Loman wins Brave Fighter of the Year ahead of homecoming fight
Brave Combat Federation has announced Fighter of the Year, KO of the Year, Submission of the Year, Team of the Year, and Breakthrough Fighter of the Year,
World champion Stephen Loman is the Brave Combat Federation Fighter of the Year for 2018. The Bantamweight king became the first champ to defend his crown twice in a row with dominant wins over Frans Mlambo and Felipe Efrain, after first capturing the title in late 2017. He’s set to defend his belt once again in the main event of Brave 22, which takes place at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Manila, Philippines, on March 15th.
In a fan vote throughout Brave’s social media accounts, Loman took the crown over Lightweight champion Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady, Welterweight titleholder Jarrah Al-Selawe, Middleweight contender Ikram Aliskerov, and Featherweight star Jeremy Kennedy.
KO of the Year
Rami Hamed has a promotional debut to remember, as his brutal knockout win over the tough Gadzhimusa Gaziev at Brave 21 won KO of the Year honors. Hamed won the fan vote over Rodrigo Cavalheiro, Jeremy Kennedy, Yibugele, and Djamil Chan.
Submission of the Year
Veteran Ricardo Tirloni won Submission of the Year for his Anaconda choke over Ramon Cardozo at Brave 15 in Colombia, beating 10-time jiu-jitsu world champion Bruno Malfacine, among others, in the process.
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
Khamzat Chimaev, who made waves at the second semester with two quick KO wins in two different weight classes, took home the Breakthrough Fighter of the Year award, over Cleiton “Predador”, Aidan James, Akhmed Magomedov and John Brewin.
Fight Team of the Year
Brazil’s CM System won the fan vote for best fight team represented at Brave Combat Federation. Led by MMA legend and Brave fighter Cristiano Marcello, the gym had a great year with Maria Ribeiro, Luan “Miau” Santiago, Geraldo “Luan Santana”, Gabriel “Fly”, and beat Fight Fortress (Pakistan), Team Lakay (Philippines), KHK MMA (Bahrain), and Team Nogueira Dubai (UAE) for the honor.