African All Stars is locked and loaded. The second leg of the three-part Kombat Kingdom festival - shown live on DAZN - is officially on following the conclusion of today’s ceremonial weigh-ins that took place at the Khalifa Sports City Arena.
With that said, ten international gladiators from around the world were selected for this momentous card. After successfully making weight, these ten athletes expressed their appreciation at the animated staredowns today.Amateurs Burkina Faso’s Israel Mano and France’s Remy Serge seemed happy to be in the middle of an international organization’s fight week as they took the stage prior to reining in their emotions to focus and look each other in the eye ahead of their Amateur Light Heavyweight bout. The usually calm South African, Brendan Lesar cut an excited figure when he lined-up to face BRAVE CF debutant, Bahrain’s Zagid Gaidarov ahead of their Super Welterweight duel.
Africa’s Zulu Warrior, Mzwandile ‘Snakebone’ Hlongwa seemed to draw inspiration from his ancestors as he took the stage with an intense look in his eye before coming face-to-face with number-one ranked Middleweight, Abusupyan Alikhanov ahead of their Middleweight bout. The two warriors got so close to each other that a hair strand could barely split the space between them, forcing BRAVE CF President Mohammed Shahid to douse the flames of intensity asking the athletes to face forward for the cameras and fans.
Excited to represent Africa on this special card, South Africa’s Nkosi “The Future” Ndebele approached the platform donning his home country’s flag around his shoulders as if he were Superman, moments later, he actually called out the Bantamweight champion, Brad “Superman” Katona after staring his Latvian opponent, Matiss Zaharovs in the eye ahead of their co-main Bantamweight bout.
“Brad Katona currently has a four-fight win streak, after this fight, I will have a fight-fight win streak. So I want the belt next. No disrespect to Matiss, but I am the future,” said Ndebele.
However, Zaharovs quickly tried to blow out the number-five ranked Bantamweight’s flame. “I am going to stop his winning streak and I will be the second one to put a loss on his record,” added Zaharovs.
The main event saw South Korea’s Tae Kyun Kim and Russia’s Roman Bogatov end the ceremonial weigh-in on a hot yet light note. Ahead of their vacant BRAVE CF Featherweight title fight, Kim and Bogatov enjoyed some pleasantries before Bogatov complimented Kim on his flashy shades. Respect was the order of the day, but both athletes made it clear that they’re stepping into the BRAVE CF cage tomorrow for one thing and one thing only … the BRAVE CF Featherweight belt.
“I have walked a long journey to be at this point, since my childhood I have prepared for this moment and for this title. Tomorrow I will become the second Russian BRAVE CF champion,” said Bogatov.
Kim - who proudly embraced his South Korean flag implored fans to tune in and watch history being made. “There is no expectation, but I will give all I have to become the first South Korean BRAVE CF champion. “I will bring one hell of a fight for the BRAVE CF fans and the MMA fans around the world … expect a great fight.”
Watch Brave CF 64 live on DAZN
BRAVE CF 64 Official Weigh-In Results
- Featherweight world title: Tae Kyun Kim (65,6kg) vs Roman Bogatov (65,8kg)
- Bantamweight: Nkosi Ndebele (61,5kg) vs Matiss Zaharovs (61,6kg)
- Middleweight: Mzwandile Hlongwa (83,9kg) vs Abusupyan Alikhanov (84,3kg)
- Super Welterweight: Brendan Lesar (79,6kg) vs Zagid Gaidarov (79,3kg)
- Amateur Light Heavyweight: Israel Mano (93kg) vs Remy Serge (92,9kg)