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.

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.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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