Brave 5: Go For Glory

Brave 5: Go For Glory
Promotion	Brave Combat Federation
Date	April 22nd, 2017
Venue	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium
City	Mumbai, India
Event chronology
Brave 4: Unstoppable Brave 5: Go For Glory Brave 6: Kazakhstan

Brave 5: Go For Glory (also known as Brave 5) was a mixed martial arts event held live by the Brave Combat Federation on Sunday April 22, 2017, at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium in Mumbai, India. The event was broadcast live online and locally through Bahrain TV, ABS-CBN Sports and Action, Combate, Claro Sports and OSN Sports.

Background

Brave 2: Dynasty was Brave Combat Federation's fifth card, the third to take place outside Bahrain, where the company headquarters is located, and the first one in the Indian Subcontinent.

Mohammad Farhad was supposed to face Aziz Julaidan in a featured bantamweight bout but Julaidan was forced to withdraw due to a last-minute injury. India's Irfan Khan ^[1] was then called and fought Farhad in the only match between Mumbai-based fighters.

Bahrain's Hamza Kooheji was supposed to fight India's Chaitanya Gavali in a featured bantamweight bout but was injured during a training session and pulled from the card. ^[2] Hamza was replaced by Jeremy Pacatiw, from the Philippines.

The Muneer-Mangat rivalry

Labeled by the local media as the biggest rivalry in the history of combat sports in India, ^[3] the bad blood between Gurdarshan Mangat and Abdul Muneer started with a fan poll conducted by The Fan Garage to pick the best Indian fighter in 2016, won by Muneer. ^[4]

A fight was then set in India to determine who was the country's best fighter. Since they do not compete in the same division, Gurdarshan moved up to featherweight for the bout, set as the co-main event of the evening. ^[5]

After an extensive war of words before the match, ^[6] the rivalry reached its peak during the official weigh-ins, a day before the event when Gurdarshan and Muneer almost started a fight ^[7] on the stage after an intense staredown.

The main event controversy

Originally a decision win in favor of Carl Booth, the main event of the evening was surrounded by controversy, ^[8] being eventually overturned into a no contest.

The fight was supposed to be a 5-minute x 5-round bout but ended up being finished between rounds 4 and 5. The All India Mixed Martial Arts Federation (AIMMAF) opened and investigation and decided to overturn the result to a no contest. ^[9]

Aftermath

After their fight, Gurdarshan and Muneer showed a great amount of respect for each other. ^[10] Meanwhile, Irfan Khan expressed his desire to have a rematch with Mohammed Farhad. ^[11] At the same time, Ahmed Faress ^[12] and Mohammed Farhad noted that they would love to fight Mangat next.

Broadcast

The event was broadcast internationally online for free through Brave's official website and YouTube channel. In addition, the card was also broadcast in Bahrain through Bahrain TV, OSN Sports, Claro Sports, Combate, and ABS-CBN Sports and Action.

Broadcasting team

• Play-by-play commentator: Cyrus Fees
• Color Commentator: Rama Reddy
• Cage announcer: Carlos Kremer

Results

Main Card (TV) [13]
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Welterweight	Carl Booth	vs.	Tahar Hadbi	No Contest (Time keeping issue)	3	5:00	[a]
Featherweight	Gurdarshan Mangat	def.	Abdul Muneer	Decision (unanimous) (30x26, 30x27, 30x27)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Jakub Kowalewicz	def.	Alex "Leko" Da Silva	Decision (unanimous) (29x28, 29x28, 29x28)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Erick Carlos da Silva	def.	Brian Hooi	Decision (Split) (29x28, 28x29, 29x28)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Jeremy Pacatiw	def.	Chaitanya Gavali	Decision (Split) (30x27, 29x30, 30x27)	3	5:00
Catchweight (68kg)	Alejandro Martinez	def.	Paulo "Bananada" Gonçalves	TKO (punches)	2	4:37
Featherweight	Nelson Paes	vs.	Rolando Dy	No Contest (Accidental clash of heads)	1	0:28	[b]
Bantamweight	Mohammad Farhad	def.	Irfan Khan	TKO (punches)	1	0:40
Preliminary card (bravefights.com)
Bantamweight	Ahmed Faress	def.	Bharat Khandare	Submission (Armbar)	1	3:19
Lightweight	Hardeep Rai	def.	Arnan Chaiyasan	Submission (Armbar)	1	2:10

1. Fight originally scheduled for 5 rounds; was finished after the 3rd
2. Referee Marc Goddard considered the clash of heads non-intentional and declared the fight a no contest

Bonus Awards

• Fight of the Night: Haider Farman x Jomar Pa-ac
• Knockout of the Night: Carl Booth
• Submission of the Night: Elias Boudegzdame

References

1. Pande, Paarth (22 April 2017). "Brave 5's Irfan Khan: 'If he wants better opponents, he needs to face me first' - Pro MMA Now". Pro MMA Now.
2. "Injured Hamza Kooheji pulled from Brave 5; last minute replacement announced - BRAVE Fights". www.bravefights.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-28. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
3. "Brave 5 Results: Gurdarshan Mangat Comes Out On Top, Booth Defeats Habdi - The Fan Garage (TFG)". 23 April 2017.
4. "#TFGfanspeak Poll: 2016 Indian MMA Fighter Of The Year – Male: Abdul Muneer - The Fan Garage (TFG)". 30 December 2016.
5. Brand, Jeremy (6 April 2017). "Brave 5 fight card announced featuring Indian heroes' clash and international stars".
6. "Interview of Abdul Muneer by Renjith Ravindran for The Fan Garage". The Fan Garage. 7 April 2017.
7. MMASucka (23 April 2017). "Indian rivals steal the show with brawl at Brave 5 weigh-ins".
8. "Brave 5's Tahar Habdi vs Carl Booth result under appeal". 26 April 2017.
9. "Brave official statement on AIMMAF's decision on Booth vs Hadbi - BRAVE Fights". www.bravefights.com.
10. "Gurdarshan Mangat Extends Courtesy To Muneer, Also Has A Message For Future Opponents | The Fan Garage (TFG)". thefangarage.com. 2017-04-28. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
11. "Interview of Irfan Khan by Renjith Ravindran for The Fan Garage". The Fan Garage. 8 May 2017.
12. "Interview of Ahmed Faress by Renjith Ravindran for The Fan Garage". The Fan Garage. 18 May 2017.
13. "Brave CF 5 - MMA Event Page - Tapology". Tapology.