ResultsBantamweight title fight: Brad Katona def. Hamza Kooheji via split decisionLight Heavyweight title fight: Mohammad Fakhreddine def. Mohamed Said Maalem via TKOLightweight interim title fight: Abdisalam Kubanychbek vs Cleiton Silva ends in no contestLightweight: Sam Patterson defeats Khunkar-Pasha Osmaev via TKOLightweight: Husein Kadimagomaev vs Agshin Babayev ends in no contestFlyweight: Asu Almabaev defeats Imram Magaramov via decisionLightweight: Kamil Magomedov defeats Sayet Sadat via submissionLight Heavyweight: Murtaza Talha defeats Mikheil Sazhiniani via submissionBantamweight: Maysara Mohamed defeats Mohammed Farhad via TKOBantamweight: Magomed Idrisov defeats Rahmatullah Yousufzai via decisionBantamweight: Abdulla Al-Yaqoob defeats Omar Emad via corner stoppageAmateur Lightweight: Husain Muhammad defeats Adon Ayoub via decision
