MOHAMMED FARHAD SCORED one of the most sensational victories of his career at Brave CF 47, knocking out his opponent Uloomi Karim in the second round of a firestorm of a fight.
Farhad, who hails from Mumbai, was going up against a Pakinstani opponent; so the bout caused quite a stir social media in the lead up to the event. Farhad was coming off a first round victory over Kushal Vyas in his previous fight, while Karim was coming off a 3 year layoff following his unanimous decision loss to Jeremy Pacatiw at Brave CF 17; his promotional debut.
The fight started with Farhad using his superior reach to land punches and kicks at range, keeping Karim at bay. But Karim was aggressive from the first moment, ducking in with dangerous overhand rights that forced Farhad to keep moving. With some forward pressure, Karim got Farhad pinned to the cage, and even landed a knee trying to get him there, but Farhad withstood the damage and immediately escapted the trap.
Now, Farhad started to strike more aggressively and midway into the first round his punch knocked Karim down. As Karim staggered back to his feet, Farhad followed up with relentless strikes but Karim proved to have a strong chin. He immediately shot for a takedown and successfully got the fight to the canvas, and even landed some heavy ground strikes just before the first round ended. Both fighters returned to their corners battered, and it was clear that the fight wasn't going to go the distance.
As the second round began, Karim immediately gained the upper hand by catching Farhad with a looping punch. Farhad was momentarily stunned, which allowed Karim to pin him to the cage and hit him relentlessly from up close. Farhad managed to escape the hold but both fighters were now throwing haymakers. And that's when Farhad caught Karim with a beautiful knockout punch right on his chin. Karim stiffened up and collapsed and Farhad's singular follow up hammerfist was rather unnecessary. The referee jumped in to stop the fight. The official decision was a KO victory for Farhad, 1 minutes and 18 seconds into the second round.
Farhad celebrated by saying a prayer in the middle of the cage with the Indian flag. He remained classy with his opponent, checking on Karim's health as the medical staff were treating him. Then, in the post-fight interview, he said his piece about the tension around the bout in the lead-up,
"Uloomi is a tough fighter. Mashallah, he gave me a good fight... I proved that India is better than Pakistan. A message for Pakistan... next time a fighter shouts 'give me India' from the cage, put some respect on the name... we are a nation of warriors, man."
Mohammed Farhad praised his gym and fight team back home for the adequate training he received for the fight. He also had good things to say about his opponent's fighting ability, revealing that his left eye was almost swollen shut due to the punches he fought through.
When asked whom he wanted to fight next, he didn't directly call out for a title shot, instead saying,
"BRAVE officials are really good, man... I am not saying any specific name but I know they will give me a good opponent like they have given me tonight."
With this win, Farhad has progressed to 12-3 in his pro MMA career and remains one of the leading contenders in BRAVE Combat Federation's Bantamweight Division.