The BRAVE Combat Federation made its debut in Bulgaria on Saturday night and the event had plenty of action for MMA fans.

BRAVE Combat Federation’s debut event in Bulgaria, BRAVE CF 86, lived up to expectations and offered exciting fights to fans in Burgas and around the world.

In the main event, Mohammed Said Maalem made a strong comeback from his loss at BRAVE CF 81 by stopping Bulgarian veteran Atanas Djambazov in the third round. The first round was a showdown with both fighters trying to establish dominance. In the second round, Djambazov showed signs of exhaustion but continued to fight off Said Maalem’s attacks. In the third round, however, Said Maalem took advantage of Djambazov’s exhaustion and secured the win.

Alex Lohoré earned his second consecutive BRAVE Combat Federation first place finish by stopping Bulgaria’s Jivko Stoimenov in the co-main event. Lohoré landed a powerful uppercut that knocked Stoimenov to the floor and then followed up with strikes until the referee intervened. Following his win, Lohoré expressed his interest in a super welterweight title shot and discussed the possibility of challenging Kamal Magomedov.

The fight between Pavel Vladev and Christian Mach proved to be a crazy one. Vladev wanted to finish quickly, but Mach’s grappling skills neutralized him. Later, Vladev almost got a ground and pound stoppage at the end of the first round, but he failed to beat the clock. A similar pattern emerged in the second round, but this time Vladev managed to secure a win with ground and pound just seconds before the end of the round, extending his winning streak to six.

Khamzat Maaev returned to the win list with a first-round submission victory over Antonio Bushev. Maaev applied pressure from the start and gave Bushev no opportunity to attack before locking in a triangle choke. This was Maaev’s fifth first-round victory of his professional MMA career and a strong comeback from his first loss as a pro at BRAVE CF 79.

Six-time amateur MMA champion Rusi Minev continued his professional career with a dominant performance, out-grappling Christos Tsirimokos over three rounds. Minev’s win handed Tsirimokos, who was previously undefeated, his first professional MMA loss.

The catchweight bout between Gabriel Gilthon and Eduard Evdokimov was a classic grappler versus striker battle filled with high-energy action. A powerful liver kick followed by punches in the third round gave Evdokimov the victory by stoppage.

In the opening bout, Anton Yanchev put on a dominant performance, securing a first-round submission win to remain undefeated. This was the third consecutive stoppage win for Yanchev, who received plenty of support from the crowd in attendance.

With BRAVE CF 86, BRAVE Combat Federation extended its world record as the most traveled MMA organization, with Bulgaria becoming the 34th host country. With this event, BRAVE Combat Federation also extended its record as the most hosted MMA organization in Europe, with Bulgaria becoming the 15th host country on the continent.

Next up, BRAVE Combat Federation travels to the Netherlands for BRAVE CF 87 on September 22nd. Six days later, the most global organization returns to Slovenia for BRAVE CF 88, which features a double title headliner.

BRAVE CF 86 results:

Light Heavyweight: Said Maalem defeats Atanas Djambazov by TKO (punches) – 3m15s – Round 3
Super welterweight – Alex Lohoré defeats Jivko Stoimenov by KO (punches) – 4m03s – Round 1
Lightweight: Pavel Vladev defeats Christian Mach by TKO (punches) – 4m50s – Round 2
Super lightweight: Khamzat Maaev defeats Antonio Bushev by submission (triangle choke) – 1m50s – round 1
Lightweight: Rusi Minev defeated Christos Tsirimokos by unanimous decision (3x 30-27)
Catchweight 68kg – Eduard Evdokimov defeats Gabriel Gilthon by TKO (punches) – 2m59s – Round 3
Lightweight: Anton Yanchev defeats Patryk Krzak by submission (rear-naked choke) – 2:47 – Round 1

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Senior Writer and Editor-in-Chief of FightBook MMA. He is passionate about combat sports and is also the podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He is also a former MMA fighter and kickboxer.