Shaikh Khalid in India

Manama : HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Youth, Honourary President of the Bahrain Martial Arts Federation (BMMAF), founder of Khalid Bin Hamad Mixed Martial Arts (KHK MMA), arrived yesterday in Mumbai, India, to attend the fifth edition of the BRAVE Championship, set for tomorrow at the Dome Stadium in India.

It is organised by the BRAVE Combat Federation which emanated from the Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa Mixed Martial Arts Organisation, in cooperation with the Indian Martial Arts Federation.

Shaikh Khalid in a statement, said: “We are proud to have the fifth edition of BRAVE in the Indian city of Mumbai. We chose this location with great conviction due the strong presence of India in MMA championship, which has led India to be a developed country in this sport and we are very supportive to all their efforts. It is also in order to achieve our aspirations for further development of this game, which has become the focus of today’s youth in various countries of the world, as they started to practice these kinds of combat sports.”

Shaikh Khalid added, “Everyone knows that BRAVE the championship started as a Bahraini idea and carried goals that we set, the aim is primarily to strengthen Bahrain’s prominent position on the international level in this sport, which motivated us to implement our plan and spread this championship to different countries of the world. Its global reach will contribute to the success of this championship in record time, on organisational, technical and media level. This will have a great impact in turning this championship to become the biggest event and number one in the world and we aim to achieve that goal.”

India is the third country to host BRAVE championships following Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Hamza Al Kooheji, Bahrain’s representative and Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa Mixed Martial Arts team, will be absent in this edition of the championship after suffering a severe head injury during the final phase of preparations in Manama. The medical examination revealed that his injury will prevent him permanently from this participation and he has to abide by the instructions of the doctor to get two weeks’ rest and not to exercise any kind of sport.

Al Kooheji said in a statement on his personal Instagram accounts, said: “I have given an official apology for not participating due to injury. I apologise to everyone and hope to return to competition in next version.”

The main fight is between British fighter Carl Booth and Algerian fighter Tahar Hadbi. Both are fierce fighters, possessing great physical strength and combat capabilities. According to the preliminary data, it is indicated that the relative advantage is held by fighter Hadbi (13-6), with Booth (7-1).

Today the official medical and weight examinations will take place, as well as the confrontation among fighters during the weight examinations, in the presence of media and fans before tomorrow’s
fights.

Yesterday, an introductory workshop for the fighters and participants was held and included detailed explanation of the rules and regulations of the championship and how the jury determines the winners in fights.