Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions marked the biggest-ever MMA show in Middle East history. But it was more than that as Brave Combat Federation assembled a who’s who of celebrities that were in attendance and supporting His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s vision for the sport. From MMA icons as Wanderlei Silva, John Kavanagh and Frankie Edgar to Bollywood superstar Sunil Shetty, Brave 9 was able to surpass sports and become a part of the local culture.
And the show was also a landmark in other ways as Bahraini singer Hanan Redha became the first woman to sing the national anthem of Bahrain in public. Teen sensation Hala Al Turk, winner of Arabs Got Talent, also performed, singing her new hit “Why I’m so Afraid”.
Brave president Mohammed Shahid highlighted that Brave Combat Federation was also about entertaining people in and out of the cage and was much more than MMA, a sport which naturally values the entertainment side.
“Brave Combat Federation is so much more than just about MMA. We go beyond the sport. MMA values entertainment naturally and we wanted to highlight that with our Combat Week, which had musical concerts, art exhibits, among other things, aside from the fights. We wanted to use those activities to help bring more interest to the sport and we were able to accomplish that”, said Shahid.
In addition to art exhibits and musical concerts, the International Combat Week, which hosted both Brave 9 and the IMMAF World Championships, also featured a special car show, food festivals, visits to local schools and international embassies, aside from cultural performances at the Khalifa Sports City Arena, which showed Brave’s influence in all cultural areas.