KNOCKOUT!
One shot is all it takes to change history in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and Gadzhimusa “Deadshot” Gaziev found that shot at Brave: The Beginning. The Dagestani fighter, who took the fight on one week’s notice, as a late replacement for Mohammed Fakhreddine, stunned the undefeated Thiago “Monstro” Vieira with powerful right-hand and suddenly the Brazilian was in a world of trouble. He had been controlling with his leg kicks and also visibly hurt Gaziev with a combination against the ropes. However, “Deadshot” had no quit in him and once he landed the telling punch, which changed the course of history, he swarmed over the completely dazed Vieira and finished the job, leaving the heavy favorite in a heap on the floor. Deadshot, we salute you! In a night of many stories, this may have been the most shocking story of all, and was certainly our KO of the night.
SUBMISSION!
In the most anticipated fight of the whole night, Brave’s main event, we saw one of the night’s most clear-cut, dominant displays and a beautifully executed submission, which was delivered by Abdul Kareem Al-Selwady. His opponent, Rami Aziz, had thrown a wild front-kick, which missed and allowed Al Selwady the opportunity to capitalize and take the fight to the ground. Once on top, Al Selwady, the 21-year-old Jordanian star, was relentless in his pursuit of passing the “Raminator’s” guard and locking-in a submission. Al-Selwady showed patience, perseverance and precision as he passed guard, locked in a mounted crucifix and started landing hurtful blows upon the head of his opponent. A desperate Aziz began to make errors, tried to wriggle free and was mounted by Al-Selwady, early in the opening stanza. This led to a ground-and-pound assault, which forced Aziz to give up his back and then Al-Selwady locked in a killer Rear Naked Choke forcing the immediate tap-out. Avery impressive sequence of moves by Al-Selwady who showed the giant strides he has made in his ground game under the tutelage of BJJ Black Belt Asharaf Shishani.
THAT PERFORMANCE!
This will remain a source of huge debate as this was a night of stand-out performances and stunning finishes. The fighter we picked for this accolade, however, is Stephen Loman who went the distance against Frans Mlambo. The first round had the taller Mlambo take the center of the octagon baiting his opponent to try to close the distance. On one such instance where Loman did attempt to close the distance he was caught flush with a powerful counter right hand by Mlambo that had him stunned. Loman managed to recover and successfully worked for a takedown delivering a series of strikes from half guard. Mlambo managed to get back to his feet however but was rewarded for his efforts with a strong kick to the face by Loman. The fighters began the 2nd round baring the scars of the first round. Mlambo reverted to his tried tactic of waiting for the counter opportunity but was taken down again by Loman who slammed the ‘Black Mamba’ to the mat. In the final frame Loman quickly went back to the takedown which had proved so effective and at one point had Frans in all kinds of trouble after he had taken his back and was attempting a rear naked choke. What a classic!
