Pictured above: 2015 IMMAF world champion Frans Mlambo Former IMMAF world champion Frans Mlambo and world bronze medalist Hardeep Rai will be in action as they continue their professional MMA careers on the card of Brave 9: ‘The Kingdom of Champions’ on November 17 at Khalifa Sports City, Bahrain. The duo will be making a nostalgic return to the IMMAF World Amateur Championships, the platform that launch them towards prominence at the professional level. The 2017 IMMAF World Championships will also be hosted at Khalifa Sports City Arena from 12 to 19 November, as part of Brave International Combat Week. The 2017 World Championships are anticipated to be the biggest event in the history of amateur MMA under IMMAF with more participants than ever before representing nations from all continents. 2017 marks the first year of the IMMAF Worlds taking place outside of Las Vegas, USA. UK national team veteran Hardeep ‘Havoc’ Rai earned a bronze medal in his impressive international debut at the 2015 IMMAF European Open. His development continued and this success was followed with the former welterweight amateur taking bronze at the 2016 World Championships. Rai made his professional lightweight debut under the banner of Brave in India on April 23, finishing Thailand’s Arnan Chaiyasan with a first round arm-bar submission. [caption id="attachment_15312" align="alignright" width="628"]
Hardeep Rai[/caption] At Brave 9 Rai looks to go 2-0 in his pro career, he steps up to face Californian Bellator veteran, Alex Trinidad. Brave CF officials announced on Wednesday that SBG Ireland product, Mlambo, who represents both South Africa and Ireland inside the cage, will face another fighter carrying two flags: Michael Deiga-Scheck, born in Brazil but with German nationality. Mlambo won the featherweight world title for Ireland at the 2015 IMMAF World Championships. Mlambo and Deiga-Sheck took part in the same card in their last appearances inside Brave cage. It was in Abu Dhabi, during Brave 4: Unstoppable, with each one of them facing different outcomes. While Mlambo clinched his first Brave win with a late submission over Jalal Al Daaja, Deiga-Scheck got defeated by Abdul Kareem Al-Selwady. However, the German-Brazilian was a last-minute replacement and fought two division over his natural weight, competing as a Lightweight in the occasion. Now Deiga-Scheck is back to the bantamweight to face one of the biggest prospects inside Brave’s roster. Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions marks the promotion’s return to the Kingdom of Bahrain after a year spent expanding its operations and putting on groundbreaking events in countries such as Brazil (twice), Mexico, India, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates. Brave 9 will be the culmination of the International Combat Week, alongside the IMMAF World Championships, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.]]>
