KEY POINTS

  • Brad Katona and Hamza Kooheji are slated to fight for the vacant BRAVE CF bantamweight title
  • Both had wildly different experiences on their road to being named as the top two contenders
  • BRAVE CF 57 is happening on March 11 in the middle of BRAVE International Combat Week

Big things are ahead for BRAVE Combat Federation’s bantamweight division after the promotion announced Hamza Kooheji and Brad Katona will be one of the key attractions of BRAVE CF 57.

The fight is scheduled to happen on March 11, during the BRAVE International Combat Week, at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town, Bahrain.

Hometown hero Kooheji enters the match with a five-fight winning streak that dates back to September 2018 after he defeated Team Lakay's Crisanto Pitpitunge at BRAVE CF 16.

His last fight was a second-round stoppage of Vladislav Bogurin under the Belarusian Fighting Championship banner in July 2021.

As for Katona, he gets an extraordinary opportunity in just his third fight with the Bahrain-based promotion after a stellar submission victory over the previously-unbeaten Serbian Borislav Nikolic in his debut at BRAVE CF 50 in April 2021.

The 30-year-old from Winnipeg, Canada then produced another strong victory a few months later against Bair Shtepin, taking home the win via unanimous decision.

Prior to joining BRAVE CF, Katona was a highly-touted prospect that had fought in the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated” series and won the tournament with a unanimous decision victory over Jay Cuccinello in the finals.

Katona was released from the UFC after losing to Merab Dvalishvili and Hunter Azure before regaining his footing with BRAVE CF.

Stephen Loman, now with the Singapore-based ONE Championship, once had a stranglehold on the BRAVE CF bantamweight title since defeating Gary Mangat at BRAVE CF 9 until he vacated the title after four title defenses and an undefeated run in the organization.

Without a bantamweight champion since January 2021, BRAVE CF is finally ready to crown a new king of the division with this fight.

Against the submission specialist in Katona, Kooheji carries with him a proven affinity for striking and an outstanding grappling game that he will both use to its full potential.

BRAVE CF is expected to release the full card soon with two other world title fights set to happen on the tentpole card for the outfit’s first major card for the new year.

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