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A post-fight brawl broke out after the BRAVE CF 57 co-main event between Mohammad Fakhreddine and Mohamed Said Maalem yesterday.
There was a lot of bad blood between the two fighters ahead of the fight. They fought for the first time at BRAVE CF 52, with Said Maalem initially securing a first-round TKO victory.
However, Fakhreddine appealed against the decision, claiming that the finishing sequence of the fight included illegal strikes to the back of the head. The appeal proved to be successful and the fight was overturned to a no contest. As a result, BRAVE Combat Federation rebooked the fight for BRAVE CF 57.
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This time, the Lebanese MMA star managed to win the fight by stopping Said Maalem in the second-round. However, what followed after the result is what made the headlines. A full-on brawl broke out between Fakhreddine and Maalem’s corner, which had to be broken up by the officials.
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Referee Aaron Wallace, in particular, earned praise from the internet for his timely interference to prevent an escalation of the situation.
You can watch a clip of the brawl below:
The backstory behind the BRAVE CF 57 co-main event brawl
The biggest reason for the brawl that happened was the presence of Algerian fighter Tahar Hadbi.
The build-up towards BRAVE CF 57 saw some heated trash-talk between Fakhreddine and Said Maalem. Things took a major turn prior to the match when it was revealed that Said Maalem would have Hadbi in his corner for the fight.
Fakhreddine has plenty of history with Hadbi as they have fought twice in BRAVE Combat Federation. The first bout between the two at BRAVE CF 9 ended in a no-contest due to an accidental kick to the groin. The decision sparked debates at the time, with some fans claiming that the kick was not strong enough to stop the fight.
It also created some bad blood between the two camps, which proved to be the backstory for the second fight at BRAVE CF 10. Hadbi knocked out Fakhreddine in the second round of the rematch, after which the pair did not cross paths until this past weekend.
BRAVE CF 57 was held at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Bahrain on March 11, 2022 as part of the BRAVE International Combat Week 2022. The event was headlined by Brad Katona and Hamza Kooheji, with Fakhreddine and Said Maalem serving as the co-main event.
