One of the most highly anticipated fights on the Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions fight-card, had a sour tasting ending to it, getting called as a no contest due to an illegal knee strike in the 2rd round.
After a campaign of back and forth trash initiated by Tahar “Fast Hands” Hadbi to target a fight against the former Desert Force middleweight champion and Arab Mixed Martial Arts superstar Mohammad Fakhreddine, a lot of bragging rights were on the line in this fight from both men. It was highly unfortunate that these fighters, as well as all the hardcore Arab and international fight fans did not get to see or have any closure for this welterweight fight.
Here is how the fight went.
For 2 rounds, Fakhreddine kept on moving forward, putting pressure on Hadbi and landing his usual combination of heavy strikes and kicks coming from awkward angles. On the other hand, Hadbi was circling around Fakhreddine’s power and landing the jab successfully with some powerful counter strikes which bloodied Fakhreddine’s face. It seemed that Fakhreddine was the busier fighter overall, despite the damage done by Hadbi. Referee Mark Goddard warned Hadbi about the first illegal kick, however, later on in the fight, as Fakhreddine apparently attempted to take Hadbi down by pressuring him against the cage, Hadbi landed yet another strike to the groin, this time a strong knee that had Fakhreddine dropping instantly and the entire audience squirming from what no doubt was a painful strike.
As a result, Mark Goddard was forced to call a stop to the action in the 2nd round, and declared the fight as a no contest due to the illegal strike. Fakhreddine left the cage on a stretcher to the hospital.
The fight was living up to its expectations and it was entertaining from both sides for the fans, with Fakhreddine and Hadbi pushing to put on their best performance. Even with this unfortunate mishap, everybody can sense a rematch between these too, who now have an even bigger score to settle inside the cage.