Mohamed Said Maalem Stops Mohammad Fakhreddine in Brave CF 52 Headliner

After an exciting back and forth first round, Mohamad Said Maalem lands a beautiful counter follow up with devastating GnP to finish Fakhreddine and become the BRAVE CF Light Heavyweight World Championship pic.twitter.com/iUBK05hV0b

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) August 1, 2021

It was a night of finishes at Brave Combat Federation 52, as all the fights on the card ended inside the first two rounds.

The main event of Brave CF 52 saw Mohamed Said Maalem (12-3) taking on Mohammad Fakhreddine (14-5) with the vacant light heavyweight championship on the line. Fakhreddine, who is also the current 185-pound kingpin, stepped into the cage on a mission to become the first two-division champion in the promotional history. Both contenders exchanged a few shots in the first seconds before the action moved near the fence, where Maalem imposed his larger frame to keep his opponent pinned with his back against the wire. During the grappling exchanges, “L’Ambiance” landed a few knees to the body of “The Latest,” some of which seemingly landed low and caused Fakhreddine to shout in pain. The referee intervened only after Maalem hit the 185-pound titleholder with another involuntary knee.

After taking a few seconds of break, Fakhreddine recomposed and retaliated with a series of calf kicks that impacted Maalem’s lead leg. The Algerian fighter answered with his jab as often as he could, though he looked pretty unstable on his feet due to the leg damage he suffered. Maalem opted to change strategy and shot for a successful double leg, but “The Latest” returned to his feet after teasing a guillotine choke. The match's turning point arrived after the four-minute mark as Maleem caught Fakhreddine with a left hook that immediately dropped the Lebanese fighter on the canvas. Sensing blood, “L’Ambiance” rushed forward and hit his opponent with shots of ground-and-pound. While some of the punches seemingly landed behind Fakhreddine’s head, referee Declan Larkin only stopped when “The Latest” didn’t defend himself intelligently. The official time indicated the 4:20 mark of the opening stanza.

The Russian Bear makes a statement with a powerful display of wrestling and GnP, to stop Enrico Cortese due to corner stoppage after round1

Watch BRAVE CF 52 FREE and LIVE on https://t.co/fMntiTbleT pic.twitter.com/5HZFPXMFdp

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) August 1, 2021

In the co-main event, Rustam Chsiev (5-2) took a TKO victory over Enrico Cortese (7-3) in a middleweight clash. Both contenders started strong as they landed with their heaviest shots. “The Killing Machine” caught Chsiev with his right hand early in the fight and rushed to finish his still-shaken opponent. The Russian fought smartly and resorted to his wrestling background as many times as he was in danger from Cortese’s shots. Cortese found his way on the feet after the first double leg by Chsiev, but as time went by, it became clear that the wrestling of the “Russian Bear” was too much to handle for the Italian contender, who spent most of the time with his back against the mat. “The Killing Machine” had his moments after hitting Chsiev with a vicious straight hand, but the Russian saved himself from further punishment by scoring another takedown. Somewhere during the round, Cortese injured his elbow. During the first one-minute break, Cortese’s corner declared that “The Killing Machine” wasn’t able to continue, sealing the end of an entertaining contest in an anticlimactic fashion.

Elsewhere, Aurora MMA-representative Valeriu Mircea (26-7-1) rendered Ayub Gaziev (11-3) unconscious with a right hand that ended the contest after 43 seconds; Gamzat Magomedov (7-1) upset Mochamed Machaev (10-1) after stopping his opponent with punches at the 0:54 mark in Round 1; up-and-coming French talent Benoit St. Denis (8-0) scored his seventh submission on his record after forcing Arkaitz Ramos Gudari (6-3) to tap to an arm-triangle choke 3:09 into the first frame of their 165-pound catchweight; former featherweight kingpin Elias Boudegzdame (17-7) submitted Brice Picaud (6-5) with ease thanks to a triangle choke that stopped the contest 91 seconds in the opening stanza.

In the first bout on the card, Ahmed Labban (11-4) melted “The Iceman” Virgiliu Frasineac (9-3) with punches at the 1:09 mark in Round 2 of a 165-pound catchweight contest.