Manama: A big part of the success of BRAVE CF Middleweight World Champion Mohammad “The Latest” Fakhreddine as a mixed martial artist is his astonishing knockout power.
Out of his 14 career victories, the 37-year-old spitfire from Lebanon has won 11 by way of knockout. Furthermore, his last seven wins haven’t reached the judges’ scorecards.
His most recent victim was Daniel Pereira at BRAVE CF 41 in September 2020, where he stopped the highly-touted Brazilian in the fourth round to capture the promotion’s Middleweight World Championship.
Next up on Fakhreddine’s agenda is to become the first athlete to ever hold two world titles at the same time in BRAVE CF history. He is set to vie for the vacant BRAVE CF Light Heavyweight World Championship in the main event of BRAVE CF 52: Bad Blood in Milan, Italy on Sunday, August 1 against Mohamed “ L’Ambiance” Said Maalem.
There are questions whether Fakhreddine can carry his signature power up in weight, but history shows that his power-punching ability has been with him wherever he goes.
Fakhreddine started out as a welterweight with a knack for shutting the lights off on his opponents, but after spending five years in the 170-pound weight class, he went out of his comfort zone and faced Lukasz Witos in a 179-pound catchweight contest at BRAVE CF 6 in April 2017.
“The Latest” didn’t disappoint as he thwarted Witos with 36 seconds remaining in the first round. He then became a full-fledged middleweight at BRAVE CF 27 in October 2019, chopping down Christofer Silva with a series of leg kicks.
When the Bahrain-based MMA organization hosted the KHK Open-Weight World Championship Tournament in 2019, Fakhreddine participated in the four-man competition, where he finished Kleber Silva in the semi-final phase before succumbing to Azamat Murzakanov in the finals.
This weekend, Fakhreddine makes his debut at light heavyweight against an established division contender like Said Maalem, who earned a title shot with two big wins under the company’s banner.
Aside from inserting his name into an elite group of “champ-champ” competitors in the sport, Fakhreddine looks to provide an emphatic answer once again to his naysayers by toppling Said Maalem in an outcome that he has been associated with throughout his career—a knockout.
